When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. John 19:30
Jesus, the Risen Christ is the Lord of my life. What does that mean? It is not just a title I give Him, it is a way of living. For Jesus to be my Lord means I am free to obey Him, I am free to belong to Him completely. My life is not my own. How can belonging to someone else possibly be freeing? Isn’t that more like indenturement than freedom? No, you see before I let Jesus be my Master, I was a slave to fear, pleasing people, and my natural tendencies toward self-preservation and pride.
John 8:31-38 reads,
“So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 33 They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?”
34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. 35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. 37 I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. 38 I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.”
The truth is Jesus, my God, bought me with His death and saved me with His resurrection. He rose from the dead and obliterated every sin I have ever or will ever commit. I belong to Him. He paid the price for me and it was not cheap. The price was His life. The price was costly, that makes me precious. And it frees me up to be able to live freely for Him. I can easily give up anything in this earthly life, because my life belongs to Jesus and it is eternal with Him in the Kingdom of Heaven. (Acts 20:24, John 3:16). I can give up honor, possessions, money, and accomplishments with no fear. They are not mine. They are God’s, and whatever I give up, He replaces with better and more. (Luke 6:38, Malachi 3:10-11). Romans 3:21-26 describes what it means that Jesus paid for and bought me,
“But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”
Propitiation means appeasement, or recompense (payment) of a debt as an act of goodwill from one for another. Because I belong to God, I understand and want to obey Him. His ownership of me in such a loving and gentle manner, His friendship with me, and His generous sacrifice for me causes me to want to please Him. In my pleasing Him, I no longer concern myself with pleasing people. As I please God it becomes natural for me to do good things for people. He loves them so much, He loves us so much that I know it makes Him happy when I do good things for anyone. That takes away my fears. If someone thinks I am strange for wanting to pray with her, it doesn’t hurt me and it could not only help her, it could change her life. I am no longer a slave to fear, I’m free to be this amazing new person God made me when He became my Lord and adopted me as His daughter. Romans 8:12-17 says it this way,
“So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.”
Believer, is Jesus really the Lord of your life? Do you grasp the freedom of obedience to Him? Do you obey Him or do you obey yourself? Do you follow God’s will or your own? Who is your God and Lord, you or Jesus?
If Jesus is not your Lord and you want to know more, contact me and I would love to answer your questions and help you understand more about Jesus. You can also find out what it means to be saved by reading here.
John 8:31-38 reads,
“So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 33 They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?”
34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. 35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. 37 I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. 38 I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.”
The truth is Jesus, my God, bought me with His death and saved me with His resurrection. He rose from the dead and obliterated every sin I have ever or will ever commit. I belong to Him. He paid the price for me and it was not cheap. The price was His life. The price was costly, that makes me precious. And it frees me up to be able to live freely for Him. I can easily give up anything in this earthly life, because my life belongs to Jesus and it is eternal with Him in the Kingdom of Heaven. (Acts 20:24, John 3:16). I can give up honor, possessions, money, and accomplishments with no fear. They are not mine. They are God’s, and whatever I give up, He replaces with better and more. (Luke 6:38, Malachi 3:10-11). Romans 3:21-26 describes what it means that Jesus paid for and bought me,
“But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”
Propitiation means appeasement, or recompense (payment) of a debt as an act of goodwill from one for another. Because I belong to God, I understand and want to obey Him. His ownership of me in such a loving and gentle manner, His friendship with me, and His generous sacrifice for me causes me to want to please Him. In my pleasing Him, I no longer concern myself with pleasing people. As I please God it becomes natural for me to do good things for people. He loves them so much, He loves us so much that I know it makes Him happy when I do good things for anyone. That takes away my fears. If someone thinks I am strange for wanting to pray with her, it doesn’t hurt me and it could not only help her, it could change her life. I am no longer a slave to fear, I’m free to be this amazing new person God made me when He became my Lord and adopted me as His daughter. Romans 8:12-17 says it this way,
“So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.”
Believer, is Jesus really the Lord of your life? Do you grasp the freedom of obedience to Him? Do you obey Him or do you obey yourself? Do you follow God’s will or your own? Who is your God and Lord, you or Jesus?
If Jesus is not your Lord and you want to know more, contact me and I would love to answer your questions and help you understand more about Jesus. You can also find out what it means to be saved by reading here.
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