Lordship of Jesus Christ

Sermon title : Lordship of Jesus Christ

Today’s text: Genesis 12:1-9  by Hideki Kusunoki

Introduction

Recently, I was listening to the message of a well-known preacher on the internet. Within his 30 minute segment, he never once mentioned the resurrection of our Lord Jesus nor did the forgiveness of sins get mentioned in his message.  It seems that he was almost afraid of mentioning the word “sin” in his message.  In fact, he did not directly mention that we are all sinners.  He preached a gospel which excluded the very nature of man, which is sinful.  And a  redemption from this sinful nature is impossible without Christ’s atonement.  What he was focused on in his message was the Grace of God.  We are saved by grace through faith in Christ.  That is true.  We are indeed saved only by Grace, not by works according to Ephesians 2:8-9.  His position held out that the gospel is all about grace.  We need God’s grace.  He missed the mark there.  The reason why we need grace in the first place was never mentioned in his message.  Why do we need’s God’s grace in order to be saved?  Because we are sinners.  A sinner’s works can not save anyone nor are they by themselves good for anything.  Todays megachurch shys away from the mention of the sinful nature of man.  The church is presenting an incomplete gospel.  It is a partial gospel, if we do not mention the sinful human nature.  But where does our sinful nature come from?  What is the yardstick to even say that we fall short?  It is the nature of God being Holy.  As a Baptist preacher, I hold that according to the sinful nature of man, we are totally depraved and therefore need a Savior who is totally holy.

When we look into the life of Abraham in the Old Testament, we see God’s election for His people.  We know that Abraham was the first chosen person in the history of mankind.  This is a question of  the typology of God’s election. Why was Abraham chosen as the father of the Jewish nation?  Was he somebody special to acquire God’s favor?  Let us investigate the secret of God’s election today

“Abraham” means “father of many nations”, and he indeed became a father of great nations by God’s covenant in Genesis 12:2-3.  Abraham had been living in Canaan for 11 years after God called him out of his father’s home country.  Abraham was 86 years old when his first son Ishmael was born.  Ishmael (“God hears”, in Hebrew) was born to Abraham through Hagar, Sarah’s Egyptian maidservant, and today’s Arab nations come from his line.  Ishmael himself had 12 sons and they would eventually become the Arab tribes in the Arabian Desert.  It was in Mesopotamia where Ishmael and his descendants settled near the Euphrates River.  Ishmael’s descendant tribes became moon worshippers at Babel.  2500 years later, the same descendants were converted to Islam.

According to the Q’uran, the prophet Mohammad received God’s final revelation via the  Angel Gabriel.  Islam was the restoration of monotheism which was once established by Abraham.  The New Testament said in Revelation 22:18 “If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book.”  Even if an angel came to speak a new revelation, Mohammed should not have believed him.  Unfortunately, they did and Islam was born.

At the age of 100, Abraham received another son Isaac.  This time through his wife Sarah. It took 25 years to fulfill God’s promise.  It probably seemed like an eternity to Abraham. They had their promised son at last, but God was not finished testing Abraham yet.  When Isaac was 16, God revealed to Abraham and told him to take his son to the region of Moriah.  Abraham was sacrifice his promised son as a burnt offering (Gen 22:2) Moriah is believed to be modern-day Jerusalem and the hill where Solomon built his temple.

According to Gen 12:1-3, God’s promises have been fulfilled in verse 1-3

“I will make you into a great nation.” Today’s Jewish and Arab peoples descended from Abraham. See Gen. 21:18 ; 25:13–18 . Despite the later Babylonian Captivity, recent studies estimate as many as 1 in 10 persons in the first-century Roman Empire were Jews!

“I will bless you.” Abraham lived a long life ( 25:7 ), and was blessed with great wealth ( 13:2 ). Best of all, God forgave and protected him ( 12:17 ; 20), and Abraham was granted an intimate personal relationship with the Lord ( 15:6 ; 18:17–19 ).

“I will make your name great.” Adherents of three world religions honor Abraham. Islam, Judaism, and Christianity

“And you will be a blessing.” God’s revelation to man came through Abraham’s descendants.

“I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse.” God has judged nations hostile to the Jewish people. See Isa. 10:9–19 ; Jer. 50 ; Obad.; Nahum.

 The last promise which is

“All peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

The Bible revealed its secret of blessedness in Christ.  Jesus is Abraham’s descendant is according to the genealogy found in the book of Matthew.  The New Covenant with Christ is the source of blessings.  All people on earth whether Jew or gentile will be blessed by His atonement.   Now the promises were spoken a to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as referring to many, but rather to one, “ b And to your seed,” that is, Christ.

      17      What I am saying is this: the Law, which came a four hundred and thirty years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise.

When the New covenant comes to in effect, the old covenant loses its power.  We are no longer bound to the Old Covenant.  We are free from the Law.  The law itself has lost its effectiveness.  Since Jesus died on the cross, the power of sin has been broken.  Old Testament is another way to say Old covenant.  Sometimes it refers to the Mosaic covenant.  As New Testament believers, we are not bound to the Old covenant.  Jesus fulfilled the Law.  He inaugurated the new covenant by grace thorough faith.  Therefore we are saved not by the Old Testament sacrifice of animals, but through the sacrifice once and for all through Christ

So what was the purpose of Abrahamic covenant?  Why was he chosen as God’s messenger?

First, The Abrahamic covenant was sealed by the covenant of circumcision. All males in Abraham’s household, including slaves and their male children were circumcised when Abraham promised his son Isaac.  Circumcision is a symbol of God’s covenant.  Jewish normally circumcise their sons since it is a traditional act of obedience.

Let’s look at the New Covenant through the blood of Jesus Christ ( Luke 22:20 ; Heb. 8 ). The Hebrew word translated “covenant” has several meanings: (1) to eat with, which suggests fellowship and agreement; (2) to bind or fetter, which means commitment; and (3) to allot, which suggests sharing. when God makes a covenant,He enters into an agreement to commit Himself to give what He promises. It is purely an act of grace.

 Second, Abraham recognized Lordship in his life.

Abraham is the first Jew, who established God’s sovereign choice. He was the only person that worshiped YHWH (Lord) in the midst of Idol worshipers in Ur.  Even his father and his brothers were idol worshipers.  He was the only YHWH worshiper.  The call of Abraham was a rescue mission, through which God wanted to preserve Abraham’s faith in Him.

Application

Abraham was chosen to be the father of many nations including today’s Jewish and Arab nations.  God’s sovereign choice was exercised.  In the same manner, you and I were chosen by God to be His children.  We are saved since God has chosen us.  We must respond to God’s divine election as Abraham did.  We must recognize God’s Lordship in our life.

When Abraham was told to sacrifice his only son Isaac, Abraham exercised his obedience to God’s Lordship.  He believed and he acted upon it.  God’s Lordship must be exercised in our life.  We have two types of believers in our fellowship.  One type is the Christian who recognizes Jesus as Savior only.  He/she knows salvation through Jesus and received Him.  The other Christian adds another dimension to their relation ship with God, and also recognizes Jesus as YHWH the Lord.  He/she knows the salvation through God’s grace and acts upon it.  He/she makes the Lord the center of their life.  Every　decision whether big or small, must be made after consulting with our Lord Jesus.  We are saved, therefore we exercise the God’s Lordship in our daily life.  Are we doing this?

Do you exercise your faith in God as just a Savior?  Salvation is a divine choice, yet we have a choice to exercise our Lordship in Christ.  Is He the Savior or Is He the Savior and the Lord? The choice is yours.
Shall we pray.