Jesus, My Lord

How has Jesus humbled your heart so that you turn toward God rather than your own wants and desires? In my message last week, I pointed out that “Jesus is Lord” is the church’s earliest statement of faith. In the first century, that line would have been understood as saying “Jesus is God.” That can challenge people who want Jesus to be seen as a great teacher. It can also be a challenge for people who don’t want to feel like Jesus has created some obligation in their lives, the idea that we have to obey him. But that’s the thing, right there, about Jesus’ Lordship. His obedience is different from “lording it” over us. In fact, he told his earliest followers not to do that, not to seek to lord it over other people. Have you ever noticed that Jesus called “disciples” and “followers,” rather than worshippers? The focus of obedience in Jesus was toward the shared objective he had with God, something we can emulate, to join God in his effort to reconcile with the world. Recognizing Jesus as my Lord is more an alignment with him, moving into his direction, following his example in being God’s person in the life we’re living. We’re not trying to become Jesus, but to allow God to shape us into people who lived like Jesus lived with him. God is looking for us to live our lives with him, the way he created us to be. The “my” in “my Lord,” is the key. I bend my knee to Jesus because of what he did for me, and because he calls me to follow him in the direction he’s moving… and I want to. Blessings, Geoff