Lordship in Daily Living Lesson Three — E.A. Johnston

Rejecting a Self-Made God

Most folks today, in our churches, have gotten out their pocket knives and they have carved out a God for themselves that won't get in the way of their daily living. But that's not the gospel of the Son of God.

Salvation as Life Under Christ's Lordship

Our lesson today, friends, in our Lordship series, is Lordship in daily living, as our lives should be lived, moment by moment, under the Lordship of Christ Jesus. When Jesus was here in His earthly ministry, as He passed through towns and villages, those who encountered Him experienced change.

It was a changed life. That's what salvation is, friends, a changed life. I like the t-shirt that a new believer had printed up. It read, Under New Management. And I'll never forget the comment made by a South Korean pastor who said the main difference between American Christians and South Korean Christians was that Americans made a commitment to Christ, and it stops there, whereas South Koreans make a surrender to Jesus as Lord, and it begins there.

Consistency Instead of Elevator Christianity

Years ago, I preached a sermon I entitled, Elevator Christianity, and in that message I said most believers live an up-and-down walk with God. One day, they were on the top floor of the building in the penthouse of victory, and then strangely, the very next day, they were down in the basement of defeat, that their life was like an elevator, where they were continually up and down with God without any consistency in their walk with God.

Full Surrender and Victory Over Sin

But that's not the normal Christian life, friends. The normal Christian life is a life of consistency, lived under the Lordship of Christ Jesus. When Stephen Ofert preached on the Lordship of Christ and full surrender, he tied that to Christ's authority in the life of victory.

I quote him now. The purpose for which Christ experienced the passion and pain of the cross was that you and I might break with sin forever. This is how Paul starts the paragraph, and this is how he concludes it.

How shall we, who died to sin, live any longer in it? And then, Dr. Ofert goes on to say, in light of all that grace has done, we must use our authority in Christ to repudiate the law of sin. Every time we are tempted to succumb to it, when sin, in any form, knocks at the door of our lives, we should cry out, God forbid.

Failure to do this shows that we have never understood the meaning of God's redeeming act in Jesus Christ. The emphasis that Stephen Ofert placed on Lordship had a profound impact on my life personally.

It revolutionized my entire Christian experience. Dr. Ofert taught me to trust the indwelling Christ, to live His life through me. The Christian life is impossible, friends, to live apart from the enabling power of the Lord Jesus Christ by His Spirit.

Dependence on the Holy Spirit

We must depend, moment by moment, on the Holy Spirit to enable us to die to self and live to God. And when we sin, we must confess sin at once, when conscience of broken fellowship with God, the Lordship of Christ should be our ruling influence in our day-to-day living.

Walking in Agreement With God

For in Amos 3 .3 it states, Can two walk together, except they be agreed? The answer is, of course not. A consistent walk with God occurs beneath utter surrender to the Lordship of Christ. We must surrender to Christ's absolute authority in our daily living.

Christ as Savior and Complete Master

We cannot separate His Saviorhood from His Lordship. He is the One who has thrown rites in our lives every day. The Christ of the Bible must reign, reign over our surrendered lives. When we are saved, our time is no longer our own, our money is no longer our own, our body is no longer our own.

Christ must be a complete Master. Let us pray.