9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Introduction
Ralph Waldo Emerson once said of Jesus, “His name is not so much written as plowed into the history of the world.” One evidence of this is the fact that historian Arnold J. Toynbee devoted more space to Jesus of Nazareth than to any other six men combined who have ever lived—including Muhammad, Buddha, Caesar, Napoleon, and George Washington. This fact is even more remarkable when we know that Toynbee was not a Christian himself. He was an atheist. The reason he gave Jesus this place of prominence in history was because his influence demanded it. When any objective historian considers the number of books that have been written, the number of songs that have been composed, the number of buildings that have been built, the number of services that have been conducted, and the progress that has been made in the name of Jesus, he must admit that Jesus is the most significant person who has ever lived in the history of the world.
No other person has had or still has that profound of an influence upon mankind. Why is this? How can we account for Jesus’ impact on the world? It is the fact that Jesus Christ is Lord. The word Lord is the most common title for Jesus in the New Testament. If we were to ask the average Christian today, “Who is Jesus,” he would probably say that Jesus is the Savior of the world. However, the New Testament more often speaks of him as Lord. Jesus is called Savior 24 times in the New Testament, and he is called Lord 433 times.
What does it mean to call Jesus “Lord”? The Greek word for Lord is “kurios.” It has several English meanings. It was the normal title of respect used by a slave for his master. It was also the accepted title of honor for the emperor of the Roman Empire. It is the Greek translation of the revered Hebrew name for God, Jehovah. So when a Jewish convert said, “Jesus is Lord,” he meant that Jesus was his God. When a Roman convert said, “Jesus is Lord,” he meant that Jesus, not Caesar, was his king. And when a slave said, “Jesus is Lord,” he meant that Jesus was his Master.
The confession “Jesus is Lord” was the initial confession of the church. It is the essential confession of a Christian, and it is the eventual confession of all creation. Because of who Jesus is and what he has done, God has made his name the most important name in time and in eternity. One day every knee in heaven and on earth and even in hell itself shall bow before Jesus, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (Philippians 2:9-11).
The confession “Jesus is Lord” is also the essential confession of a Christian. We must believe in our heart and confess with our mouth the fact that Jesus is our Lord if we want to be saved (Romans 10:9). In the first Christian sermon on the Day of Pentecost, Peter declared, “Therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made the same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:36). The Lordship of Jesus Christ was the theme of New Testament preaching.
What is the evidence that Jesus is really Lord? How can we be sure that he is more than just a man? Earlier in the sermon Peter gave four evidences of the Lordship of Christ. First, his life was characterized by miracles, wonders, and signs (v. 22). Then he was resurrected from the grave (v. 31). Next, he ascended into heaven (v. 33). And finally, he sent the Holy Spirit who is in the world today (v. 33). The proof that Jesus is Lord is his wonderful miracles, his triumphant resurrection, his glorious ascension, and his mighty outpouring of the Holy Spirit on us.
On the basis of these things, everyone can know with absolute certainty that Jesus Christ is Lord. What does the Lordship of Christ mean to us today? When we call Jesus “Lord,” we are saying that he is the God we worship, the King we obey, and the Master we serve. It means we give him the supreme loyalty of our lives, the supreme worship of our hearts, and the supreme control of our will.
1. We worship Jesus as our God.
The early Christians faced the severest kind of persecution not because they plotted to overthrow the Roman government, or because they denounced the evils of slavery, or because they protested the excessive taxes of Rome. They were persecuted because they proclaimed that Jesus Christ was God. This is the message that rocked the Roman world of the first century onto its heels.
The Jews who heard the first Christians preach believed that Jehovah was God. The Romans who heard their preaching believed that Jupiter, Mercury, Diana, and many others were gods. But they did not believe that the lowly carpenter of Nazareth was God. The essence of Christianity is that Jesus is God. He is not just a part of God. He is not just sent from God, and he is not just related to God. He was and is God.
John declares this truth when he writes, “The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). If a person tried to express himself to me in Japanese, he would not get very far. That is a foreign language to me. I don’t understand it. Neither would God get far in expressing himself to me in celestial language.
However, if God expressed himself to me in flesh, I could comprehend that. That’s what I am. I understand flesh. That is where I live, and what is more expressive than flesh? The twinkling of an eye, a smile of the lips, a rosy cheek, and a warm handshake are all super expressive gestures. Jesus is God in flesh getting down to my level where I can understand him.
Michelangelo expressed himself in marble. Christopher Wren expressed himself in granite. Joseph Turner expressed himself in oils. Handel expressed himself in notes. Shakespeare expressed himself in ink. And God in Jesus expressed himself in flesh. Since Jesus is God, he deserves to be the very center of our lives. Think of your life as a wheel. A wheel has three parts: a rim, spokes, and a hub. It is the same with our lives. Our lives have a circle of influence. They have many spokes of interest such as our work, our school, our recreation, our home, and our friends. But our lives also need stability. They need a hub. Jesus as God needs to be that hub, or that center. With only a rim and spokes, the wheel of life will collapse or wobble out of control under the pressures of life.
If Jesus Christ is not at the center of your life, then your life will lack the essential stability to take the bumps of life without falling apart. It will not hold together for the long run. G. K. Chesterton once said that it is often supposed that when people stop believing in God, they believe in nothing. But alas, it is worse than that. When they stop believing in God, they believe in anything. The denial of God brings the death of authority. The death of authority brings the birth of uncertainty, anarchy, and confusion. Life needs to be centered around Jesus Christ, who is God. Without him, lives lack what psychiatrists call “an integrated life.”
2. Jesus is the King we obey.
In the Roman world of the first century, Caesar was the emperor, or the king. He held absolute power over men and nations. You know dictators can be some of the most insecure people in the world. Into that world the disciples went proclaiming that there is another king—King Jesus (Acts 17:7). He alone, they said, was worthy of a man’s highest allegiance and greatest devotion.
That message “Jesus is King” created disturbances wherever it went. To declare that Jesus is Lord is to say that he is also the King we obey.
Jesse Fletcher, in his book Wimpy Harper of East Africa, tells that toward the end of his second year in Nigeria, Wimpy took a 10-mile trek on his cycle through the desolation that characterizes the Nigerian countryside after the grass and scrub trees have been burned off. In the distance he could see more fires. They glowed brightly underneath a wall of smoke. He knew that beyond the smoke, Africans were lined up with sticks waiting for the animals to flee the flame so that they could kill them. There would be a feast in the village that night.
A schoolteacher and a pastor, both Nigerian, were with him. The village to which they were going had never had a visit from a missionary before. When they arrived Wimpy arranged to salute the chief. To his relief, Wimpy found the chief friendly.
“You are the first missionary to visit our village. We are honored,” the chief said softly and courteously.
“I am honored to visit your town,” Wimpy said, “and to salute the chief. Your hospitality is most gracious.”
“Once before, white men came to our town,” the chief said with a twinkle in his eye. “They were looking for elephants. What are you looking for?”
“I have come to tell your people of the King of Kings and of his power to cleanse a man from his sins and to make him whole again.”
“The King of Kings?” replied the chief, his interest aroused. By now the chief had exhausted his English and they were communicating through Pastor Oyezmi. Through the pastor, Wimpy told the chief about Jesus and his power to save the vilest sinner.
After a time, the chief said, “If I thought I could give up my sins, I would gladly receive Jesus.”
Wimpy was almost caught off balance by the sudden development. He was no longer just telling the chief about his mission; the chief was deeply interested and under conviction of his own need. Earnestly and hardly realizing that he was speaking through an interpreter, Wimpy told the chief that Jesus would take away his sins if he would trust him to do so. Jesus would also give him the power to give up his sins. He did not have that power within himself. The moment was charged with the dramatic picture of an earthly monarch facing a heavenly one.
Haltingly, the chief said, “I will accept Jesus as my Lord.”
Wimpy asked him to kneel and trust himself to Jesus Christ, and to thank God for his salvation. The old chief arose from his throne and stepped to the ground. There, helped by his right-hand man, he knelt to the ground, to the amazement of those who watched wordlessly. He bowed his head and prayed in words that Wimpy could not understand but in a tone of voice that rang true. (Later, Pastor Oyezmi said that the chief had prayed for himself, his family, and his village.) Now the chief looked up at Wimpy and his friend. Slowly he reached up and took his crown from his head. He said, “Now, Jesus is my chief.”
To confess Jesus as Lord is to say that he is the chief of our life. As the chief of our life, he should rule and reign in every part of it. This time imagine your life not as a wheel but as a house, such as Robert Munger describes in his little book, My Heart—Christ’s Home. Munger says that the library represents your mind—the control room of a house. The dining room represents your appetites. The den represents your social life. The workshop represents your hobbies and recreation, and the closets represent the hidden things of your life. If Jesus is Lord, we should give him the “master” key and authorize him to have the run of the whole house.
No part of our lives should be shut off from his presence and his control. Our thoughts, our appetites, our friendships and relationships, our activities and hobbies, and even the hidden things of our life should be brought under his control.
If we will let him, Jesus will become a part of every aspect of our life. Sam Jones said, “Christ always lives where there is room for him. If there is room in your heart for Christ, he lives there; if there is room in the law office for Christ, he lives there; if there is room on the locomotive engine, he lives there; if there is room in the baggage car, he lives there.” To confess Jesus as Lord is to make him the King of our life.
3. Jesus is the Master we serve.
The world into which the Gospel first went was riddled with slavery. Men bought and sold other men as though they were cattle or sheep. They owned them and their families—lock, stock, and barrel. They exercised absolute authority over them, having even the power of life and death. The word master that was used to describe the slave owner is also the word “Lord.” To confess Jesus as Lord then means that he is our Master and our Owner and we are his slaves.
I once talked to a college student about becoming a Christian. He was interested in salvation but he said he did not want to have to attend church every Sunday. He said, “I want to worship when I please, and pray when I please.” I suggested to him that when he became a Christian his life would be under new management. He would then be owned by Jesus Christ and his supreme desire and responsibility would be to seek to please the Savior (2 Timothy 2:3).
It is true that when we become Christians we are no longer our own. We belong to him (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). Our bodies, our talents, our time, our money, our homes—everything now belongs to him. Jesus Christ is Lord. He is Master.
The very essence of sin is to reject Jesus as Master. Jesus once told the story of a certain rich man who was planning a trip into a distant land. The man called in his 10 servants and entrusted his wealth to them to be managed for him while he was gone. No sooner had he left that the citizens began hating him. They sent him a message that said, “We will not have this man to reign over us” (Luke 19:14).
In the parable, the ruler appointed over the people is Jesus Christ. The citizens’ attitude represents the hardened, calloused and sinful attitude of man rejecting Jesus as Lord and Master. Sin is not just drunkenness, adultery, divorce, or dishonesty. Sin is the refusal to allow Jesus Christ to be the Lord and Master of our lives. These words, “We will not have this man to rule over us,” indicate the hardened attitude of the hearts of men that cause them to reject Jesus.
To have Jesus to rule over us is not irksome—it is liberating. Do you see Jesus as the legitimate owner of your life? The apostle Paul declared this marvelous truth when he said, “From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus” (Galatians 6:17). The “marks” that Paul referred to were brand marks used by masters on their slaves. These masters branded their slaves like our forefathers branded their cattle. In case they ran away, they could easily be identified by brand marks. Paul compared the scars that he had received in missionary service to the brands placed on slaves by their owners. He was saying in essence, “Christ is my Master. These scars are the brand marks to prove it. He is my Lord, and my only real concern is to please him, so what you think of me doesn’t matter. From now on, don’t bother me with your criticism and complaints.”
The reason why Paul made this statement was that some people were giving him a hard time and were severely criticizing his ministry. He wanted them to understand that he was free from being overly concerned about their criticism and their opinion. What a relief it is for a Christian worker to be set free from slavery to what others think. Christ was his Master and his Lord, and his primary objective was to please him. Therefore he was set free from the opinions of others. To be the slave of Christ liberated him from the bondage of popular opinion.
Every Christian leader from Moses unto this present hour has encountered severe criticism and resistance. If a Christian leader is to survive and not become paranoid, he must eventually decide who his Master is. I am not so naive as to believe that everybody likes my leadership. But I am relatively free of a desire to please everybody. I know whom I work for. I work for God, and pleasing him is more important than pleasing anyone else or everyone else. Far from being worried or bothered unduly that many do not like my leadership, I think I should be disappointed if some people did like me because some people do not want to do anything. Some people are looking for a religion of convenience. Some want a cold, stiff, formal church service. I should be disappointed if people like that really did like me.
When we say then, “Jesus is Lord,” we are saying that he is the God we worship, the King we obey, and the Master we serve. It is my deep concern that all of us might surrender ourselves to Jesus and let him be the Lord of our lives.
I read once about a drifter who came across a man who was preparing to shoot a dog. “Say,” said the drifter, “Why are you going to shoot that dog?” “Mister,” said the man, “This dog’s name is Gypsy. He follows after everybody’s wagon, and any dog that follows everybody’s wagon is no good to anybody.” “Mister,” said the wanderer, “would you let me have that dog?” “I guess so, but he’s no good,” the man emphasized. The drifter tucked the little dog under his arm, threw his duffle bag over his shoulder, and moved on.
As he walked along, he said to the dog, “Gypsy, you and I are two of a kind. I’ve been a Christian a long time, but I have followed after everybody’s wagon. I’ve given allegiance first to this person and then to that one and sometimes to the Lord. You’ve helped me to see how foolish all this is. From now on we are going to change things. I am going to be your master and Christ is going to be mine.”
Oh that this might be true in all our lives! It all begins when we confess Jesus as our Lord. When Peter had finished this—his first Christian sermon—his audience cried out, “What must we do?” Peter answered, “Repent and be baptized.” To become a Christian you must make an about-face in your thinking concerning Jesus Christ. You have thought that Jesus was just a man. You have thought that Jesus was a common criminal. But now you must recognize that Jesus is Lord.
He is the God you are to worship. He is the King you are to obey. He is the Master you are to serve. Then you should openly acknowledge your allegiance to Christ by being baptized. That is the way of salvation. That is the way of discipleship. It is the only way to God.