Jesus As Lord

KEY VERSE: “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

SELECTED SCRIPTURE: John 20:26-29; I Corinthians 12:1-3; Colossians 1:15-20

ONE of the beautiful prophecies concerning Jesus and his prospective office as Lord and Christ is found in Isaiah 9:6,7: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts [Jehovah] will perform this.”

First Jesus is spoken of as a babe, the long promised seed of Abraham, who was to become the Son of man, the great kinsman of humankind. It was this wonderful, obedient and faithful son who would receive the kingdom that would bring blessings to Israel and the world. But in other prophecies such as Isaiah 53:1-10 it was evident that this obedient son must first suffer and die and then come into his glory. (Luke 24:25,26) This facet of the Lord’s plan was generally overlooked by the Jews, and Jesus at his first advent was not recognized or accepted by them. Part of the prophecy in Isaiah 53 reads, “He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised and we esteemed him not.”—vss. 2,3

The Apostle Paul in Philippians 2:6-8 states the matter thus: “Who [Jesus as the Logos in his pre-human existence] being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God [counted not equality with God a thing to be grasped at, margin]: but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”

Paul explains that all of this had a special purpose in God’s arrangements. “Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; and being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him; called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec.” (Heb. 5:8-10) And again the apostle speaks of Jesus, “Who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Heb. 12:2) The apostle explains that the trials, sufferings, humiliation and death were for the purpose of teaching Jesus obedience—complete submissiveness—under difficult and trying circumstances. Being tried and found perfect, mature of mind, he was set down at the right hand of the throne of God. Jesus said of himself, after his resurrection and just before his ascension, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.”—Matt. 28:18

Paul further states of Jesus, “For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.” (Rom. 14:9) The text points to the work to be accomplished by Jesus during the Gospel Age when as the Captain of the salvation of the church he is their Lord. For it is only the justified and spirit-begotten footstep followers of Jesus who can be said to have life, because the merit of the ransom price has been applied on their behalf and Adam’s condemnation has been lifted from them. The world of mankind on the other hand is, from God’s standpoint still dead. They are still under Adam’s condemnation waiting for the establishment of the kingdom and the inauguration of the New Covenant. The Christ will truly be Lord over them as they are assisted up the highway of holiness to perfection. It is during the kingdom reign that Jesus will truly fulfill his titles as Lord and Christ, the Messiah.

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