Christ, Savior, Lord

Feature 3 – December 2014 — Grace & Truth Magazine

CHRIST, SAVIOR, LORD

The eternal Son of God “became flesh” (Jn. 1:14 NIV ) when He became the human baby born of a virgin and was named Jesus. At His birth, the angel of the Lord said, “a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord” (Lk. 2:11).

Jesus Is The Christ
The Father in heaven revealed to Peter that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Mt. 16:16-17). He later preached that “God has made this Jesus ... both Lord and Christ” and that He should be accepted as Savior (Acts 2:36-38).

Jesus Is The Savior
A savior is a deliverer. Jesus’ disciples preferred the prophecies that predicted Christ’s coming as king, when He would reestablish Israel as God’s kingdom and deliver them from the Roman yoke [occupation]. But they did not realize that they had to first be redeemed from their sins. On the road to Emmaus two disciples told the resurrected Christ (whom they had not recognized) that they “had hoped that He was the one who was going to redeem Israel” (Lk. 24:21), but “the chief priests and our rulers handed Him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified Him” (Lk. 24:20). Later, Peter preached that God raised the crucified Jesus from the dead and that “salvation is found in no one else” (Acts 4:10-12). Regarding salvation, Paul preached the importance of openly declaring “Jesus is Lord” (Rom. 10:9).

Jesus Is Lord
When we accept Christ as our Savior, love for Him will develop in response to our knowledge of His suffering and death for us. This love will cause us to obey His commands and teaching (Jn. 14:15,24), treating Him as our Lord – having power and authority over us and the One to whom service is due. We will adopt the attitude of our Lord when He prayed “not My will but Yours be done” (Lk. 22:42); and that of Saul, later known as Paul, who asked of Jesus, “What shall I do, Lord?” (Acts 22:10).

To Enable Us To Serve Him, The Lord “Talents” Us
We read: “to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it” (Eph. 4:7). “He gave gifts ... He gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service” (Eph. 4:8,11-12).

In a parable of Jesus we see Him giving His servants talents for works of service (Mt. 25:14-30). He taught that talents (spiritual gifts acquired at new birth) are given “according to ... ability” (Mt. 25:15) and that we are to put them to use in producing returns for Him. Note that in every instance a talent put to use grew with usage! Thus, even if we have a very limited ability, whatever spiritual gift He gives us will grow as we use it.

He also taught that there is a day when He will settle accounts (Mt. 25:19). Scripture says that at the “judgment seat of Christ” “the quality of each man’s work” will be revealed and he will be rewarded accordingly (2 Cor. 5:10; 1 Cor. 3:13-14).

How Do We Know What Our Gifts Are?
Scripture gives no explicit answer to this question, but it does give us general instructions: “Make disciples of all ... [and engage in] teaching them” (Mt. 28:19). Broadly, this involves doing all that is the Lord’s work. For example, during the early days of the Church the Lord needed, in addition to the apostles, men “full of the Spirit and wisdom” – not to be leaders or to serve in positions of prominence, but to be lowly “[waiters] on tables” (Acts 6:3-6).

A few people may know from the time of their conversion what the Lord wants them to do. Paul knew almost immediately that he was to preach (Acts 9:19-20). But, although we are to tell others about Christ, not every new convert is called to preach (see Mk. 5:18-19). Most of us have to go step by step throughout our lives looking to the Lord to show us what He wants us to do next.

Paul, even though he was a sent one (an apostle), had the responsibility for determining where the Lord wanted him to go. Throughout his travels we see him deciding where to go to preach as we see the Lord directing his way by allowing one “door” to be closed while opening another. In Acts 13:4 we read that Paul and Barnabas went out from Antioch having been “sent on their way by the Holy Spirit.” When they thought they should preach in Asia, they were kept from it “by the Holy Spirit” (Acts 16:6), and later when they “tried to enter Bithynia ... the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to” (Acts 16:7). Having closed these doors the Lord sent His angel with a vision that Paul interpreted as indicating that “God had called [them] to preach the gospel” in Macedonia (Acts 16:10). They were not discouraged when doors closed, because the Lord opened others. Thus, when we see an opportunity to serve closing, we should look for what the Lord may be opening to us!

Not All Will Be Fruitful For The Lord
He told another parable, the parable of the sower (Mt. 13:3-8,18-23), illustrating the diverse responses we can expect to the preaching of the Word. Some will reject it, some will believe for a while and then fall away, others will believe and be fruitful to various degrees, and there will be believers for whom the things of this life will take priority over those of the Lord. To such the Lord says elsewhere, “Why do you call me Lord, Lord and do not do what I say?” (Lk. 6:49). He likens the person who “hears [His] words and does not put them into practice” to a foolish man who builds on “ground without foundation” and eventually gets wiped out (Lk. 6:46). Our Lord, in effect, challenges such people to change their lives and make Him truly their Lord.

He Is Not Lord Of All Who Call Him Lord
He taught this in His parable of the ten virgins. Five apparently unsaved virgins, called “foolish” when they sought admission to heaven, were shut out. They cried, “Lord, Lord, open up for us” (Mt. 25:11 NASB). But He replied, “I tell you the truth, I do not know you” (Mt. 25:12 NIV). Thus calling Jesus “Lord” is not indicative of salvation!

Setting Oneself Apart Unto The Lord
In the Bible this process is called “sanctification.” Sanctification is not just a separation from evil things and ways, but it also is a separation to God. When our Lord Jesus sanctified Himself (Jn. 17:19) there was nothing evil in Him to separate from, but it was a setting of Himself apart to do the Father’s will. He alone could truthfully say, “I always do what pleases Him” (Jn. 8:29).

It is our Lord’s earnest desire that we be sanctified (Jn. 17:17) – and we will be when He is truly the Lord of our lives! We are sanctified “by the truth” (Jn. 17:7). Truth is God’s thoughts, conceptions and ideas (“logos”). His “thoughts are not [our] thoughts” and our “ways are not His ways” (Isa. 55:8). We have to seek His thoughts and ways consciously. To be sanctified, we have to work at having Him truly as our Lord.

Working Out Our Salvation
We are told: “Work out your salvation” (Phil 2:12). We do this by making Him truly the Lord of our lives. This requires not so much an emphasis on “giving up” what pleases us as it does an emphasis on what pleases Him! We will not ask ourselves, “What do I want to do for a living?” but, “What does He want me to do?” Not acting like Samson who chose a wife because “she looks good to me” (Jud. 14:3 NASB), we would rather be as one who seeks the mate whom the Lord would choose for him or her. We do not ask, “Where do I want to live?” but, “Where would the Lord lead me to serve Him?” Such questions affect every aspect of our lives.

Some of us accepted Jesus as Savior and as Lord at about the same time. Timothy, for instance, was young but could be told “to set an example for [all] believers in speech, in life, in love and in purity” (1 Tim. 4:12). Others may accept the Lord as Savior but then proceed to live to please themselves. However, He will not allow us to proceed unchallenged indefinitely. When He intervenes in our lives we may finally ask, “What do you want me to do, Lord?” It is not too late to seek to serve Him, for the Lord will never turn away any of His own that want to own Him as Lord by their actions.

Eventually!
Eventually every created being shall acknowledge Jesus as Lord! We read: “At the name of Jesus every knee [shall] bow, of heavenly and earthly and infernal [demonic] beings and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord” (Phil. 2:9-11 JND). Eventually all will call Him Lord. But there is a tremendous difference between the blessing received by those who are now “wanting to” and the woe received by those who later are merely “having to.” All will eventually have Him as Lord – so, why not now?

By Alan H. Crosby