As soon as we know Christ as our Saviour and Redeemer, we are also taught that He is our Lord. His Lordship, indeed, is universal, and hence has reference to men as such, though at the same time He sustains this relationship in a special way towards believers. The Apostle Peter declared this truth on the day of Pentecost. “Therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both LORD and Christ” (Acts 2:36). So also Paul; for after describing the long descent of Christ from “being in the form of God,” down to His “being found in fashion as a man,” and humbling Himself, and becoming “obedient unto death, even the death of the cross,” he says, “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:6-11). The Lord Jesus Himself, after His resurrection, says, “All power is given unto me in heaven and earth” (Matt. 28:18). Once more, Peter, dealing with another aspect of the same truth, tells us of false teachers “who shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them” (2 Peter 2:1).
We have then, so far, two things; first, that God has made Christ Lord on the ground of redemption, giving Him this place of universal supremacy to mark His appreciation (if we may thus reverently speak) of the work which He had wrought out by His death; secondly, that, as we saw in the last chapter, Christ has acquired Lordship over all by purchase. This thought we find in one of the parables: “The kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field” (Matt. 13:44). The consequence is that He is Lord of all, having “power (ἐξουσίαν—authority) over all flesh” by the appointment of God (John 17:2; see also Acts 10:36; Rom. 14:9). When, however, we, as believers, speak of Christ as “our” Lord, we express another thought, because then we bring in the idea of relationship—the relationship of servants. It is the same Lordship, but we, by the grace of God, have been brought to own it, to bow before Him in this character; to accept His authority and rule, and to take the place of subjection. This, indeed, was one of the objects of His death, as Paul tells us—“He died for all, that they who live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and rose again” (2 Cor. 5:15). And again, “None of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that He might be Lord both of the dead and living” (Rom. 14:7-9). We, therefore, recognize, through the grace of our God, not only that Christ is Lord of all—as He truly is—but also that He is in a more intimate way our Lord. He is our Lord, not only in virtue of His appointment as such, as the rejected Christ and now glorified Man, but also because He has acquired this place over us through redemption. It is, therefore, our joy to confess Him as Lord, and how solemn to remember that all, even those who reject Him in this day of grace, will one day be constrained by power—power, too, significant of destruction—to own Him also as Lord (Phil. 2:10-11). It is the more incumbent upon us who are believers to recognize, declare, and be subject to His authority, that we may in some measure be witnesses for Him in this day of His rejection.
Seeing that Christ holds this place, what are our privileges and responsibilities with reference to Him in this character?
(1). The first thing to be named is worship; for it is before Him as Lord that we often fall down in adoration. This is taught, in principle, in one of the psalms. “He is thy Lord, and worship thou Him” (Psa. 45:11). So also in the passage already cited from the Philippians—every knee is to bow, and every tongue confess that He is “Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:10-11). Theologians take pains to argue that Christ is to be worshipped equally with the Father, inasmuch as He is God as well as man. And this is true; but at the same time, it misses the Scriptural teaching concerning His present position and the worship due to Him in it. He is God; but the wonder and the characteristic of His present place is that He occupies it as man. It was the same Jesus whom the Jews crucified who is now made both Lord and Christ; and He has taken up as man even the glory which He had with the Father before the world was. It is a great mistake to suppose that He was man down here, and God in heaven, as if the two natures could thus be divided. The truth is—if we may draw the distinction—when down here, while He was truly man, He was the presentation of God to us; whereas now, while He never loses His essential divinity, He sits at the right hand of God as man. Hence, though it is perfectly true that we worship Him as God, and indeed, all the adoration which ascends up to God of necessity is offered to Him—inasmuch as the term God includes all the persons of the Godhead—it is rather as the man who is in the glory of God, Christ Jesus our Lord, that we bow before Him in praise and worship.
And surely it is a sweet thought to our souls that He who down here was scorned, rejected, cast out, and crucified—He whom even His own disciples forsook, abandoning Him in the hour of His greatest sorrow—is now exalted and set forth as the object of our homage. Oh, how infinitely precious He must be to God! What unspeakable value must His work have in His eyes, that He should thus set Him in the highest place, and constitute Him the object of adoration both of angels and saints! Thus John writes: “And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made them unto our God kings and priests: and they shall reign on the earth. And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing. And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever. And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped” (Rev. 5:9-14). What ineffable grace then, that even now we should have been taught that He is worthy of our praise!
“Father, Thy holy name we bless,
Gracious and just Thy wise decree,
That every tongue shall soon confess,
Jesus the Lord of all to be.
But, oh! Thy grace has taught us now
Before that Lord the knee to bow.
“Him—as our Lord we gladly own;
To Him alone we now would live;
Who bowed our hearts before Thy throne,
And gave us all that love could give.
Our willing voices cry aloud,
Worthy art Thou, O Lamb of God!”
(2). Just as we worship Him, so also we pray to Him, as Lord. There are two striking exemplifications of this principle recorded in the Scriptures. When Stephen was martyred by the infuriated Jews, it is said, “And they stoned Stephen, calling upon, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” (Acts 7:59). Paul too, speaking of the thorn in the flesh, says, “For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9). Now that it was Christ he thus addressed as Lord is evident; for he adds, “Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power” (δύναμις, the same word as is translated “strength”) “of CHRIST may rest upon me.” These instances afford most important instruction as to the character in which Christ is to be addressed in prayer. It is as Lord—not as “Jesus” or “Christ” as is sometimes unhappily heard. A moment’s consideration will show us the fitness of this. To use the appellation—His name—of Jesus, or the term Christ, when bowing before Him, is surely to forget our place as suppliants, as well as His place as Lord. It savors of familiarity, even if not of irreverence; though it is freely admitted that it may be done without the slightest feeling of the kind. Be this as it may, we should never forget His exaltation and dignity, when approaching Him in supplication. The spiritual instincts of a child of God will suffice to teach him that, at such a time, the title of Lord should never be omitted. It becomes Him to receive, and us to render it; marking, in some humble measure at least, our sense of His claims, and also, indeed, of our place in His presence. The angel used it, when calming the fear of the women at the sepulcher on the resurrection morn, and in a most significant manner. He said, “Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the LORD lay” (Matt. 28:5-6). He thus reminded them that Jesus, whom they sought, was the Lord. The malefactor also, on the cross, taught undoubtedly of the Spirit of God, addresses Him in this character. “Lord,” he says, “remember me when thou comest in Thy kingdom” (Luke 23:42). Let us, then, be ever careful to remember what is due to the One before whom we bow, and from whom we seek grace and blessing.
If this were the place, we might point out (what a careful examination of the Scriptures would assuredly justify) that there are special subjects which we more fittingly bring before the Lord. For example, there is, as we may see further on, a special relationship between the servant and the Lord. He Himself thus taught His disciples, “Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He will send forth laborers into His harvest.” The apostle likewise, as already seen in the matter of the thorn in the flesh which he felt was hindering his service, addresses himself to Christ as Lord. It will suffice to have given this indication, because it needs acquaintance with, and divine intelligence to be rightly guided as to this. It is a subject, however, which ought to be carefully considered; for nothing is more painful than to hear the interchange of “God,” “Father,” or “Lord,” in prayer, without intelligence, in meetings for prayer or worship.
But passing from this, it is surely no mean consolation to remember, when we are addressing Him in prayer, that He is our Lord. It constitutes both a claim and an assurance; a claim, because of the relationship into which we have thus been brought, and an assurance, because it reminds us of what He is to us and for us in this character. Ah! indeed He is no stranger to us, and if it is very sweet to us to utter the words, what joy to Him to hear us address Him as our Lord. Led by the Spirit of God, may we be increasingly bold in the use of the term—with the holy boldness which confidence in His love alone can inspire!
(3). The correlative of “Lord” is “servant.” We are therefore specially reminded by the term “our Lord,” that we are His servants. We are His servants because He has bought us with His own blood, and we are therefore absolutely His property. Hence it is that Paul delights to call himself a servant—a slave (δοῦλος)—of Jesus Christ (Rom. 1:1; Phil. 1:1). We speak, of course, here of all believers as servants, and not of the special class whom the Lord has been pleased to endow with gifts, and send forth to labor amongst the saints, or in connection with the gospel. We lose much if we confine the term “servant” to this class; for whatever the position we occupy, all are as truly the Lord’s servants as if engaged in any public way—as, for example, in the ministry of the Word.
This being the case, it will at once be observed that the Lord’s will is our only law. It is indeed the characteristic of the Christian that he has no will; for the moment his will is active, the flesh appears. Thus he has—i.e. he should have—absolutely no will. He can say with the apostle, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me” (Gal. 2:20). The Lord has shown us also this path. “I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent me” (John 6:38). Hence it is actually said that “He took upon Him the form of a servant” (a slave—δοῦλος, Phil. 2:7). Just as He had no will, but in all He thought, spoke, and did was governed by the will of the Father, so we in all things should have respect to His will—it being no longer we, but Christ in us and these bodies of ours but organs for the expression of Himself—His will.
Our responsibility, then, as servants is obedience. As the Lord said to certain professors, “Why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46). Or, as He said to His disciples, “Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet” (John 13:13-14). As soon, therefore, as Christ is revealed to us as our Saviour, and we acknowledge Him as our Lord, we should take the attitude of Saul when he said, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” (Acts 9:6; 22:10). From that moment we must accept the place of obedience to His will; and not only accept it, but find our joy in it, even as He Himself said that it was His meat to do His Father’s will, and to finish His work (John 4:34). Nor can any believer plead ignorance of what His will is. It is true that many are ignorant; but since He has been pleased to give us in the Scriptures the revelation of His mind for us, to mark out the path in which He would have us walk, to assure us of guidance in every difficulty and perplexity, and since He has sent the Comforter to guide us into all truth (John 16:13), we have no excuse if we remain in ignorance.
How simple, then, is our path! We have now to please but One. It needs therefore only that the eye be always fixed on Him. As the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress, so should our eyes be ever upon the Lord, to catch the first intimation of His will, so that our willing feet may be ever quick to execute His commands. And what an honor is thus conferred upon us! Christ our Lord is the center of the glory. The eyes of all heaven are directed to Him—the Object of their unbounded reverence, homage, and delight. What, then, are we that He should deign to make us His servants? Nothing—nothing but that we have been made through the sovereign grace of our God, in virtue of His finished work. Surely, therefore, we should have a deeper sense of the wondrous honor conferred upon us, so that our hearts, swelling with grateful love, may increasingly delight to prove their love by keeping His commandments (John 14-15).
(4). We have a further responsibility connected with the Lordship of Christ. As pointed out, He is Lord of all (Acts 10:36). Not only have we, therefore, as believers, to take the position of obedience, but we have also to acknowledge His authority over all connected with us—over our families and our households. It is a question of increasing importance, whether the doctrine of the universal Lordship of Christ has not been too much overlooked. The state of the families of many believers demands that it should be imperatively considered. It is a fatal mistake into which many fall, to suppose that the unconverted members of our families have no relationship to Christ. He is Lord of all; and they are under the responsibility of owning, as believers are under the obligation of upholding, that Lordship. The rule of Christ has to be maintained throughout the whole circle of the responsibility of the saints—thus within that circle at least anticipating the millennium. It is in this, that the families of saints should present an entire contrast with those of the world, and thus be a living testimony to the authority of a rejected and an absent Christ—Christ our Lord.
(5). Again, if we remembered that He who is our Lord is also universal Lord, it would give us far greater power to deal with souls. When charging upon them the sin of rejecting Christ, how often do they evade or turn aside the stroke by the thought, We had nothing to do with the act of the Jews and Romans eighteen hundred years ago. Not that it is difficult to meet this objection, if once fairly spoken; but if the fact of the present Lordship of Christ were pressed, we can apply a test which cannot be escaped. Do they acknowledge the place which has been given to Him by God? Do they confess and submit to His authority? Then—as we know they do not—they stand convicted—palpably convicted—of refusing and rejecting now the One who has been made both Lord and Christ. This weapon, if skillfully used, might, in the power of the Spirit, reach many a conscience, and bring souls to repentance before God. Especially might this be the case, if the truth already touched upon were connected with it, that if they persist in refusing to own Christ now, in the day of grace, they must own Him before the great white throne, and do so then, alas! to their everlasting destruction. It is a question worthy of consideration whether in preaching the gospel we do not give man, as such, too large a place; whether we do not concede to him too much the position of choosing or refusing. Of course, his responsibility must never be overlooked; for it is on this side that his conscience is the soonest reached. Nor must we forget to present the grace, the mercy, and the love of God; for surely every presentation of the gospel should be the expression of His own heart. Conceding all this, and indeed insisting on it, it may yet be asked whether, as a rule, the claims of Christ as Lord are sufficiently pressed. What subject could supply a more fruitful field for argument and appeal? Man everywhere owned, and Christ disowned. Alas it is still true that there is no room for Christ in the inn (the world). It is man’s wisdom, man’s precepts, and man’s authority; all these combine in saying, We will not have Christ to reign over us. And yet He is Lord of all. He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. It knows Him not still, and thus goes onward to destruction. For God will have His Christ universally acknowledged, for the decree has gone forth and cannot be altered. Yet the world passes on, banishing Him who is Lord out of all their thoughts, vainly dreaming that all is, and that all will be, well. But even while we write, the hour may be about to strike when He shall leave His place at God’s right hand to receive His people to Himself, and then they will ever be with the Lord. (1 Thess. 4:17). Thereon will commence that series of awful judgments predicted in the Scriptures, which will be preparatory to, and will usher in, His return with His saints, when out of His mouth will go “a sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations: and He shall rule them with a rod of iron: and He treadeth the wine-press of the fierceness and the wrath of Almighty God. And He has on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS” (Rev. 19:15-16). Then He will take to Himself His great power and reign; “He shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.” Then “all kings shall fall down before Him; all nations shall serve Him” (Psa. 72:8-11). Be wise, therefore, dear reader, and now, while it is the accepted time and the day of salvation, bow before God and own Christ as Lord; for “if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved” (Rom. 10:9). But if you should be, alas! of the number who remain indifferent to, and reject His claims, not only must you finally bow the knee before Him, when He shall be seated as the Judge on the great white throne, but you must also hear at the same time the irrevocable sentence of your everlasting doom—the doom of the second death (Rev. 20). Oh! then, kiss the Son—now while it is the day of grace, and God’s longsuffering lingers—lest He be angry, and ye perish from the way, and perish forever, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Reconciled to Him, it will be the joy of your heart to confess, and to worship Him as Lord.