Knowing Jesus as Lord Leads to Peace
You must embrace the nature of your relationship with God to truly rest in Christ. He is your Master. You are His servant…and that is great! This is your second step reclaim the life Jesus promised you. You can only know daily peace in this troubled world if you understand who it is who has your back as you face them. Your life is always under control because of Jesus.
Jesus is your Lord and Master. This means He has absolute unquestioned authority over you. It is the power to command you at will. You are His servant, slave, or bondservant. This means you are owned completely by Jesus, body, mind, and soul. Your entire life is dedicated to His service. You are more than just this role, biblically, but there is no mistaking who is in charge of you;
For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. 1 Corinthians 6:20
The ideas of ownership, slavery, and servitude may not naturally point towards feelings of freedom and security. That is totally understandable given the history of the modern slave trade and world, but this was not what Jesus was referencing. You have to go back to Jesus’ time and see His context to grasp the enormous security offered in His words. You must factor in the time period from which the terms were drawn as well as the identity of the speaker. They change the meaning entirely.
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The Troubles of the World
The ancient world of Jesus’ time was very different then today. The life of a regular person involved back breaking work and harsh conditions every day. Simple things like food and shelter were never taken for granted. You had to expend great effort to just obtain the staples of life and they were not guaranteed. Families lived on the brink disaster. An unexpected crop failure or injury could destroy all of your planning and months of hard work in a moment. They also did not have the social safety nets you take for granted today so this often meant starvation, great loss, and even death. It was not unusual for whole families to be displaced or die of hunger or disease. You can imagine the anxiety involved in such an unrelenting daily battle for mere survival.
A servant living in the house of a great Lord in that day, in contrast, did not need to worry about these concerns. His Master was in charge of providing all of these daily provisions. His Lord secured the food, shelter, and clothing. His Lord also maintained the house, made the plans, and did the work necessary to support the household. These were not the servant’s job or his burdens to bear. The fears that kept regular people up at night had no relevance for the servant as they were His Master’s to figure out.
The servant’s only issue was whether he served a good and powerful Master. If he did, then the servant’s life was extraordinarily straightforward. He simply did his Master’s will while living off the wealth of the Master. He also could trust that a noble Master would care for him and use him for good purposes. His was a life of specific purpose free from worry over the daily struggles.
Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear? For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Matthew 6:31-34
This is the historical backdrop that frames Jesus’ relationship with you. Jesus as your Lord is not a meaningless title. He has all of the authority that the Master of an ancient house had over His servant. He bought you with a price. Since He is a perfect and loving Lord, He uses that power in a way that is beneficial for you and brings good fruit. He values you and gives you a job that suits you. He leads you as you would lead yourself, if you knew everything like He does. Importantly, it also means He accepts all of the responsibilities involved. He promises to provide you shelter in His home, protection, food, and supplies. He calls you to trust Him to take care of the running of the house, family business, and planning. You don’t have to worry about all these things. Those are Jesus’ burden to carry. Your focus is simply doing His will while living off of His wealth. He has all you need in life.
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You can trust your Master to provide perfectly since He is God.
Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? Matthew 6:25-27
Jesus is your Lord and that is great news, but He is also more than that. He is your friend, brother, mediator, and savior. He has total power, but He loved you so much He laid it all down and died for you. He is your Master, but also the Good Shepherd who gives His life for His sheep. He is the Master who provides all the important worldly supplies, but also the one who you can trust to do His job for your good. Jesus knows everything about you and how to lead you. His will for you is exactly what you need to flourish and to see God’s glory. You just have to do your job and let Him do His.
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He is the Master able to provide everything you need and control the whole world. He is also trustworthy.
Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. Matthew 16:24-25
You know this as an abstract idea, Christianity 101, but do you grasp its significance?
What are you worried about? What keeps you up at night?
Wars, catastrophes, and disasters?
Food for tomorrow, your year end employee evaluation?
Politics, elections, the fate of your country, or the morality of society?
The health and faith of your children and others?
People’s opinions, expectations, or rules?
Fixing the world?
Jesus as your Master means these are not your problems to solve or burdens to carry. They belong to your Master’s – the One who has the power to handle them.
The King of Kings has them firmly under control.
There is no doubt that the world is in trouble. This is one of the largest factors leading to Christians like you being so weighed down and worn out today. But guess what?
You don’t need to be. Jesus doesn’t want you to be. He wants you to trust Him as Lord and Master. He wants you to concentrate on doing what He tells you to. There are so many things in the world today that try to steal your blessings as Christ’s servants and leave you fretting, worried, angry, and distracted.
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Understanding Jesus as your Master frees you to leave all those potential burdens with Him. It allows you to enjoy His victory in the midst of a painful world. The Lord is your shepherd…do you trust Him?
The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord
Forever. Psalm 23
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