In Acts 2, after the resurrection of Christ, we have the first gospel sermon preached by Peter. The theme of this sermon was Jesus and His resurrection from the dead. God, Peter tells us, has raised Him up and made Him both Lord and Christ (Acts 2:29-36). Not only did God raise Jesus up from the Hadean realm (Acts 2:26-27), but He also gave Him a name above every name (Ephesians 1:17-21).
Whether man recognizes Jesus as Lord or not does not change the truth about His Lordship. Jesus is Lord, and as such, every tongue should confess Him, and every knee should bow before Him (Philippians 2:9-11). One thing is for sure—in the day of judgment, everyone will recognize Jesus as Lord (Romans 14:10-11). The question, then, is not whether Jesus is Lord, but will you accept Jesus as YOUR Lord?
Lip service will not do when it comes to accepting Jesus as Lord. If one really accepts the Lordship of Christ, the evidence will be in the life that he lives. Paul is a great example of one recognizing Jesus as Lord. Here are some examples of how he did that.
Paul Was Consistently Obedient
A good example of this was when Paul wanted to go Asia and preach the gospel, but the Spirit forbade him from do so. Did Paul try to reason with God about it? No, he just changed course and decided that he would go up to Bithynia instead. However, once again, the Spirit commanded him not to go because He had other plans for Paul. Thus, Paul headed to Troas, obeying the instructions of God when he received the call to go into Macedonia to preach the gospel there. Luke wrote, “And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them” (Acts 16:10). Because Paul accepted Jesus as his Lord, he always put God’s will before his own, and as a result, great progress was made in the spreading of the gospel.
Paul Exercised Personal Discipline
Paul knew that following Jesus as Lord would take living a life of purity, characterized by a denying of self and putting God first. That kind of life does not happen by accident. It is only accomplished by having a fixed purpose and personal discipline, and that is how Paul lived. He said, “But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified” (1 Corinthians 9:27). Do you exercise that kind of discipline in your life? If Jesus is your Lord, you do.
Paul Counted All Things Lost
Anything that would stand in Paul’s way from serving Christ, no matter how beneficial it was to him personally, had to be removed. So, all the things associated with his past in Judaism, including being a Pharisee, was counted but loss (Philippians 3:3-11). Are you willing to give up anything that will hinder you spiritually? Paul did because he knew who his Lord was. He crucified self and allowed Christ to live in him and direct his life (Galatians 2:20).
Jesus is Lord! Have you accepted Him as such? If so, do you demonstrate it every day as Paul did? Remember, Jesus said, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?”
As you wind down for the night, think about these things.