Dwight Fletcher | Jesus is Lord on our behalf

WHAT DOES it really mean that Jesus Christ is Lord? Why does it matter? And how does it bring hope for the believer today? These are the questions we’ve been answering in this series on Jesus Christ. You see, not only should believers declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, but we should understand what that means because it changes everything.

LORD CONFIRMS JESUS’ DEITY

In Acts 2:36 (NIV), Peter said, “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.” This was a great theological statement! The Greek word Lord is ‘kurios’, meaning supreme in authority. It is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word ‘Yahweh’.

Yahweh is the personal, covenantal name of God. Using this term for Jesus is a clear affirmation of His deity. Jesus is God. Jesus was always Lord, and the resurrection put an undeniable stamp on it. It proves Jesus was God and not an imposter.

GOD THE FATHER ESTABLISHED JESUS AS LORD

In Ephesians 1:20-22, the Apostle Paul affirms that it’s the power of God that re-established the Lordship of Jesus. Speaking of the power we have in Christ, he said, “That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the Church….”

This means that when God seated Christ in the place of authority, it was also for our benefit that He did this. Jesus is high and exalted. He runs things. God the Father did this and placed Jesus above everything on our behalf.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN THAT ‘JESUS IS LORD ON OUR BEHALF’?

God had our benefit in mind. Let us be reminded of why that is. In the Book of Genesis, we see that Adam and Eve were created to be God’s ambassadors on earth, to institute God’s control over all the earth. Mankind was designed to demonstrate God’s goodness, love, light and peace to every corner of God’s Kingdom on earth. Man was made like God. We were designed as God’s ambassadors to rule the earth on behalf of God.

However, Adam and Eve abandoned the plan of God. Satan hatched a plan to destroy their superiority by exploiting what he determined was their weakest area – the thought that they are missing out on life. He tempted Eve with the thought that God was withholding something good from her. Adam and Eve disobey God, and immediately their spiritual connection with God was broken. Instead of becoming more like God, they became like Satan. Instead of being God’s agent, man became Satan’s pawn, and this one move opened the door to the brokenness we see and experience in the world.

Man was now under the curse of sin, and although God loved His creation, He could not reverse the curse by simply making it disappear.

So, the Lord Jesus volunteered to be the perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world, to be punished and die in the place of sinful man.

Now that He has risen, the Father re-established Him to the highest place on our behalf so that we can be restored to the place God ordained us to be.

For believers, this means that the One who has all authority in the universe is on our side today ... and every day. Everything that stands against us, Jesus has authority over that. This gives us hope for a better life and victory over every sin, disease, pain and suffering. Now, that’s what I call Good News!