Jesus is Lord, What Does That Mean

When we hear that Jesus is Lord, it should conjure up some feelings and understandings within us. But, what are they. James MacDonald asks in my study this morning what I think about when I hear that Jesus is Lord. My written response was quick and only three words, King, controller, Father. Then I kept reading and came to the realization, He is more than that and I have to think harder.

Jesus is Lord is not just about who He is but also what He is. He has titles and roles, He is not just there. Way more is Jesus as Lord than King, controller, and Father.

“¹⁵He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. ¹⁶For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. ¹⁷And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. ¹⁸And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. ¹⁹For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, ²⁰and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.” – Colossians 1:15-20 (ESV)

Colossians 1:15-20 give us the picture of who Jesus is and what He does/did. MacDonald lists out six things that He is/does/did. Where I agree 100 percent, I wanted to bring my own thoughts here.

“¹In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ²He was in the beginning with God. ³All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.” – John 1:1-3 (ESV)

Jesus is Lord means that He is the everything. He is the beginning of everything. He is the end of everything. He is all things between. He created everything. Even as the image of God, there is not another like Him. Jesus as Lord is not just a role or a title or a position. He is action. He demonstrates Himself through that action. I have to remember that what He can do and does or did is as much of Him as who He is.

Something that struck me in my study this morning is our molecular structure. Our molecules should be exploding based on science yet they do not thanks to the Lordship of Jesus (see Colossians 1:17 above). He holds us together even at our most basic self. Jesus did not just create us, He keeps us together for His glory.

My thoughts of Jesus as Lord were so simplistic before, and where it is not bad to have a simple view, I have to remember that He is way more. As I have dove in and think of Jesus as Lord now, I think of Him as it all. All things come after Him, and, because of Him. I come back to the next part that John reminds us in His gospel.

“⁴In him was life, and the life was the light of men. ⁵The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” – John 1:4-5 (ESV)

Jesus stands above all because He is above all. He is the light on the hill that draws us to Himself. He is looking over us and protecting us, because He created us. He loves us as a creation, but also as a Father and a brother. Jesus is Lord, because He is.

What do you think about when you hear, Jesus is Lord? Are you thinking as I did, about who He is? What if you were to add in all that He did/does and lean on that He created all things and all things are here after Him and because of Him, including you?

The Darkness Does NOT Overcome the Light

This morning I am shifting to study the word “overcome” and I begin in John as he speaks of the light that is the LORD.

“⁴In him was life, and the life was the light of men. ⁵The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” – John 1:4-5 (ESV)

When reading this verse and studying of the light of the LORD, it is clear to me that the darkness is a powerful thing. Darkness is all around. If we are not aware, darkness is even disguised as good. Take the example (I want to be clear in that this is an example of evil appearing good and should only be taken as such) of the Holocaust. Those on the side of Hitler believed that to make things better there needed to be a cleansing. When we think about things, a cleansing can be good, but as we know, in this instance it was not good and was filled with darkness. So, we have to be very careful with darkness as it is very deceitful and powerful.

But, there is one thing that will not be overcome by darkness and that is the light. In its simplest form, a lit candle, light provides the ability to see in the darkness. But, the light that is the LORD, is way more powerful. No matter the darkness that comes, the light of the LORD will not be overcome. Take the example above of the Holocaust. The darkness was destructive and powerful to the point that there was despair all around. But the light of the LORD won out in the end. The Nazis were defeated and that darkness was no more.

Make no mistake, darkness will continue to fight. Whether it is theft, drugs, murder, or even those things more subtle like turning attention away from the LORD. Darkness is not going to give up. But, we have the light that is the LORD on our side and He will not be overcome. He will root out the darkness so that all will see. We only have to open our eyes and see.

What are your thoughts on darkness and the light? Are you even aware of the power of darkness? What if you were, through your belief in the light, realized that darkness does not have a chance to win?

The LORD is Fixed on the Righteous

It is again not surprising, but amazing that the LORD leads me to passages again and again to learn. Where this morning I was brought to 1 Peter and a passage I have studied a number of times, the LORD has a different learning for me today. Even the verse I was lead to is a citation from Psalm that I have studied before with my exploring of the word “righteous”.

“¹²For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,

and his ears are open to their prayer.

But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

— 1 Peter 3:12 (ESV)

This morning I was struck, not by the eyes or ears of the LORD being on the righteous and their prayer, but by the intense focus He has in doing so. The LORD is fixed on the righteous. He is fully devoted to His people. His eyes and ears are fully engaged with all that we are doing and saying. He is so fixed on us that all others He has turned away from. Those who do evil are not in His sight or earshot. The LORD is with us always looking and listening for our needs and work completion for Him.

I know, this seems pretty ominous for those who are evil. How is it they will be found by the LORD if/when His eyes and ears are not focused on them. This is where the world gets the wrong idea of the LORD. The world seems to think that if the LORD does not bless everyone, then the LORD is not good. How could this loving god (lower case “g” intentional) not be loving to everyone and keep all from evil?

Well here is my visualization of it all. Imagine that the righteous are seen under a spotlight and that spotlight allows for audio (like the optical audio cable for your media). The LORD sees and hears that which is in the spotlight. All that is outside the spotlight is there yes, but not seen or heard by God. It is the work of those in the spotlight to bring others in through evangelism and love and the carrying of the gospel to them. Once those outside the spotlight step in, they are now seen and heard by the LORD.

This may be a bit of a simplification of what I read and study this morning. It is not that the LORD is not loving to those who are evil, it is that they are not the focus of His attention. It is those who are focused on and devoted to Him who get His immediate attention. To get the LORD’s immediate attention and be the focus of His eyes and ears, one has to turn to Him and devote to Him and the carry of His Word forward to the rest of the world.

As I write and study this morning, the world is in darkness. There is evil throughout. Yet, there are those who are in the light and that is where the LORD is fixed. He is looking to and listening for the righteous to bless them and guide them. The LORD is looking for the righteous to carry His Word and Grace forward to the world to bring more into the light. You see, the LORD loves all and wants all to experience salvation, and He will fix on all once they have turned to Him. Until then, He will remain fixed on the righteous and lead them to their reward in heaven.

What is your view of where God should be focused? Are you one that believes that God should give all the same regardless of standing with Him? What if you realized that the LORD loves all, and is fixed on the righteous and waiting for you to join them in the light?

Righteous Delivered as That is What They Promote

I often look at people who always seem to avoid difficulty. I am not saying that they do not have difficulty, it just seems that they avoid it. And then there are those who seem to have difficulty at every turn. Again, not saying it is true, it just seems that way.

“⁸The righteous is delivered from trouble,

and the wicked walks into it instead.”

— Proverbs 11:8 (ESV)

And there it is. Proverbs lets us in on the secret. That which is promoted is experienced.

I again come back to my role as a corporate training professional. One of the items that is taught is “that which is permitted is that which is promoted”. In other words, if we are allowing something to happen, then we are giving fuel for them to be done. The way to stop the cycle of negatively items from occurring is to address the negative thing as negative and noting its nonacceptance. There has to be a promotion of good to get good. In other words, “if you see something you like, recognize it and you will see more of it”.

Here is where I am going with the above. I have to perform righteous actions if I want to see, experience righteous actions. I have to point out that which is good to ensure that more good comes. To be delivered from evil, I have to shine light on everything and as such the evil is significantly less likely to be there.

The opposite is true with the wicked. The prevailing actions of the wicked is more wickedness and as such they are receiving more and more of that which they are are promoting and/or permitting. There is a demonstration of evil that is found in the dark and more evil is manifest as a result of being the accepted behavior.

To minimize the wickedness, we have to promote righteousness. If we want to see good and be delivered from evil, we have to promote good so evil is not “allowed” to be there. When we are acting righteously, we are shining a light and evil does not like the light. Therefore, evil will stay away and what is found is more good and righteousness in the form of the LORD.

What are you promoting? Are you living in the dark and promoting evil? What if you were to promote good through righteous action and shine light everywhere to keep the evil at bay instead?

The Father Creates Only That Which is Perfect

This seems to be a really bold statement considering all that goes on in the world that may not be fully and completely “right” for the world. I have to remember though that the evil one is here in this world distorting and disrupting things.

“¹⁶Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. ¹⁷Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” – James 1:16-17 (ESV)

I see here in the words from James that God creates all things that are perfect, and that there is no change to that which comes from Him. By this, I was created perfect. Every hair on my head is in the perfect place. There is no variation needed for me, in my creation.

Now, as noted, the evil one is here in this world distorting and disrupting. He is here to make it seem as though my creation was somehow flawed. I am not perfect and that there are things that can/should be done to improve my station in this world. The evil one wants me to believe that I need to be prettier, I need to have more, I need to be more. And the he is using all that is around me to bring the point to me.

What he is not doing is bring thing into the light. For when it is brought into the light the perfection that was is revealed and the sting of the flaw is driven away. God is the “Father of lights” and all that is in the light is shown to be perfect. It is up to me to live my life in the light so that all that is perfect will be revealed and I will be able to continue doing the will of God without the concerns of my station and whether or not I am worthy, for I was created perfect and things that are perfect are worthy for sure.

What is your view of yourself? Are you seeing your flaws which are in the darkness? What if you viewed yourself as God does, in the light and perfect in your creation?

Into Light or Dark Via Works

I have a choice to either be in the light or in the dark. That choice is driven by my works in this world.

“¹⁹And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. ²⁰For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. ²¹But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.” — John 3:19-21 (ESV)

These are the words of Jesus. He came into this world and into the darkness to expose the people to the light that He is. He gave the people the opportunity to come to something greater. He did not stay on the throne and ask the people to come to Him, He went to them where they were.

I like to use imagery to visualize what things will look like, so here goes. I have watched a number of movies where the lead character goes into a dark room or area exploring for whatever it was in the movie. As the character goes into the darkness, the light they are carrying exposes the hoards of beings congregating. As the light shines on the beings, they move, but not toward the light, away from it to avoid the light that exposes them for what they are and what they have done. In the darkness there may be a few that are not like the others and when the light is brought into the darkness they will move toward it to be rescued from the darkness and the beings found there.

Jesus came to be the light in the darkness and as He came those in the darkness either moved away to remain unexposed or they move toward Him to be rescued. I personally choose to be rescued. I have done some things that I am not proud of and it would be easier to move away from the light and stay in the darkness so that I and my actions are not exposed, but what does that get me but more works I am not proud of and I will perpetually remain in the dark. By coming into the light, I may have some challenges getting there, but thanks to Jesus, the reward of salvation and forgiveness and grace are far greater than the shame of remaining in the dark.

I have to allow my works to speak to who I am. I can choose the works to be “carried our in God”, or I can choose to remain in the dark and remain shameful for the works carried our there. I choose to be in the light and carrying out the works that God has for me to bring glory to Him and the gospel to the people.

Where are you spending your time? Are you in the dark, ashamed of the works you have done? What if you were to see and come to the light that is God and accepting the forgiveness for those works and continue forward doing the works of God in the light?