THE TRANSFORMING CHURCH
SUNDAY SERVICE April 17, 2022 (2nd Service)
Minister: Rev Sam Oye
Text: Philippians 2:5-11
Topic: The Wonders of His Presence Through Lordship
Look to your neighbour and say, ‘There is Power in His Lordship’!
We started a conversation in the first service where we established that some of the most religious areas or environment coincidentally experience the worst in terms of development, economic strength, sound moral principles and even discipline. As a student of history, I know that Christianity is not the recipe for underdevelopment. Indeed, Christianity has been at the fulcrum of development. Switzerland is what it is today because of people like Ulrich Zwingli and Martin Luther in Germany, who designed principles for national development from the scriptures. So, is it possible that there is something wrong with the way we read our own Bible or how we interpret it? We have a number of localities, states and communities with heightened religious activities that are not translating to the level of growth and development it should. Rather, most of these communities or states are renown for less than savoury characteristics.
Some of the cases I am treating is about young ladies in church taking over the husbands of fellow members. Or instances where pastors are exchanging fisticuffs over church offering. These are not the kind of reports that should be coming out of church. One of the senior men of God in this country spoke of how his house help confessed to being paid to administer poison to his food. We find scriptures to back up every wrong act. The question is why? Why are Christians the most notorious thieves in public offices? With all the remarkable moves of God in this country, how come as Christians, we haven’t been able to turn things around in this country? Why are things getting worse on our watch?
Here is the foundation of the problem, we have a country where so many tongues are confessing Jesus as saviour but what will change our county is when we begin to confess Him as Lord. Psalm 23:1 says The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. This means the reason why I shall not lack is because the shepherd is my Lord, not my saviour. The whole of this chapter of the Bible is predicated on things happening to and for a believer because the shepherd is his Lord. Romans 14:8-9 For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living. According to this scripture, what does Jesus want to be in your life? What about in your death? The question now is, is He your Lord? This is a question that can be easily answered in the affirmative, but the real intent of the Lordship of Christ is deeper than just saying an easy yes. The Hebrew word for Lord within our meaning is Adonai while the Greek word often represented in the New Testament is Kurios. To be your Lord means He is your Owner, the Owner, the Master, the Ruler, the Supreme Authority and the Controller.
We also established in the first service that the ultimate reason why Jesus died and rose again, and He is alive. Romans 14:9. According to this scripture, the reason for the death and resurrection of Jesus is to establish His Lordship over all men. Jesus did not die ultimately for your sins to be forgiven. The forgiveness of your sin is not the end, it is a means to an end. Under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, we are stewards, owners are rebels. We don’t own anything because it first belong to the Owner, the Master. So, let me ask, if Jesus is your Lord, what do you own? Nothing! This is why S.M. Zwemer can say that ‘unless Jesus is Lord of all, He is not Lord at all’. F.B Meyer once mentioned how after agonizing in prayer about the state of his life despite his anointing and the move of God through him, found out from God that although he has given God many keys into his life, he was yet to deliver the most important key. Have you noticed how much you struggle and suffer greatly in areas of your life where Jesus is not the Lord of your life? In the Bible, despite the obvious, when David first sought the face of God before trying to rescue his wives and others 1 Samuel 30:8 –And David enquired at the Lord, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all. From David’s example, can you see how Lordship simplifies your life? You are relying too much on your knowledge, exposure or even experience. Put your reliance on the Lordship of Christ. Everything you are looking for can be found in your submission to His Lordship. Why not leverage on this? Why not put reliance on Jesus and His Lordship? Why not commit yourself to Him today?