Kingship and Lordship | Submitting Our Actions to Christ
One of the major issues with only focusing on our relationship with Jesus Christ comes when we confront our sin face to face. Friendships, as we understand them, put us on level playing fields of authority with the other person. While we certain have been declared friends of God, this friendship is balanced alongside the Kingship of Jesus Christ. When we first commit our lives to Jesus Christ, this is only the first step. This is the rebirth into the newness of our life. As we grow in our relationship and understanding of the Kingship and Lordship of Jesus Christ, we allow the Holy Spirit to shape and direct our actions to reflect the will of God. We do not simply not sin but in making Jesus Christ the Lord and King of our lives, we allow the direction of God to guide every aspect of what we do.
Obedient to Kingship as Love of God
Stepping into the light of Christ focuses a light on the darkness of our hearts, revealing our sin condition for what it is. While we claim that we love Jesus, the evidence of true love of Jesus means submitting to Jesus Christ as King and Lord of all areas of our sin, including our sin nature. “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.” (John 15:12-15, ESV) The grace of God does not give mankind free license to sin however we would like in whatever manner we feel would be the most fun. Our love for God looks like submitting to His Lordship and Kingship. Pursuing the desires of the flesh run contrary to pursuing the will of God in our lives. Thus, in our pursuit of our relationship with Jesus Christ, we cannot continue to remain in sin. The two stand in opposition to each other. Jesus openly declared to His disciples that He would be die for their sins out of a profound love for a rebellious people. The expression of our love for Christ looks like following the commands of God rather than chasing after our own desires.
John the Baptist consistently exhorted the people to repent and believe the good news. The idea of repentance carries with it the understanding of turning our back on our past and moving in a new direction. We make an about-face on our previous life of sin no matter how much we feel we may want it. The enticement of sin will never fully go away until we arrive at the other side of eternity. Yet, as we pursue our relationship to Jesus Christ, by bowing before God, we willingly submit our behavior to God allowing Him to remove our sinful nature and replace it with the Holy Spirit. “‘But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” (Galatians 5:18-24, ESV) Submitting to the Kingship and Lordship of Jesus Christ involves crucifying the works of the flesh (of which all of us are guilty) for the glory of God to be displayed through our lives.
More Than Avoiding Sin
Yet, do not think that if you just avoid sin good enough, you will have earned eternity or even walked out your faith. Repentance is only the first step in our eternal relationship with Jesus Christ and turning our backs on sin. Similarly, there is a profound difference between seeking to just avoid hell and seeking the heaven of the full presence of God. A life lived in the fullness of the presence of God does more than simply avoid sin but aligns the fullness of our life according to the purpose that God intended for us to live. After all, Jesus did not come to die so that we would not sin but rather that we could enjoy His presence for all eternity and to redeem mankind to Himself.
In our pursuit of our relationship with Jesus Christ, we cannot forget that the submission to the Kings is rooted in experiencing the fullness of life as God intended. Expressing our faith in Jesus Christ is not about just not sinning but stepping into the fullness of life by being fully obedient with what we do and what we do not do. Thus, we should not view the submission to God as a trial, a pain, or God attempting to remove the fun in our lives. More than that, as we shape our lives according to the will of God, we experience a joy that goes beyond anything our flesh pursues. Ultimately, the joy that comes from obedience to our Savior far surpasses the joy of following our flesh. Submission to Jesus Christ as King and Lord and our lives puts to death our old life but draws us into the life that God intended us to live from the beginning. Everything finds its foundation on the declaration that Jesus is Lord!
