He is Lord
Read: Deuteronomy 6:4-9, Romans 10:9-10, Philippians 2:8-11, Revelation 19:16
On the Baptism of the Lord Sunday this year (2020) Heidi was singing Hymn 177 “He is Lord” which goes “He is Lord, he is Lord! He is risen from the dead and he is Lord! Every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.” Such a simple and profound hymn. A hymn which states our belief as Christians “Jesus is Lord!” “Lord of Earth and of Heaven.” We state as a matter of fact “Jesus is Lord!” In the Apostles’ Creed we say “I believe … in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord” and in the Nicene Creed “We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ.” Jesus is Lord! Simple, yet profound! Lord and God we find in the Shema of ancient Israel (Deuteronomy 6:4-9). Early Christians read the Shema and saw Jesus and the Father as one in substance and yet each with their own distinctiveness. In 1 Corinthians 8:6-7 we read, “yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.” Christians always and everywhere have believed “Jesus is Lord!”
When we put our trust in Jesus’ Lordship in our lives we confess with our lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in our heart that God raised him from the dead, we will be saved. For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved (Romans 10:9-10). When I heard Heidi singing He is Lord my spirit was saying “yes! Jesus you are Lord! You are my Lord! Help me to follow you” because I want steadfast and faithful love for God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit with all that I am, all of my heart, soul, strength, and mind. This confession is the foundation of our faith. It is believed Philippians 2:6-11 is one of the first hymns of Christianity. This confession becomes profound when in Philippians 2:11 we see “Jesus Christ is Lord.” Saying this confession in a colony of Roman allegiance would have been a political statement. If Jesus is Lord, then Caesar cannot be lord. We cannot worship both Jesus and Caesar, who will our commitment as Christians bow our knee to? Will we allow Jesus as Lord to be the root and foundation of our belief?
It is my prayer this Lenten time of a called fast, that in this time we might draw closer to the Holy Trinity. May we know Jesus so well as to say “my Lord and my God!” (John 20:28). May it not stop with just a confession, but with a change in our spirit with how we live and have deeper intimacy with this God whom we also call our Lord. I plan on growing this Lenten season to know more about this God whom we all will one day confess is Lord. I hope you will too.
Prayer: My Lord and my God, I pray to know you better as both Lord and God. Help me to follow you as Lord even when I would rather follow the world and Caesar. During this time of fasting, help me to hold to my commitment to your Lordship. May your Holy Spirit empower me to live a changed and holy life. Amen.
Rev. Keith Lenard, Jr.
Read: Deuteronomy 6:4-9, Romans 10:9-10, Philippians 2:8-11, Revelation 19:16
On the Baptism of the Lord Sunday this year (2020) Heidi was singing Hymn 177 “He is Lord” which goes “He is Lord, he is Lord! He is risen from the dead and he is Lord! Every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.” Such a simple and profound hymn. A hymn which states our belief as Christians “Jesus is Lord!” “Lord of Earth and of Heaven.” We state as a matter of fact “Jesus is Lord!” In the Apostles’ Creed we say “I believe … in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord” and in the Nicene Creed “We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ.” Jesus is Lord! Simple, yet profound! Lord and God we find in the Shema of ancient Israel (Deuteronomy 6:4-9). Early Christians read the Shema and saw Jesus and the Father as one in substance and yet each with their own distinctiveness. In 1 Corinthians 8:6-7 we read, “yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.” Christians always and everywhere have believed “Jesus is Lord!”
When we put our trust in Jesus’ Lordship in our lives we confess with our lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in our heart that God raised him from the dead, we will be saved. For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved (Romans 10:9-10). When I heard Heidi singing He is Lord my spirit was saying “yes! Jesus you are Lord! You are my Lord! Help me to follow you” because I want steadfast and faithful love for God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit with all that I am, all of my heart, soul, strength, and mind. This confession is the foundation of our faith. It is believed Philippians 2:6-11 is one of the first hymns of Christianity. This confession becomes profound when in Philippians 2:11 we see “Jesus Christ is Lord.” Saying this confession in a colony of Roman allegiance would have been a political statement. If Jesus is Lord, then Caesar cannot be lord. We cannot worship both Jesus and Caesar, who will our commitment as Christians bow our knee to? Will we allow Jesus as Lord to be the root and foundation of our belief?
It is my prayer this Lenten time of a called fast, that in this time we might draw closer to the Holy Trinity. May we know Jesus so well as to say “my Lord and my God!” (John 20:28). May it not stop with just a confession, but with a change in our spirit with how we live and have deeper intimacy with this God whom we also call our Lord. I plan on growing this Lenten season to know more about this God whom we all will one day confess is Lord. I hope you will too.
Prayer: My Lord and my God, I pray to know you better as both Lord and God. Help me to follow you as Lord even when I would rather follow the world and Caesar. During this time of fasting, help me to hold to my commitment to your Lordship. May your Holy Spirit empower me to live a changed and holy life. Amen.
Rev. Keith Lenard, Jr.
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