Something believers need to strongly consider these days is the issue of authority, and more specifically, God\u2019s authority. A fundamental question every human being must answer has to do with whether or not they will submit their lives to God\u2019s rule and reign. Sometimes it seems that believers act shocked when the world does not respect the standards or the commandments of God, but should that really be a surprise?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nRomans 8:7 (AMP) <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026the mind of the flesh [with its carnal thoughts and purposes] is hostile to God, for it does not submit itself to God\u2019s Law; indeed it cannot.\u201d In Colossians 1:21 NKJV, Paul says that before we were reconciled to God, we were, \u201c\u2026alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
The determination of some to reject the authority of God is very pronounced. David wrote of this in <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nPsalm 2:2-3 NKJV<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, \u201cLet us break Their bonds in pieces and cast away Their cords from us.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
The NLT renders verse three as, \u201cLet us break their chains,\u201d they cry, \u201cand free ourselves from slavery to God.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Isn\u2019t that something that people could be so deceived as to think that submission to the will of God and that yielding themselves to His influence is tantamount to slavery? How deceived to think that the dominion of Satan and sin would somehow be more fulfilling and beneficial to them than having a life-giving, liberating relationship with the God of the Universe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jesus described those who rejected God\u2019s authority in a parable he shared in Luke 19:12-14 (NLT). Jesus said, <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nLuke 19:12-14 (NLT)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cA nobleman was called away to a distant empire to be crowned king and then return. Before he left, he called together ten of his servants and divided among them ten pounds of silver, saying, \u2018Invest this for me while I am gone.\u2019 But his people hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, \u2018We do not want him to be our king.\u2019\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Jesus was illustrating what had happened so much (and continues to happen) throughout human history\u2014people rejecting divine authority. Likewise, the Apostle Peter referred to \u201cproud and arrogant\u201d people who \u201cdespise authority\u201d (2 Peter 2:10, NLT).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the days of the Judges, we read of a man named Micah (not the later OT prophet) who, \u201c\u2026had a shrine, and made an ephod and household idols; and he consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest. In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes\u201d (Judges 17:5-6 NKJV). Somehow, I think Micah would fit very well into modern society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How many people today want to create a \u201cgod\u201d in their own image, to their own liking, and on their own terms? How many want a god who endorses all of their own preferences and who never calls them to repentance or rebukes their sin? The Message version of Judges 17:6 says that in that day, when divine authority was rejected in exchange for self-rule, \u201cPeople did whatever they felt like doing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Proverbs gives us a picture of what happens when people reject divine authority:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\u201cThe stupid ridicule right and wrong, but a moral life is a favored life\u201d (14:9 MSG).<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
\n\u201cThere is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death\u201d (14:12 NKJV).<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
\n\u201cWhen people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild. But whoever obeys the law is joyful\u201d (28:19, NLT). <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
We understand that an unregenerate person is not going to be submitted to the will and the commandments of God, but what about believers? What happens when people who consider themselves to be Christians still feel like they can call the shots, establish their own standards, and allow their own whims and feelings to govern their lives? It is imperative that believers understand that coming to Jesus is not simply a matter of receiving salvation, but God desires that we surrender to Jesus\u2019 lordship as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Are there people who claim to have received Jesus (forgiveness, salvation, etc.), but have never really submitted themselves to the Lordship of Christ? Consider Paul\u2019s sobering admonition to the church in Philippi: \u201cI have told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows they are really enemies of the cross of Christ. They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth\u201d (Philippians 3:18-19, NLT).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
James was even more stern in his warning. \u201cYou\u2019re cheating on God. If all you want is your own way, flirting with the world every chance you get, you end up enemies of God and his way. And do you suppose God doesn\u2019t care? The proverb has it that \u2018he\u2019s a fiercely jealous lover\u2019\u201d (James 4:4-5, MSG).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A Christianity that says you can receive Jesus as Savior and reject Him as Lord is foreign to the New Testament. Jesus Himself said, \u201cBut why do you call Me \u2018Lord, Lord,\u2019 and not do the things which I say?\u201d (Luke 6:46 NKJV). I agree with Abraham Kuyper who said, \u201cThere is not an inch of any sphere of life over which Jesus Christ does not say, \u2018Mine.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So which areas of my life am I entitled to make my own rules and disregard God\u2019s influence? Which portions of my life do I get to call the shots and ignore what God has to say? Can I accept Jesus as my Savior, but then tell Him I don\u2019t want His influence or governance in my finances? In my morality? In my ethics? In my conduct? In my treatment of others?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We would do well to listen to some of the wisdom and insights given to Christian leaders from the past:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGod will not accept a divided heart. He must be absolute monarch. There is not room in your heart for two thrones. You cannot mix the worship of the true God with the worship of any other god more than you can mix oil and water. It cannot be done. There is no room for any other throne in the heart if Christ is there. If worldliness should come in, godliness would go out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2028\u2013 D.L. Moody<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt is time for us to seek again the leadership of the Holy Spirit. Man\u2019s lordship has cost us too much\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
-A.W. Tozer<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cChristianity is not a cafeteria line where you say, \u2018I\u2019ll have a little salvation, but no Lordship right now.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2013 Adrian Rogers<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cUntil the will and the affections are brought under the authority of Christ, we have not begun to understand, let alone to accept, His lordship.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
-Elisabeth Elliot<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Lordship of Jesus Christ is not quite forgotten among Christians, but it has been relegated to the hymnal where all responsibility toward it may be comfortably discharged in a glow of religious emotion. Or if it is taught as a theory in the classroom it is rarely applied to practical living. The idea that the Man Christ Jesus has absolute final authority over the whole church and over its members in every detail of their lives is simply not now accepted as true by the rank and file of evangelical Christians.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2013 A.W. Tozer<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe mark of a saint is not perfection, but consecration. A saint is not a man without faults, but a man who has given himself without reserve to God.\u201d\u2028<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2013 W.T. Richardson<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cJesus Christ has bought us with His blood, but, alas, He has not had His money\u2019s worth! He paid for ALL, and He has had but a fragment of our energy, time and earnings. By an act of consecration, let us ask Him to forgive the robbery of the past, and let us profess our desire to be henceforth utterly and only for Him \u2013 His slaves, owning no master other than Himself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2013 F.B. Meyer<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Having said all these things, let\u2019s remember that God leads us through love into accepting His reign and his lordship in our lives. He doesn\u2019t assault us with force; He beckons us through His love. A young Christian may make an all-out consecration of his or her life to the Lord, but that consecration will probably be re-visited at numerous times throughout their spiritual journey. Their surrender to the Lordship of Christ in various areas will be realized more profoundly and reinforced more thoroughly as they grow and mature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Consecration and surrender to the Lordship of Christ must be something that believers are reminded of periodically, and perhaps do a periodic check-up concerning. I like the way the Apostle John ends his first epistle: \u201cLittle children, keep yourselves from idols (false gods)\u2014[from anything and everything that would occupy the place in your heart due to God, from any sort of substitute for Him that would take first place in your life]. Amen (so let it be)\u201d (1 John 5:21, AMP<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Isaac Watts wrote a famous hymn in 1707 entitled, \u201cWhen I Survey the Wondrous Cross.\u201d He concluded this song with the words, \u201cLove so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.\u201d Watts saw that to which every Christian should awaken: God wants us to love Him with all of our lives and all of our hearts, and He desires that we surrender every aspect of our being to Him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even the Lord\u2019s prayer, which I prayed ritualistically for years, contains a plea for the Lordship of Christ to be realized. \u201cYour kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven\u201d (Matthew 6:10). I prayed that for years without really realizing what I was saying. When I said, \u201cYour kingdom come,\u201d I was really asking that Christ\u2019s reign, rule, and dominion be established and realized, and where does that begin? It must start in the heart of the one who is praying. As Tommy Tenney said, \u201cWe cannot sincerely pray, \u2018Thy kingdom come\u2019 until we have legitimately prayed, \u2018My kingdom go.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
May God help us realize the fullness of His plan for our lives, and may we find our greatest fulfillment in trusting God completely as we consecrate, surrender, and yield our lives totally unto Him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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