The 'J' Word

JESUS IS LORD!

There, I said it, and I’m glad. He is Lord, after all, whether we submit to Him willingly or not. Before it’s all said and done...

10…at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:10,11 NLT)

I’d much rather submit willingly to His Lordship and receive the blessings associate with doing so than to be forced against my will (as will the Devil and his demons) to submit in the day of judgment.

According to the Apostle Paul, in his letter to the church at Corinth, no one can say that ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the power of the Holy Spirit of God.

So I want you to know how to discern what is truly from God: No one speaking by the Spirit of God can curse Jesus, and no one is able to say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:3 NLT)

The fact of the matter is that Jesus is what sets Christianity apart from every religion and belief system on earth. Christianity is NOT a religion, despite the fact that demographers include us in their statistical records along with all the religions of the world. To be a Christian is to have a personal relationship with the Lord, Jesus Christ. Without Him, there would be no Christianity.

We live in an age when it’s perfectly acceptable to admit to belief in or acquiescence to God or to some ‘power’ greater than we are. We live in a culture in which many believe they are ‘Christian’ by mere virtue of the fact that they are American. (After all, doesn’t America claim to be a ‘Christian’ nation?) There are even those who would infer that all deities are equal, regardless of what name one gives to his ‘god,’ and that faith is all that matters, regardless of in what or in whom we place our faith. In the spirit of tolerance and cooperation, shouldn’t we all just try to get along?

In answer to that question, let’s read what Jesus said in response to a question from one of the religious leaders of His day.

28One of the teachers of religious law was standing there listening to the discussion. He realized that Jesus had answered well, so he asked, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?" 29Jesus replied, "The most important commandment is this: 'Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. 30And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.' (Mark 12:28-30 NLT)

He couldn’t have said it any more clearly. “The Lord our God is the one and only Lord!” That leaves NO room for anyone to claim that we all worship the same god or all gods are the same. One either worships the God of Creation, the God of Abraham, the Great ‘I AM,’ or he worships a false god.

Many have criticized Christianity for being ‘narrow-minded’ in believing that there is only one God and that Jesus is the only way to salvation. So since when is narrow-mindedness a bad thing? Once again, read what Jesus said.

13"You can enter God's Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose the easy way. 14But the gateway to life is small, and the road is narrow, and only a few ever find it.” (Matthew 7:13,14 NLT)

Wouldn’t it be better to be narrow-minded and enter God’s eternal Kingdom than to be so open-minded that your brains fall out? God’s way to salvation may be narrow, but it’s NOT exclusive! It would be if He only intended for a few to find the way to salvation, but His Word says otherwise.

The Lord is not slow in fulfilling His promise, in the sense in which some men speak of slowness. But He bears patiently with you, His desire being that no one should perish but that all should come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9 NLT)

Those who see Christianity as being exclusive do not fully know and understand the heart of the Christ of Christianity. He came to be the Savior of ALL!

16"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17God did not send his Son into the world to condemn it, but to save it.”
(John 3:16,17 NLT)

There are those who would argue that they believe that Jesus lived and was a good man, or a good teacher, or even a prophet, but that He wasn’t the Son of God. I bring to your attention the famous ‘trilemma’ of C. S. Lewis.

“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: ‘I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.’ That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”
[C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, Book 2, Chapter 3, The Shocking Alternative]

From anintellectual perspective, to believe that Jesus was someone other than the Christ, the promised Messiah, the Son of God, the Second Person of the Godhead, is pure foolishness. From a Biblical perspective, however, such a belief would cost its believer his eternal salvation. The Bible is very clear as to the Way to salvation.

11For Jesus is the one referred to in the Scriptures, where it says, 'The stone that you builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.' 12There is salvation in no one else! There is no other name in all of heaven for people to call on to save them. (Acts 4:11,12 NLT)

Our politically correct culture has so ‘sanitized’ our language as to have all but eliminated the name of Jesus from our vocabulary. I’ve seen high-profile Christians on talk shows, news shows, and in other settings speak openly of God, but avoid using the name of Jesus. Some rationalize that the name Jesus is ‘offensive’ to some and that they’d rather not offend anyone. I know of Christian organizations and ministries that are reluctant to use the name of Jesus in their brochures and on their Web sites in order to appeal to ‘the masses.’ Problem is, without Jesus, we have nothing to offer the masses.

Jesus said, “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto myself.” (John 12:32 NLT) I believe that He was referring to His being ‘lifted up’ on the cross of Calvary, but I also believe that when we lift Him up by proclaiming His name and His Lordship, He will also draw people to Himself for the express purpose of saving them.

I just want to go on record as saying, along with Paul, the Apostle, that…

…I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes – Jews first and also Gentiles.
(Romans 1:16 NLT)

I am a Christian because I have received Jesus Christ into my heart and life as my personal Savior and Lord. I wear His name proudly because of what He has done for me. The word Christian literally means ‘follower of Christ.’ That is who I am. I will NEVER use the name of Jesus flippantly or with the intension of offending anyone, but neither will I refuse to mention His Name. The Name of Jesus has the power to convict, to heal, to deliver, and to save. How can we, who call ourselves Christians—followers of Christ—keep from speaking His Name loudly and proudly? It is the ONLY name through which anyone can be saved.

There is salvation in no one else! There is no other name in all of heaven for people to call on to save them. (Acts 4:12 NLT)

If you don’t know Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and Lord, follow the simple directive in the following verse of Scripture so that you may be eternally secure in the arms of our loving Father.

For if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9 NLT)

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