Titles

"God is Lord" — it seems too obvious to mention!

Yet how does the weightiness of God's authority shape your daily decisions?

As we read through the Bible, it's clear that this is a message that we need to hear over and over again. According to one count, the word for "Lord" is used nearly 8,000 times in the Bible.

Imagine attempting to do a Bible study on those 8,000 verses! If nothing else, we would become increasingly impressed with God's authority over all of life.

For the sake of time, let's focus on just one particular way that God demonstrates his authority. One title for God is the "King of kings and the Lord of lords."

It's the ultimate one-up on anyone else.

"Oh, you're the king of Babylon? Nice. As for me… I'm the king of the king of Babylon."

What this title reveals is that God's Lordship is not relative. The kings of the earth come and go. In the U.S., they get a maximum of eight years to be President, and even then, they're constrained by checks and balances, popular opinion, and circumstances.

But our First Love is the ultimate, absolute, eternal Lord.

And God is called the Lord in many other ways.

For instance, consider the terms Son of David and Son of Man, which are two common ways to describe Jesus.

The theologian Michael Horton explains their significance, writing:

"There are similarities between the titles Son of David and Son of Man. Both emphasize the royal office of the Messiah. However, the latter is more universal. The Son of Man is not only King of the Jews, who will deliver the nation from oppressors, but the King of kings who will conquer the whole earth and judge all nations. Anyone who appropriated the title Son of David would earn the ire of Herod, but anyone who assumed to himself the title Son of Man claimed sovereignty over Caesar himself."

That's strong language. The Jewish people believed that YHWH was the universal God.

But this belief was always contested. If YHWH is such a great God, why are you under Egyptian, Babylonian, or Roman occupation?

But in Jesus, we see the claim made even more powerfully: yes, he's the God of the Jewish people. But he's also the God of every person, including Caesar!

Given that Roman soldiers ended Jesus' life through a shameful crucifixion, it's remarkable that the early Christians believed that it was Caesar who should bow to the authority of Jesus.

Our First Love's lordship is universal.

It is not just that he is Lord of your heart, your bank account, or your body. He's Lord of the nations. He is the promised Messiah of Israel - and he is also sovereign over Caesar.

God's ultimate Lordship is one reason Christians are involved in society. We want to see God honored not only in our individual lives and in our churches but also in the ordinary matters of life. Politics, business, art, entertainment - whatever it is - the Biblical idea is that God is to be the Lord of it all.

As the theologian Abraham Kuyper famously said, "There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!"

To be clear, this does not mean we want to establish a theocracy. God has not given us that assignment.

Instead, it means that we operate under God's rule as we participate in the ordinary activities of our respective societies.

Reflect on a relationship in your life where you have done as you pleased rather than honored God as Lord. Pray for God's guidance on honoring His authority in your interactions with this person. Then, take one concrete step this week to demonstrate God's love in this relationship.