PRIEST & KING.
Accepting Jesus Christ as a saviour is the first step into new relationship with God. We actively hear and even preach to others about allowing Jesus to save us from our sin and its deadly consequences. To some extent we all know we need a saviour, we all desire to be saved and being saved feels good. However, if we view Christ as only a saviour, we neglect to fully see and experience him in his full nature.
Christ wants to be saviour and LORD in our lives, but some forsake His Lordship. Having a LORD of your heart and life doesn’t always feel good, but it’s a requirement for us to live as a new creation in Christ. Throughout NT scriptures we read the statement ‘our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ’. We may even say it ourselves, but do we live it? Can you truly say that Jesus has saved you and is now Lord over your life?
Lord can be defined as someone having power, authority or influence over others. Christ by nature is Lord. So if we are only leaning into and accepting him as our gracious saviour we are neglecting to acknowledge a whole part of his nature.
He is our High Priest (Heb 2:17), the one true sacrifice that atoned for all sin, he is our saviour. But we cannot neglect the fact that Christ is also our King (Ephesians 1:20-21), so he is both Priest and King and therefore must be Saviour & Lord. Scripture tells us that Jesus is ‘a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek’ (Gen 14:18, Psalms 110:4, Heb 5:6). Melchizedek was a human who held the office of BOTH Priest & King, highlighting that Jesus must also be Priest and King FOREVER.
In 2 Corinthians 2:14-16 Paul opts to describe himself and the apostles using imagery of captive slaves in Christs triumphant procession. Galatians 2:20 points to us dying to self and having Christ living in us instead. Romans 6:18 describes us as slaves to righteousness after salvation. And throughout his NT letters Paul refers to himself as Christ’s servant. This all points to a relationship where Christ is our Master and in control of our lives. A relationship where he is LORD. So when we receive the person of Jesus can we pick & choose which parts we accept?
We live in a current society obsessed with self. I and me, self discovery, self worth & self love. We are told to be our own leaders, lords of our own life. However in the kingdom of God things work differently: we handover ourselves, our lives, desires and wants to God and invite him to be in control of our lives and hearts (Matt 16:24). Jesus yearns to lead your life AFTER you have received his salvation, so we have to ask ourselves if it is possible to receive Christ as our saviour but not accept his Lordship. Is this not a disservice to God’s perfect gift of Jesus?
The reality of this Christian walk is Jesus cannot truly be our saviour if he is rejected as Lord.