The Lord Jesus
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
we’ve been looking at the birth announcements in Matthew and Luke and considering the names and titles given to Jesus to help us understand the true meaning of Christmas
we’ve been looking at the birth announcements in Matthew and Luke and considering the names and titles given to Jesus to help us understand the true meaning of Christmas
Immanuel: God with us - Jesus took on flesh
Jesus: God saves - he will save his people from their sins
Son of Abraham - “son” vs infant, boy, child - an heir with rights
promises made to Abraham belong to Christ
Son of David
Jesus rightful heir legally through Joseph and by blood through Mary
promises made to David’s offspring belong to Christ
he rules over all the kings of the earth
he delivers us from all our enemies and gives us gives rest and peace
his rule shall last forever
his rule is characterized by righteousness and justice
Son of God, Son of Most High
he is God, equal with God
he possesses everything required to be the Son of David he was prophesied to be
the last title we will consider is found in
Read
Jesus is Lord
who and what was this infant who was born 2000 yrs ago
what does it mean for us in the 21st century?
everyone is looking for security, peace, contentment, happiness
embracing Jesus as Lord is the key
1. Jesus is Lord
1. Jesus is Lord
“kurios” means lord
“kurios” means lord – one who has power, ownership and absolute authority
A “lord” is one who possesses power, ownership and absolute authority.
one who has complete and total control over others
In relationship to those under him a “lord” has total and complete control.
a slave owner
occurs 657x in the ESV NT
applied to kings and those in authority with the power of life and death over others
primary title for Jesus is Lord
used of Jesus 750x in NT
besides the simple title Lord or the Lord, he is also addressed as Lord Jesus, Lord Jesus Christ, Lord Christ, Christ the Lord, … our Lord,
92 of 94x in Acts Jesus is called Lord
92 of 94x in Acts Jesus is called Lord
title of Lord is also given to God: Lord, the Lord God, Lord your God, Sovereign Lord
2x he is called Saviour
A synonym for “lord” is “despot”.
A despot is an absolute ruler, a unilateral dictator.
Jesus in
4 For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
92 of 94x in Acts Jesus is called Lord
2x he is called Saviour
Jesus is an absolute and sovereign Master and Lord
“Jesus is Lord” is not primarily a description of his deity or of his exalted status but of his position in relationship to us
he is the master with absolute power and authority
over whom? all who would be his disciples
Jesus to his disciples
13 You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am.
14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.
John 13:13-14
disciples called Jesus “teacher and lord”
In Jesus corrects the order “Lord and Teacher” because he must first be Lord before he can be teacher.
46 “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?
cannot call Jesus Lord and not do as he commands
teaching of the writers of the NT toward salvation:
attitude of the writers of the NT
31 And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
5 On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
Jesus teaching on what is required of those who would come to him and be his disciple
23 And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
To deny yourself is slave language!
o forsake your goals, your possessions, your plans, your desires, your relationships in order follow Christ.
To deny yourself is to forsake your goals, your possessions, your plans, your desires, your relationships in order follow Christ.
Jesus’ teaching about counting the cost of following him in
– deny self – done with self – done with your goals, your possession, your plans, your desires, your relationships
26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.
26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.
hate father and mother, hate own life, hate the world and the things in the world, hate the flesh
to hate someone is to violate the 6th commandment ()
- hate father and mother, hate own life, hate the world and the things in the world, hate the flesh
one must be forsake all other relationships if they would have Christ
if it came down to a life or death choice of Christ vs. self or family you would choose Christ
compared to cross bearing
to be a disciple of Christ is to forsake all that this world and this life has to offer
Jesus’ concluding statement:
33 So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.
Jesus demands complete surrender of everything you hold dear so that you can have him. Luke 14:33
if you would have Jesus he must be your Lord and Master
- unless you renounce everything
if Jesus would have you, you must let go of everything
“you are Lord” = “you are absolute ruler of my life”
following the Lord Jesus = denying self
24 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.
save life = lose life
save life = lose life
this again is slave language!
you are no longer in control of your life
all this describes the nature and condition of slaves
wherever there is a lord/master there are slaves
cannot have one without the other
one is lord or master because he possesses slaves
to be a slave is to have a lord, a master
no one is Lord of no one and no one is slave of no one
As Lord and Master Jesus demands total and complete submission to his will and purposes and the surrendering of your own. Luke 9:24
this question in
it is unmistakable what Lord means in the NT
2. Disciples are Slaves
2. Disciples are Slaves
most often it is translated by another word: servant, bondservant
Kittle on “doulos”:
“the meaning is so unequivocal and self-contained that is superfluous to give examples and trace its history”
slave is someone who is dependent, obligated and subject to someone else’s will
is not a servant
mistranslation of doulos goes right back to the middle ages
slavery as it had been known in the bible disappeared by the 13th century and by the 17th century it had come to be associated with the forcible abduction of people, transporting them from their homes with chains and forcing them to live in squalid conditions serving at the whim of their masters and being beaten mercilessly for their failures
because of the stigma attached to slavery it was translated with the less offensive word “servant” wherever it refers to a believer
substituting the word servant for slave has robbed believers of understanding the will of God concerning our relationship with him and his Son
this is not what the word slavery means in the bible and changing its meaning has robbed us of understanding the mind of God concerning our relationship with him and his Son
The Greek word “doulos” appears 126x in the ESV NT and it has only one meaning: slave.
most often it is translated by another word: servant, bondservant
Kittle on “doulos”:
“the meaning is so unequivocal and self-contained that is superfluous to give examples and trace its history”
slave is someone who is dependent, obligated and subject to someone else’s will
“slave” means nothing more and nothing less than a person who is paid for by another, becomes their property, and exists to do their will
whenever doulos is translated slave it is in the context of a story or an illustration
whenever doulos is translated slave it is in the context of a story or an illustration
slave was somebody who had no personal rights, no legal standing, could not give testimony in court, could not own property, no freedom, no autonomy
whenever it refers to a believer it is translated servant or bondservant
slave is someone who is dependent, obligated and subject to someone else’s will
problem: when we read our bibles we read that we are servants of God when the truth is we are slaves
problem: when we open our bibles we read that we are servants of God and are robbed of the truth that we are in fact slaves
a slave is very different from a servant
slave was somebody who had no personal rights, no legal standing, could not give testimony in court, could not own property, no freedom, no autonomy
the word “slave” in Strong’s Concordance appears 1x (Jer 2:14)
the word “slaves” 1x ()
yet “doulos” appears 126x in the NT
a slave is very different from a servant
A servant is someone who does something, a slave is someone who is something.
a slave is someone who is something
there are 6 words for “servant” and each describes a particular function
both slaves and servants serve, that is their function
examples of words describing the role of a “servant”:
deaconos: table waiter
huperates: under-rower
both slaves and servants serve, that is their function
Being a slave describes a person’s relationship not not their function.
being a slave describes a person’s relationship not not their function
what you are vs. what you do
we want to run away from the idea of slavery and yet this is the word that the HS inspired the writers of the NT to use to communicate what we are in our relationship to him
- slave is someone who is dependent, obligated and subject to someone else’s will
- is not a servant
- mistranslation of doulos goes right back to the middle ages
- a stigma attached to slavery so changed to servant
using any other word clouds our understanding which in turn hinders us from living as we ought before him
slavery describes our relationship under Christ
remember that the bible does not condone or establish slavery nor does not condemn it
- Christians are slaves of their Lord
- problem: today’s church is mainly about us, we tell God what he should do for us, what he needs to give to us
- God a genie: we rub he acts
remember that the bible does not condone or establish slavery nor does not condemn it
for some people this was the best relationship they could hope for because they were bought and owned and cared for and protected and provided for and rewarded and loved
there was a security in slavery that does not exist for those who were not wealthy
a poor person often experienced greater trouble and hardship than a slave
- in the spiritual realm we are slaves of our Lord Jesus
slavery in Roman world:
they were owned
cared for all of their lives
cared for all of their lives
often enjoyed a much higher standard of living than those who were free but poor
slaves did every profession and craft
some rose very high, became friends of the king
some rose very high, became friends of the king
slaves had special access to king – had special status with king
care for most his intimate needs
were trusted with his life
were protectors, knew his fears, thoughts, hopes, joys, ambitions, plans
knew more about him than anyone else
Jesus on his relationship to us and us to him
knew more than wives
wives were for sexual pleasure and for producing children
a slave who was a friend of the king was most specially favoured
friend – philos – to love – to have affection for
13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.
14 You are my friends if you do what I command you.
Jesus: you are my friends if you have the mindset of a slave
15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.
15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.
Jesus has made everything known to them from the Father
kings needed slaves
slaves had special access to king – had special status with king
care for most his intimate needs
were trusted with his life
were protectors, knew his fears, thoughts, hopes, joys, ambitions, plans
knew more about him than anyone else
knew more than wives
wives were for sexual pleasure and for producing children
a slave who was a friend of the king was most specially favoured
friend – philos – to love – to have affection for
Jesus has made everything known to them from the Father
holds no secrets from us
we have the mind of Christ, nothing is held back!
how privileged we are!
coverup: Christians are slaves – has gone on for centuries
CONCLUSION
imagine preaching this to Jews
- problem is that if you look for it in your concordance you will not find it
- most often it is translated by another word: servant, bondservant
- slave was someone who was bought and paid for and owned
- slave was somebody who had no personal rights, no legal standing, could not give testimony in court, could not own property, no freedom, no autonomy
- this is very different from a servant
- a servant is someone who does something
- a slave is someone who is something
- there are 6 words for servant and each describes a particular function
- both slaves and servants serve = function
- examples of servant:
- deaconos: table waiter
- huperates: under-rower
- slave does not describe function but relationship
- Kittle on “doulos”: “the meaning is so unequivocal and self-contained that is superfluous to give examples and trace its history”
- slave is someone who is dependent, obligated and subject to someone else’s will
- is not a servant
- mistranslation of doulos goes right back to the middle ages
- a stigma attached to slavery so changed to servant
- this is not what the word slavery means in the bible and changing its meaning has robbed us of understanding the mind of God as our relationship with him and his Son
- whenever doulos is translated slave it is in the context of a story or an illustration
- whenever it refers to a believer it is translated servant or bondservant
- problem: when we read our bibles we see that we are servants of God when the truth is we are slaves
- using any other word clouds our understanding which in turn hinders us from living as we ought before him
- slavery describes our relationship under Christ
- we are not free, our freedoms are defined by him, my duties are defined by him, my convictions are defined by him, my words, actions, relationships are defined by him
- everything in our lives is defined by him
- when we confess Jesus as Lord we give up all our rights and commit to do everything he commands
- servant works for someone where a slave is owned
- all true believers are owned by Jesus because we were chosen by God out of the slave market of sin, we were bought with a price of the blood of his Son
- this is what it means to follow Christ
- anything less than this gives us far too much freedom to live our lives as we choose
- we are called to live as slaves to our Master
- this is why Jesus said it is hard to enter into the Kingdom
- it is hard because we have to deny ourselves and our flesh hates not getting its own way!
- – not your own, bought with a price
- acts 20:28 – church purchased with blood
- – the master who bought
- – purchased for God with your blood
- – we are your slaves
- foolishness of preaching this to Jews after Jesus died!
- Jews did not have slaves
to tell them they had to live as slaves to the Jesus whom they had shamefully brutalized and executed on a Roman cross
must surrender your life and all your dreams, goals, plans and desires to this man
must give up everything and totally yield yourself to his control
same for Gentile world where slavery was looked down on by those who were free
this is why the gospel is described as a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Greeks
who would sell themselves as slaves to a poor man, crucified as a despised criminal on a Roman cross?
this however is the gospel
believe in Jesus and God will give you everything you want
you can live your best life now
name and a claim it
that is the gospel of Satan
the message of the NT:
if you want eternal life you must admit you have nothing to offer in exchange for it and you can never earn it
The only way to be a true follower of Jesus is to submit to him as your Master and and Lord .
To confess Jesus as my Lord requires me to give up all my rights and freedoms and commit to do everything he commands.
no one will do this of their own free will
this is why Jesus said it is hard to enter into the Kingdom
this is why Jesus said it is hard to enter into the Kingdom
this is why Jesus said it is hard to enter into the Kingdom
entering is hard because it requires death to self and our flesh hates not getting its own way!
17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.
23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.
compare to the gospel that is being preached in many churches today
believe in Jesus and God will give you everything you want
you can live your best life now
name and a claim it
today’s church is mainly about us: we tell God what he should do for us, what he needs to give to us
that is not the gospel of the Lord Jesus but of Satan
God is treated like a genie: we rub he acts
that is not the gospel of the Lord Jesus but of Satan
If the gospel being preached is attractive to unbelievers it is a false gospel!
their message: there is no better life than to be Jesus’ slave, chosen, purchased, owned, cared for, protected, loved and rewarded by a perfect Master
a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Greeks
there is no better life than to be Jesus’ slave, chosen, purchased, owned, cared for, protected, loved and rewarded by a perfect Master
- - Epaphras, fellow slave
- – his slaves will serve him – perfect slaves offering perfect obedience to our perfect Lord who provides everything for us
- Revelation written to slaves in the 1st century who would be slaves in eternity
- all the writers of the epistles describe themselves as slaves
- slaves are also friends
Christians are not free
everything in our lives is subject to his “yes” or “no”
servant works for someone where a slave is owned
all true believers are owned by Jesus because we were chosen by God out of the slave market of sin
we were bought with a price of the blood of his Son
20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
our freedoms are defined by him, our duties are defined by him, our convictions are defined by him, our words, actions, relationships are controlled and directed by him
this is what it means to confess Christ as our Lord and Master
everything in our lives is subject to his “yes” or “no”this is what it means to confess Christ as our Lord and Master
anything less than this gives us far too much freedom to live our lives as we choose
when our Lord Jesus saves us he makes his slaves
entering is hard because it requires death to self and our flesh hates not getting its own way!
17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.
23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.
– not your own, bought with a price
acts 20:28 – church purchased with blood
– the master who bought
– purchased for God with your blood
– we are your slaves
foolishness of preaching this to Jews after Jesus died!
By his own example Jesus demonstrates the mind of a slave! & Php 2:5-11
12 When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you?
13 You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am.
14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.
15 For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.
16 Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.
17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.
John 13:12
Jesus took upon himself a task reserved for the lowest slave to teach his disciples how they were to think and live
- Christians are slaves of their Lord
- problem: today’s church is mainly about us, we tell God what he should do for us, what he needs to give to us
- God a genie: we rub he acts
- when you understand Lord/slave relationship you understand the lie that the prosperity gospel is, name it and claim it, you come to Jesus and he serve your needs
Christians are slaves of their Lord
- when you understand Lord/slave relationship you understand the lie that the prosperity gospel is, name it and claim it, you come to Jesus and he serve your needs
God a genie: we rub he acts
- when you understand Lord/slave relationship you understand the lie that the prosperity gospel is, name it and claim it, you come to Jesus and he serve your needs
- these are all opposed to the concept of Jesus as Lord
- we are blessed beyond measure to be Jesus’ slaves, chosen, bought, owned, provided for, protected and one day I will be more than a friend but a son with full inheritance – a joint heir sitting on the throne with Christ inheriting all that God has
Jesus’ example
5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,
6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,
10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,
6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
:
Jesus a son who became a slave
he is a son who became a slave
though he possessed heaven he emptied himself
he became obedient to the point of the lowest form of death
God exalted him, gave him the name above every name
5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,
empty self, embrace being a slave, humble yourself to whatever tasks the Lord gives
we possessed nothing but receive heaven
what will we get?
we possessed nothing but receive heaven
6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you,
7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.
being Jesus’ slave is the best you could wish for!
to be bought and owned and cared for and protected and provided for and rewarded and loved
- Jesus: I always obey the Father – he was a slave of God – shows us what slavery looks like – not my will be done – all the way to the cross
- empty self, take us cross, renounce everything
- God highly exalted him – Lord = Master
- if we humble ourselves he will give us new names ()
- we will be slaves but friends – personal name given only known to us and him
- – well done good and faithful slave
- it wasn’t below Christ and it shouldn’t be below us
- - when you do all you are unworthy slaves
a warning from the Lord Jesus himself
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
Mt 7:
the Lord/slave relationship is so real that it will be the basis of entrance into heaven!
Questions for Personal Reflection:
What is my attitude to Jesus as Lord and Master?
How does my life reflect the mindset of a slave of Jesus?
Which areas of my life need to be surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus?