One of the great themes of the New Testament is the lordship of Jesus Christ. Over and over we are reminded that He is Lord and that we should give Him that place in our lives.
To crown Jesus as Lord means to surrender our lives to Him. It means to have no will of our own, but to want His will supremely. It means the willingness to go anywhere, do anything, and say whatever He desires. When Joshua asked the captain of the Lord's army, "Are you for us or against us?" the captain replied, in effect, "I didn't come either to assist or hinder you. I came to take over" (see Joshua 5:14). So the Lord doesn't come as sort of a glorified assistant; He comes to take supreme command of our lives.
The importance of lordship can be seen in the fact that whereas the word "Savior" occurs only 24 times in the New Testament, the word "Lord" occurs 522 times. It is also significant that whereas men invariably say "Savior and Lord," in that order, the Scriptures always say "Lord and Savior."
To make Jesus our Lord is the most reasonable, logical thing we can do. He died for us; the least we can do is live for Him. He bought us; we are no longer our own. "Love so amazing, so divine, demands our souls, our lives, our all."
If we can trust Him for our eternal salvation, can we not trust Him for the management of our lives? "There is a lack of sincerity about committing the eternal soul to God and holding back the mortal life - professing to give Him the greater and withholding the lesser" (R. A. Laidlaw).
How then, do we crown Jesus as Lord? There must be a crisis experience when for the first time we turn over the controls to Him, when every area of our life is placed under His sovereign sway. It is a total commitment with "no reserve, no retreat, no regrets."
From then on it becomes a matter of moment by moment yielding to His guidance, presenting our bodies to Him so that He can live His life through us. The crisis becomes a process.
It makes good sense! With His wisdom, love and power, He can do a far better job of running our lives than we can
With reverence, humor and skill, William MacDonald wove a daily devotional tapestry that challenges the reader to think deeply and Biblically, and apply God's Word to their lives.
William MacDonald was President of Emmaus Bible College, teacher, Plymouth Brethren theologian and a prolific author of over 84 published books. MacDonald refused to accept royalties for his books but established a fund for translating his work Believers Bible Commentary into foreign languages.
One of the great themes of the New Testament is the lordship of Jesus Christ. Over and over we are reminded that He is Lord and that we should give Him that place in our lives.
To crown Jesus as Lord means to surrender our lives to Him. It means to have no will of our own, but to want His will supremely. It means the willingness to go anywhere, do anything, and say whatever He desires. When Joshua asked the captain of the Lord's army, "Are you for us or against us?" the captain replied, in effect, "I didn't come either to assist or hinder you. I came to take over" (see Joshua 5:14). So the Lord doesn't come as sort of a glorified assistant; He comes to take supreme command of our lives.
The importance of lordship can be seen in the fact that whereas the word "Savior" occurs only 24 times in the New Testament, the word "Lord" occurs 522 times. It is also significant that whereas men invariably say "Savior and Lord," in that order, the Scriptures always say "Lord and Savior."
To make Jesus our Lord is the most reasonable, logical thing we can do. He died for us; the least we can do is live for Him. He bought us; we are no longer our own. "Love so amazing, so divine, demands our souls, our lives, our all."
If we can trust Him for our eternal salvation, can we not trust Him for the management of our lives? "There is a lack of sincerity about committing the eternal soul to God and holding back the mortal life - professing to give Him the greater and withholding the lesser" (R. A. Laidlaw).
How then, do we crown Jesus as Lord? There must be a crisis experience when for the first time we turn over the controls to Him, when every area of our life is placed under His sovereign sway. It is a total commitment with "no reserve, no retreat, no regrets."
From then on it becomes a matter of moment by moment yielding to His guidance, presenting our bodies to Him so that He can live His life through us. The crisis becomes a process.
It makes good sense! With His wisdom, love and power, He can do a far better job of running our lives than we can