| The Lordship of Jesus Christ |
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| The Lordship of Jesus Christ |
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| Introduction: Believers are on a journey. This place and this life is not our home; we are pilgrims. We must be careful not to become wanderers; pilgrims are passing through on their way to a specific destination. During first lesson, you were asked to draft your personal vision, mission, and goals for your Christian life. Now is the time to look again at these and allow God, in light of what you have learned, to adjust and affirm your original direction. As you conclude these lessons on Growing in Christ, you need to recognize that you are not finished, but rather just beginning a new adventure in growing like Christ. A key to continued growth is obedience. Therefore, this series of lessons finishes on that note - the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Scripture Focus: John 14:21; Hebrews 11:6
Jesus is Lord! You have read these lessons because you want to be an effective disciple of Jesus Christ. One of the central themes through all of this has been:
If you want to be His disciple you must follow Him and that means Jesus Christ must be LORD of your life. Without question, Jesus is the Christ; He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Maker of Heaven and Earth. This is an irrefutable fact and one day every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father. However, at this present time and until He returns to establish His Kingdom on Earth, Jesus chooses to hold absolute sway over your life only if you yield it to Him. One of the memory verses of this course, Luke 6:46 records the words of Jesus:
"Why do you call me Lord, Lord and do not do what I say?" In this Jesus indicates that it is a decision that we must make. If He is Lord, then we obey Him. If we do not obey and follow His commandments, then He is not Lord of our lives. If He is not Lord of our lives, we stop growing in the grace and the knowledge of Him. Our relationship with Him suffers, the people to whom we are sent to serve are deprived of the blessing we are to deliver, and our lives start to stall out as we consistently fall short of God’s purpose for our lives. The Scriptures, World History, and our own personal experiences consistently and loudly proclaim this truth. All Hell breaks loose when we decide not to obey. With such overwhelming evidence, why do we persist in our disobedience? Why do we hold back and fail to make Him LORD of our lives? He wants us to let go of our security and we are afraid He won’t take care of us. He asks us to do something difficult (perhaps seemingly impossible). We want to go a different way than where He is leading. He has disappointed us in the past by not giving us all of our requests. The heart attitudes that give birth to these and similar circumstances are:
None of us admire these attitudes. When they are displayed openly, they disgust and grieve us. So why do we persist in holding on to them? Pray, agree with God that these are sin and repent. Let go of these and step out in faith and say YES, LORD!
The Circle of Life In John 14, Jesus explained a cycle that inevitably results in a more intimate relationship with Him and a continuously improving ability to meet the most significant needs of others as He would do it. Elton John sang the song, The Circle of Life, in the Disney film, The Lion King. The words talk about an ecological circle of life being passed on through reproduction and each living thing being born, growing, beginning the next circle, then dying. The Circle of Life that Jesus introduces does not include the ebb and flow of birth and death for He gives eternal life to those who are born in Him. He gives us an ever deepening cycle of relationship with God. He said in one of His prayers, "And this is eternal life, that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent. (John 17:3) That we may KNOW HIM not just know about Him! The intimacy that He offers to us is achieved by following His words given in John 14:21. Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him." (NIV) This is the real circle of life! We love God because He first loved us. When we become aware of His love, we are encouraged to trust Him by doing what He asks us to do. He asks us to serve others out of love for Him and them. These demonstrations of love for the Lord lead to more intimate knowledge of Him. He discloses Himself to us and His Power works through us. As we become more aware of and in tune with the Personality of God, our love for Him intensifies, which leads to further acts of obedience and greater depths of relationship. This cycle will continue eternally as we entwine ourselves ever more intimately with the Lord and plunge deeply into His unfathomable love. The REAL Circle of Life
We can spin out of this circle when our love, obedience, or knowledge are less than genuine. When our love is more warm and fuzzy emotion than self sacrificing adoration, our responses to Him are dependent upon our ever changing feelings. When we obey out of guilt, duty, or ritualistic habit, we attempt to follow the letter of the Law, but miss the Spirit of the Law and therefore, the power to fulfill it. When our knowledge of God is primarily intellectual rather than spiritual, we gather facts but miss the intimate relationship. Jesus continues to send His disciples out to reconcile and heal lives in His power and under His authority. Our effectiveness in the ministry that He gives us is dependent on our staying in the Real Circle of Life. Consider the Circle of Life. How are you doing? Are you on track or off on a tangent? Are you hearing God’s instructions and still not obeying? Are you content with knowing about Him rather than working toward an intimate relationship? Is your obedience driven by fear and guilt rather than love and adoration? Allow God to search your heart. as you review and make note of how He is wanting you to demonstrate your love for Him through your obedience to His directions. Discipleship is contingent upon our willingness to make Him Lord of our lives!
Now What? Along with the discipleship quotient, each of the students will look again at their original vision, mission, and goal statements to see if God would have them make any changes. They will discuss these with their partners, share what God has given them to do with the whole group, and together in prayer we will make commitments to remain and grow as disciples of Jesus Christ!
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