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by Logan Ames

The third core root of our faith stated in the Apostles’ Creed is the one that truly gives us the name “Christian." It’s the first place in the creed that Christ is mentioned and identifies him as not only the Son of God, but also OUR Lord. Unless Jesus Christ is your Lord, you cannot be a Christian. I had a good friend once tell me that we cannot make Jesus our Savior, but only our Lord. What he meant was that Jesus did the work of salvation on his own with no help from us whatsoever. No matter how much we say, “I chose to make Jesus my Savior," the truth is that the work was done whether we accept it or not and our acceptance of it can only change its implications for us, not the work itself. But what is up to us is whether we live as though he is our Lord. Does he have influence over every area of our lives, or just the ones we were willing to give up? Does his life and ministry teach us how to live, learn, love, and forgive? Are we truly following him, even when it’s extremely difficult?

Right now, no one is forced to see Jesus as “Lord." In Revelation 3:20, he speaks to the church in Laodicea and says, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me." Jesus doesn’t force the door open, bang it down, or even block you from closing it. He certainly has the authority to, but he stands on the outside of each of our hearts waiting for us to let him in. Having a meal together in those days was considered to be more than just something you suffer through with in-laws, family members, or people you don’t even like. It was an intimate experience and something that took time. It wasn’t a midday snack on the run. Jesus wants to spend time with you and get to know you. He wants to speak grace and truth into your life. He wants you to be aware of your sins, to walk away from them, and to trust fully in him and his good plan.

The problem is that some Christians are living like they don’t want him in their house. They’re comfortable keeping him on the outside. They love him at church where it’s a controlled atmosphere and hopefully there isn’t anything to be embarrassed about. But, would you want Jesus to see what’s on your computer? Your phone? Your email? Your Facebook? Your Snapchat? Your TV? Do you want him to see how you and your spouse treat each other sometimes? Because he’s truly my Lord, there are times I’d be embarrassed to have him in my home like anyone else.

But if we only focused on that part of it, we’d have no understanding of grace. We have to remember that Jesus already knows all of those things are going on inside our homes (a metaphor for our lives) and he still stands outside wanting to come in and waiting for us to agree to let him. The Pharisees despised him for this. Just look at the wonderful story in Matthew 9:9-13. Jesus picked a tax collector that everyone else despised because he was a traitor in the eyes of the Jews and a fraud in the eyes of the Romans (even if Matthew hadn’t been those things, he was guilty by association because of his chosen and despised profession).

Matthew gets up and follows Jesus and the very next thing we read is that this gave Jesus great access to a whole new set of people who desperately need him! In verse 10, we read that he went to Matthew’s house for dinner and a bunch of other “tax collectors and sinners” came to dinner with Jesus and his disciples. Who do you think was included in that group? I’d venture to say there were drunks and substance abusers there. In that pagan culture, there’s a good chance homosexuals were present. Certainly, there were those who cheated others out of money. We tend to look at our world today and think the sin is worse than ever before, but there’s no doubt in my mind that Jesus not only knew these people but welcomed them to the table so he could get to know them and deal with their brokenness. Ecclesiastes 1:9 reminds us, “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun."

So, who exactly is this One who wants to hang out with us? Well, every single one of these words in this core root are important for our understanding of who he is. If you know the Christmas story, you know that “Jesus” was the name given by Joseph and Mary in obedience to God because it’s from Iesous, which is the Greek form of the Hebrew Joshua which means “he saves." The title of “Christ” isn’t his last name. It signifies his ministry as the long-awaited Anointed One that the Old Testament prophets foretold about. “Christ” comes from the Greek Christos which is the translation of the Hebrew Messiah. He is God’s only begotten Son (the capital S signifies that he is basically one with the Father) and he is the only one of his kind. There is no one like him before him or after him.

The part that identifies him as our Lord is easily the hardest part to live. Yet, the fruit we bear must reveal this truth about his relationship to us. To make Jesus our Lord is to say he is the ruler of our lives, to submit ourselves and our desires to him. At times, it’s like we say, “Thank you, Jesus, for saving me but I’ll take it from here." We don’t want him or anyone telling us how to live our lives because we already think we have the “Get out of Hell Free” card. We must remember, though, that it was Jesus himself who said that not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter into heaven (Matthew 7:21). It’s only those who do the will of the Father who will enter. Think about what Jesus is saying. Some people don’t even want to say “Jesus is Lord," but among those who are even willing to say it there will still be some who don’t enter heaven because their words are not matching their actions. If you are willing to verbally acknowledge Jesus as your Lord, then be prepared to repent and change your life too!

I mentioned earlier that right now, you have a choice and are not forced to acknowledge Jesus as Lord, neither by your words nor your life. But the Apostle Paul tells us there is going to come a time when that choice will be taken from us. Philippians 2:10-11 (CEV) assures us, “So at the name of Jesus everyone will bow down, those in heaven, on earth, and under the earth. And to the glory of God the Father everyone will openly agree, ‘Jesus Christ is Lord!’” That means that EVERY single person, those already proclaiming him in heaven, those who do and those who don’t on earth, and even those who have died and gone to hell (under the earth) will acknowledge that Jesus is indeed the Lord. As surely as you sit and read this blog post, YOU will someday admit that Jesus is Lord. The only question is whether you will do it willingly now, both in word and deed and be joyful about it then, or refuse to do it now by either word or deed, and be sad and reluctant about it then. That choice is yours, and I pray that he is your Lord TODAY!

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