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| Section: Basic Christian Living:
courses for new Christians |
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Beginning with God |
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9. Who's In
Charge?: |
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The Lordship
of Christ |
Ephesians
1:20-23
'[God] raised [Jesus] from the dead and seated him at his right
hand in the heavenly realms… And God placed all things under
his feet and appointed him to be head over everything
for the church, which is his body.'
'Jesus is Lord'
You used to be a servant of
Satan and jumped to obey his every command (mostly without realising
it). Now, as a Christian, you're under a new authority: that
of the Lord Jesus. The most striking characteristic of the Christian
as distinct from the unbeliever is that the Holy Spirit enables
him to say (and mean), 'Jesus is Lord.'
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1
Corinthians 12:3 'No-one can say, "Jesus is Lord,"
except by the Holy Spirit.'
Romans
10:9 'If
you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord,"
and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,
you will be saved.'
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| One day every
tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord (Philippians 2:9-11).
The Christian does it now!
In everyday language, Lord
means 'Boss'—the one who gives directions and expects to
be obeyed. When you came to Christ you said in effect, 'I don't
wish to be guided by Satan or by my own desires any more. I want
to submit every thought, word and action to you, Lord. And if
your command cuts across my feelings or natural inclinations,
it's your command I'll obey.'
So Jesus is your Lord, your
King. You're in a kingdom, the subject of a King who loves you
and is totally dedicated to your welfare.
Does King
Jesus give directions to his subjects?
Yes. He instructed his disciples
to spread the gospel and baptise people, 'teaching them to obey
everything I have commanded you' (Matthew 28:18-20). See
also Romans 7:6. Paul said:
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1
Corinthians 9:21 'I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's
law.'
Under the Old Testament law
of Moses, the primary motivation for obedience was fear of
judgment and death. But now, having been saved freely by
God's grace, our motive as believers for keeping the law of Christ
is love and gratitude.
How can you
keep Christ's law?
 | You must recognise that,
because of your new nature, it's basically easy to please
the Lord. Indeed, you're programmed for it!
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Jeremiah 31:33
'I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God, and they will be my people.'
Jesus said, 'My yoke is easy'
(Matthew 11:30). And the apostle John agreed that 'his commands
are not burdensome' (1 John 5:3).
| Then you need to discover from the
Scriptures, and from the promptings of the Holy Spirit, what the Lord
wants of you, and having found it, deliberately do it, regardless of how
you feel. Right actions will be followed by right feelings. |
John
14:15 'If you love me, you will obey what I command.'
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What
about delegated authority?
You can receive orders directly
from the King. How? By the Holy Spirit, by prayer, and by the
'instruction book'—the Bible.
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But there's another means.
Jesus expects Christians to belong to a community of believers—the
church. And because Christians' vary widely in maturity and experience
in the ways of the King, Jesus has put in the church a structure
of delegated authority. The elders, as shepherds of the flock,
share some of Christ's authority in order to lead Christians
in the right ways. Compare these verses:
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'Submit
yourselves...to God.' (James 4:7)
'Obey your
leaders and submit to their authority.' (Hebrews
13:17)
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Who
appoints these leaders?
God does. Each of the three
Persons of the Godhead has a part in it:
1 Corinthians
12:28
'In the church God has appointed....'
Ephesians
4:11
'It was [Christ] who gave some to be apostles....'
Acts
20:28
'...the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers.'
What God has made a man is
then publicly recognised and ratified before the whole church:
he is set in (ordained) as an elder. This is normally carried
out by apostles and/or their representatives:
Acts
14:23
'Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church
and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in
whom they had put their trust.'
The laying
on of hands is a normal feature of this setting-apart to
ministry in the church (Acts 13:2-3). Timothy, for example, had
hands laid on him both by the elders and by the apostle Paul
(1 Timothy 4:14; 2 Timothy 1:6).
How do the
elders exercise their authority?
Not in a proud, overbearing
way. That's what the Scriptures call 'Gentile' authority (Luke
22:24-28). Rather, the authority of elders is exercised—like
the authority of Christ that it represents—through love,
service and example, for the encouragement and building up
of the people (2 Corinthians 10:8). Peter's words to elders are:
1 Peter
5:2-3
'Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving
as overseers - not because you must, but because you are willing,
as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to
serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being
examples to the flock.'
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Shepherd
Like Jesus, the elder is a
shepherd-figure. Speaking of Jesus, Matthew 2:6 says of Bethlehem,
'Out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd
of my people Israel.'
The job of the shepherd is
to feed, guide and protect. Church leaders feed
the people on God's Word, guide their lives in line with God's
pattern and protect them from harmful influences. Such was Paul's
advice to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20:28-30.
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| 2.
Parent
An elder 'must manage his own
family well' (1 Timothy 3:4), and his parental concern will extend
to the people in the church.
A parent's job is to set
an example, to encourage and to direct the family.
The elder, accordingly, leads by example (1 Peter 5:3). He's
also a great encourager, but he can rebuke when necessary. He
will do both 'with all authority' (Titus 2:15). The word 'authority'
here means 'authoritative command', so where appropriate he will
give directions to both individuals and groups within the church.
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Like Paul,
the local church elder will be like both a father and a nursing
mother in self-sacrificial concern—exhorting, encouraging
and charging the people of God to lead a life worthy of God (1
Thessalonians 2:7-12).
Which aspects
of your life are the elders concerned with?
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As many aspects
as the Lord Jesus is concerned with, which is every one. There
is no spiritual/secular distinction in Christ. Everything
is under his rule; everything is spiritual.
Will the church
leaders tell you what to do?
When necessary, yes. But some
explanation is needed here. A father tells his three-year-old,
'Do this; don't do that,' but as the child grows he gives him
an increasing degree of responsibility for his own actions, until
the child becomes a responsible adult himself.
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So in the church: newborn Christians,
new to the teachings of God's Word, may be helped in the formative
stages by being led quite decisively. But this is always with
the aim of bringing them to a level of maturity in Christ where
their call upon the elders will be for counsel only.
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Good parents
don't discourage questions. You should feel free to share
any questions or misgivings you may have regarding the leaders'
counsel. Theirs is not a big-stick authority.
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parents suppress initiative; indeed, they'll rejoice to
see it. They may need to modify their children's projects sometimes,
but they'll view these initiatives as guidelines to the way in
which their young characters are developing. It's the same
in the church. You don't need the elders' permission before you
take any step in serving the Lord, but they're interested to
know what you're doing in order to bless you with their wisdom.
In throwing yourself into the
life of the church you must ask yourself whether you're willing
for the elders to have this degree of discipling involvement
in your life.
The double
account
'Each of us will give an account
of himself to God' (Romans 14:12). The church leader, however,
will have an extra account to give on that day when we
all stand before the Lord-an account of how he took care of the
flock in his charge:
Hebrews
13:17
'Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch
over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so
that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be
of no advantage to you.'
As men doubly accountable to
God, the elders take their leadership responsibilities very seriously.
They aim to be totally honest and straightforward in their dealings
with the believers given to their charge, 'speaking the truth
in love' (Ephesians 4:15).
Be ready to make this as easy
as possible for them. They need your love and prayerful support.
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