What we do about the lordship of Jesus is a better indication of our faith than what we think. This is what the world wants from our rhetoric, what the man of God longs for in a shepherd—someone daring enough to be different, humble enough to make mistakes, wild enough to be burned in the fire of love, real enough to make others see how phony we are.
~ Brennan Manning
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace, with which He has blessed us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of His will, according to His purpose, which He set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in Him, things in heaven and things on earth.
~ paul, The Least of The Apostles, in Ephesians 1
Oh beloved, it is true. Those of us who have truly trusted Christ Jesus for our salvation have also become His bond-slaves. To be saved by Him is to become His – for He is truly both Saviour and Lord. And the terms of this deal are not negotiable. Our salvation is an exceedingly real and mysterious exchange. For the life we now live is utterly different than before. We now live His Life. And He now Lives ours, in us and through us.
Some of us come to the edge of this question of G_d overtaking our lives, and we flinch. We have heard (and are deeply encouraged!) by the words describing His grace towards us. We are calmed, and even attracted to the idea that we can’t do anything helpful enough to get ourselves to heaven. And in this attraction, we begin to feel the warmth of His Love towards us.
But He gives more grace. The Love, which at first simply warms us, takes on a Life of its own within us. And we begin to burn.
And as the fire of His Love burns away the falseness of our old man, the fear of G_d actually taking charge of our life is now seen for the foolishness it is. For instead of putting us into slavery, He goes about working to smash anything that holds us back from the freedom His servants must enjoy to fully participate in the Great Commission He has for us.
Said simply: The Grace of G_d and His Lordship are just two aspects of His goodness which He uses to set us free. They are not opposed to each other. They are both beautiful manifestations of His goodness and Love towards us.
We come under His control, and His grace makes the work He does in us quick and sure.
We yield to His authority, and His grace sets us free from the illusion that we ever had control anyway.
We submit to His Love, and His grace frees us see that all we were ever looking for before was Him. He was, is and will be everything we ever need.
We willingly bend the knee and recognize Him as King of The Universe, and His grace puts a hand on our shoulder – and bids us rise a co-regent of His domain.
We cast ourselves before Him, and His grace casts our sin into the depths of an infinite ocean of His mercy – to be remembered no more.
We obey His command to fear not, and His grace blasts those fears back into the abyss from which they arose – never to bother us again.
Can we see it? It took Infinite strength to accomplish our salvation. It took (and takes) the KING of kings and LORD of lords to do it. But the work of our salvation is not a re-entry into bondage. It is, rather, an entry being made for us into a completely new level of existence. For we, under His authority, are the kings and lords He is making ready for eternity.
Will you let Him beloved? Today is the day. Let Him have you.
