The Lordship Of Christ

Feature 2 – January 2021 — Grace & Truth Magazine

The Lordship Of Christ

The lordship of Christ is one of the most profound foundational truths in Holy Scripture pertaining to the person of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It is a very big subject. With the help of the Lord, we will bring some Scriptures to bear on this topic and hopefully give a little more insight on this precious truth. The lordship of Christ should cause all true believers to bow in worship to Him alone, who is worthy of all homage and praise!

A Question In The Gospels
After the Lord’s public rejection by the religious leaders of His day (Mt. 12:24), the Lord began to speak in parables. This was a judgment against the leaders so that by seeing they would not see, and by hearing they would not hear nor understand (13:13). Shortly after this, Jesus asked His followers what others were saying about Him. Peter answered by divine revelation, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (16:16 NKJV). This is the response of faith!

However, those in religious leadership continued in unbelief. In Christ’s final week before going to the cross of Calvary, there were a number of challenging questions asked of the Lord by His enemies to try and find fault with Him. In a most marvelous way, the Lord turned this around and had a final question for them. He asked, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?” (22:42). They correctly replied that Christ, who is the Anointed One and Messiah, would be “the Son of David.” The Lord followed up (vv.43-44), “How then does David in the Spirit call Him, ‘Lord’ saying, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool”’?” This quote of Psalm 110:1 indicates that David would acknowledge that his Son, or Descendant, would be Lord. But this was a dilemma for those who opposed the Lord: how could they understand that David would call Him “Lord,” and yet He is David’s Son?

The unbelieving religious leaders did not answer the Lord’s question. They knew that the Lord Jesus was exposing their error and they refused to acknowledge the truth. The Messiah (Christ) would be David’s Son and David’s Lord. This profound insight showed Christ’s deity as well as His lordship, already revealed long ago to David by the Spirit! The Lord was superior to David, as it was promised that He would sit at God’s right hand. He also came after David as his Descendant, and David would bow to his Descendant and call Him Lord!

Those Who Called Him Lord
There were many who acknowledged the lordship of Christ in the New Testament. In John 9 we have the wonderful story of the Lord healing a man who was blind from birth and giving him the ability to see! This had never happened before – until the Lord performed this miracle. The religious leaders challenged the now-seeing man, even though he had never physically seen the Lord. This healed man’s testimony grew and grew, and showed his spiritual insight. Finally, standing before the Lord Jesus, he called him “Lord” (Jn. 9:38). He then bowed and worshiped the Lord Jesus.

We see another example of one acknowledging Christ’s lordship after His resurrection. The Lord came to His disciples and revealed Himself to them. They heard His voice, saw Him standing before them and could touch His body. He ate in their presence, showing He was not a spirit but truly had risen physically from among the dead. Thomas, who was absent during the Lord’s first visit with His disciples, met the Lord a little later. He had wonderful joy when he saw the resurrected Lord for the first time and proclaimed to Him, “My Lord and my God!” (20:28). In this expression Thomas linked the profound truth of Christ’s lordship with His deity as the Eternal Son!

When the apostle Paul encountered the Lord for the first time in Acts 9:1-9, along the road to Damascus, the Lord spoke from heaven and asked Paul – then known as Saul – why he was persecuting Him. Paul responded in verse 5, by saying, “Who are You, Lord?” Having received the answer that this was Jesus whom Paul was persecuting, Paul asked another question, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” (v.6). Paul acknowledged the lordship of Christ the first time he met Him. Later, while writing to the saints in Corinth, Paul testified that the Lord was seen by him, one who was born out of due time compared to the other witnesses of Christ’s resurrection (1 Cor. 15:8).

In these few examples we find the Lord Jesus being acknowledged as Lord. Every true believer in Christ acknowledges His lordship at the time of salvation, as we see in Romans 10:9-10: “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” This declaration – that Jesus Christ is Lord – by the believer can only be done because of the Holy Spirit’s work in him or her. We see this in the second half of 1 Corinthians 12:3, which says, “No one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.”

It is very significant that we never read in Scripture where Judas Iscariot, who betrayed the Lord, ever called the Lord Jesus, “Lord.” In the upper room at the last supper the Lord revealed that one of His disciples would betray Him (Mt. 26:21-25). “They were exceeding sorrowful, and each of them began to say to Him, ‘Lord, is it I?’” (v.22). But when Judas Iscariot asked the same question in verse 25, he said, “Rabbi, is it I?” Even at that moment Judas refused to call the Lord Jesus his Lord. Judas was only a follower outwardly; he was not a true believer in his heart.

Christ’s Death, Resurrection And Exaltation As Lord
There is a significant reason why the Lord’s sacrificial death and resurrection connect with His lordship: they were required for our salvation. We know the life of the Sacrifice had to be given, as well as His shed blood offered for our redemption. The Lord accomplished this by dying on the cross of Calvary and pouring out His blood while hanging there. When the Lord Jesus entered death it meant that He is the Lord of the dead, and when He rose again it meant that He is also the Lord of the living. We read in Romans 14:8-9: “For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living.” So the Lord remains our Lord from the moment we are saved (the Lord of the living) and continues even after we physically die (the Lord of the dead), having departed to heaven. Praise His worthy name!

Our God and Father honored the Lord Jesus by raising Him from the dead (6:4; Acts 2:32) and having Him sit on His throne at His right hand in glory (vv.30-36). Having accomplished all of God’s will, the Lord Jesus as Man was exalted by God and made both Lord and Christ.

Furthermore, we read in Philippians 2:5-11, particularly verse 9, that the Lord Jesus was “highly exalted”! Not only was the Lord put in the highest place in all of creation, the right hand of the throne of God, but He has also been given a name above every name. “Jesus” is that name! It is God’s assessment of the One who delighted His heart while here on earth to make His name great. He is precious to all of us who believe.

God has so ordered that in a coming day every knee will have to bow and every tongue confess that “Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (v.11). We who believe do this now by faith. In a coming day, unbelievers also will have to bow their knees and confess with their tongues that Jesus Christ is Lord! Every soul that ever lived will have to acknowledge the lordship of Jesus Christ.

During the time of Christ’s 1,000-year reign over the earth (see Rev. 20:4), which we call the “millennium,” Christ will be known as “King of kings and Lord of lords” (1 Tim. 6:15; see Rev. 17:14, 19:16). This title will declare His supremacy over all others. He will reign in perfect righteousness and His lordship will be known by all living on the earth during His kingdom reign. Every authority will be subject to Him. This has never happened in the history of mankind. We can hardly perceive what it will be like. It will be a time of universal blessing upon the planet. The Lord Jesus Christ will show what God intended for man right from the beginning of creation, and He will bring glory to God. Praise the Lord!

Impact Of Christ’s Lordship
As mentioned earlier, all of us acknowledge the Lord Jesus as our Lord when we become believers. When Christ died for us, He redeemed, or purchased, us. As a result of this transaction, we are no longer our own. Since He is our Lord, He has ownership of us. We have been bought with a price. In 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 we read: “Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price.” In 2 Peter 2:1, we have a similar thought in the expression, “the Lord who bought them.” This truth implies that believers should no longer live as if they were in charge of their own lives and could live any way they want. Instead, our lives are to be in subjection to our Owner, the Lord.

Authority and power are connected with lordship. In Matthew 28:18 we learn that after Christ’s resurrection, God the Father gave Him authority: “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” “All” means all, including everything that we could possibly think of and more. We are under the Lord’s authority. The Lord has commissioned us to spread the gospel news, make disciples and baptize in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. (v.19). We are instructed to teach others to observe all that He has said (v.20). This we do by the authority, or in the name, of the Lord Jesus Christ (see Acts 8:16, 10:48, 19:5).

The Lord Jesus, as our Lord, is to be obeyed and served. Obedience is required and expected; it is not optional. In Luke 6:46 the Lord asked the crowd, “Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?” The Lord was amazed that individuals would give Him honor with their words but disregard His instructions and disobey Him. We cannot say He is Lord and then not do what He has asked.

Obedience, which includes our service, is our portion as believers. We must read His Word and follow His instructions. This impacts all areas of our lives. In marriage, we are to marry in the Lord (1 Cor. 7:39) or we are to remain single in the Lord (v.32). Our bodies are “for the Lord” (6:13), and our family relationships are to be in obedience to the Lord (Eph. 6:1,4). In fact, every aspect of our lives should be lived in obedience. Colossians 3:23-24 says, “Whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.” The will of the Lord should be our desire for anything and everything we do or say.

Finally, the truth of the lordship of Christ should cause the believer to worship the Lord. As was mentioned earlier, we bow our knees and express with our tongues “that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:10-11). Every true believer should have the desire to offer up spiritual sacrifices with “our lips, giving thanks to His name” (Heb. 13:15). Our worship may include devoted service and financial giving to the Lord – “ to do good and to share” – as we read in Hebrews 13:16.

We know worship will continue in heaven for all eternity. Revelation 4:10-11 shows “the twenty four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, ‘You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created.’”

It is interesting to note that Judas Iscariot, who betrayed the Lord and was not a true believer, objected to those who worshiped the Lord. In John 12:1-8 we read about Mary’s anointing the feet of Jesus and wiping His feet with her hair. This act of worship was rebuked by Judas. A true believer would never oppose worship to the Lord.

The truth of the lordship of Christ impacts every aspect of the believer’s life, but we may not realize this when we first believe. As we grow spiritually in our understanding through the study of God’s Word and our experiences, our understanding of Christ’s lordship in our lives will increase. If we do not respect and obey Christ’s lordship, we will experience many hard lessons of correction from Him. It is His desire to bless us; however, His blessings are only possible as we submit to His lordship and give Him our lives completely. He knows what is best!

There is a quote credited to Jim Elliot (1927–1956), one of five missionaries slain while serving the Lord together in the jungles of Ecuador, which says, “God always gives His best to those who leave the choice with Him.” Let us be blessed and follow the instructions in Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” Amen!

By Bill Kulkens

We constantly say that Jesus is the Lord and talk about “the Lord Jesus Christ.” But do we enter into the solemn truth of what we are saying? God bids us pause and ask ourselves if we fully understand the significance of “Lord.” The flesh rebels against His lordship over us. We have hearts that are not willingly subject to His authority. We are fonder of choosing our own path than of walking in the one He has marked out for us. Are we not disobedient children? Yet God would remind us that Jesus is our Lord. We are able to confess that He is, not of the natural heart but by the Holy Spirit and by Him alone. —John A. Trench (adapted from ministry given in 1865)