Roman. 14:7-9
For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself; for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord's.
When we speak of Jesus SACRIFICIAL SERVICE we are speaking of his willingness to literally leave Heaven, experience daily persecution, and voluntarily die on the Cross. No one has ever done so much for you. No one has ever sacrificed so greatly for you and because HE HAS GIVEN HISLIFE FOR YOU; He has earned the right to be the Lord of our lives.
For there is one God, {and} one mediator also between God and men, {the} man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all the testimony {borne} at the proper time. Jesus was and is the One who Himself- knew no sin {to be} sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
Rom. 14:9 In this verse Paul states-that For to this end Christ died and lived. {Paul reiterates} that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. *Notice the phrase, To this end Christ died What end? To the end - that without HIS death, HIS burial and HIS resurrection, we would still be lost and still be in our sins!
God demonstrated His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Jesus didn t just shed blood as a martyr for a cause; He died, shedding His blood as the purchase price of my salvation.
Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.
Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. Do you understand his meaning? Value?
Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which you have of God, and you are not your own? For you are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, {both of} which are God s.
A lot of folks honor God and Christ with their lips- but their hearts are far from Him, (Mt. 15:8). They mistakenly think that Lordship is merely allegiance, when it is in fact complete submission.
He alone owns our eyes to view His world. He alone owns our hands to do His work. He alone owns our feet to walk in His way. He alone owns our minds to think His thoughts. He alone owns our hearts to love Him fervently. All I can say is AMEN.
Secondly, Jesus rose to pardon us. Also in 14:9- to this end Christ both died, and rose A pardon is the authoritative act of an authoritative individual - reversing a just sentence. There is no doubt, but that ALL men are guilty of sin and therefore lost.
ALL adults sin. Therefore all adults are lost: Rom. 3:23 - all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. 1 Jn 1:10 - If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His Word is not in us. Rom 6:23 offers this encouraging promise- While the wages of sin is death, the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
ALL adults sin. Therefore all adults are lost: His death at Calvary is the God s divine solution to man s greatest need. In our last lesson we illustrated this promise with Paul s description of sin and salvation in 1 Cor. 6:9-10-
1 Cor. 6:9-10- Or do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, 10 nor thieves, nor {the} covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
And such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God. In other words, sin is the problem. Repentance and obedience to the Gospel of Jesus is the solution.
Rom. 14:9 Paul states that Jesus resurrection holds not only THE PROOF of His Divine nature, but THE PROMISE of our justification. Romans 4:25 - {Jesus} was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification. Justification means, made just, or made just as if I d never sinned.
I sin. So do you but Jesus died for our sins! Rom. 6:24b - being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus
Before Louis XII ascended to the throne, he was actually cast into prison and kept in chains. Later, when he did become King, he was urged to seek revenge against his captures. Instead, he prepared a scroll listing all who had perpetrated crimes against him.
Beside every man s name he had placed a cross in red ink. When the guilty heard about this, they feared for their lives and fled.
Then the King explained, The cross which I draw beside each name is not a sign of punishment, but a pledge of forgiveness extended for the sake of the crucified Savior, who upon His Cross forgave His enemies and prayed for them."
3rdly; Rom. 14:9c says basically that- Jesus arose or was revived to possess us as His own. Notice the phrase, Christ both died, and rose, and lived again that He might be LORD both of the dead and of the living.
Jesus continues to be the RAISED (LIVING) LORD today. He was born the LIVING LORD on earth. He remains the LIVING LORD, as the RISEN or REVIVED Lord who reigns from HEAVEN. The term revived carries with it more than just the idea of simply coming back to life. It also means to be restored to a former position of authority.
3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
6 After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; 7 then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; 8 and last of all, as it were to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.
So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on *the right hand of God. (*The place of authority)
When Christ takes over a life, that life is literally under new management. Romans 14:10-12 - But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For WE SHALL ALL stand before the judgment seat of God. (Idea is EACH MAN IS INDIVIDUALLY JUDGED, BY A PERFECT GOD FOR OUR OWN CHOICES, FOR OUR OWN LIVES, AS IS FAIR AND JUST).
11 "As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall give praise to God." So then V.12 - each one of us shall give account of himself to God. Rev 6:16-17- And they said to the mountains and to the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of their wrath has come; and who is able to stand?
we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that everyone may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. No one will be exempt from God s justice.
Where the local judge sat for legal rulings. Where all of the successful athletes would assemble stand and received a crown of laurel leaves as a symbol of their victory. But the others who had not won, received no reward. They had lost the victor s crown.
On that day God s justice will be clearly seen. His grace marvelously revealed. His mercy forever appreciated
Acknowledge Jesus as the Lord of life and death. Submit to the Lordship of Christ now by being baptized into Jesus death, receiving through Him the remission of your sins [or] if you have been baptized, but have returned to sin, confess your past failings, and be restored in Him today.
A well known missionary and speaker was speaking at an evangelistic meeting after his lecture he was approached by a young man who had been greatly stirred by the message of the day on the Lordship of Jesus Christ
He said, I do want Jesus Christ to be Lord of my life. But I am afraid. I am afraid that if I do, God will need me overseas as a missionary, and I do not want to go.
The speaker thought for a moment and then he opened his Bible to Acts 10:14 and explained how absurdly Peter had answered the Lord when he was called to go to Cornelius house
Our Lord told Peter, Rise, kill, and eat. But Peter answered, Not so, Lord! The preacher went on to explain, A servant never dictates to his master. Therefore, to say, Not so, Lord! is a direct contradiction in terms.
He said you have one of two choices: You can either cross out the words not so and leave the word Lord, or to cross out the word Lord and leave the words not so. But you cannot call him Lord and not do His will. At that moment, he handed the man his pencil and walked away.
For several moments the man struggled within, and finally, with tears in his eyes, he crossed out the words not so and cried out for all to hear, Lord! Lord! Lord! When are you going to quit saying not so and start saying Lord!? How about today!