Bible Study 6: Our Lord

6.1 Key themes⤒🔗

In the time of the New Testament, the word “lord ” was used:
- to show respect;
- to mean “master” or “owner”; or
- to show your belief that someone has divine power and authority.
The Son of God has always been Lord, but
- when he became a man (Jesus),
- much of his glory and power became hidden.
The Bible says that God made Jesus Lord. This happened when:
- God raised Jesus from the dead, and
- gave him the highest position in heaven.
We call Jesus our Lord, because he is our Master.
- We belong to him, because he gave his own blood
- to save us from the power of sin and Satan.

6.2 Philippians 2:6-11←⤒🔗

^6.[Jesus Christ] though he existed in the form of God did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped,

^7. but emptied himself by taking on the form of a slave, by looking like other men, and by sharing in human nature .

^8. He humbled himself, by becoming obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross!

^9. As a result God highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name,

^10. so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow

^11. and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

6.3 John 20:28←⤒🔗

^28. Thomas replied to him, 'My Lord and my God!'

6.4 “Lord” in the New Testament←⤒🔗

In the time of the New Testament, the word “lord” was used for three things:

Firstly, it was a word that showed respect. It was like the word “sir” that we use today. For example, when Mary Magdalene thought that she saw the gardener, she called him “lord” (John 20:15).

Secondly, the word “lord” meant “master” or “owner.” For example, if you had a donkey, you were the “lord” of that donkey. Or if you had a slave, you were that slave’s “lord.”

Thirdly, the word was used to speak about divine power and authority. The Romans called their emperor “lord,” because they believed that he was a god. But the Jews (the people of Israel) called God “Lord.” They knew that their God was truly the one with divine power and authority.

6.5 Jesus is Lord←⤒🔗

After the Holy Spirit was poured out, Peter preached to a great crowd. He ended by saying, “Therefore let all the house of Israel know beyond a doubt that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:36).

When Peter said that Jesus is “Lord,” he was saying a very important thing. He was saying that:

Jesus is the Person who deserves all our respect.
Jesus is the Master of everything.
Jesus has all the authority and power of God (because he is God).

But why did Peter say that “God has made” Jesus Lord? Was Jesus not always the Lord? Why did God have to make him Lord? And how did God do this?

6.6 The Lord who humbled himself←⤒🔗

Yes, Jesus has always been God (Lesson 5). Everything that was made, was made through him (John 1:3). So we can say that he has always been the Lord.

But when he became a man, much of his glory and power became hidden. In Philippians 2:7 we read that Jesus “emptied himself by taking on the form of a slave, by looking like other men, and by sharing in human nature.”

Jesus was born as a poor man, in a stable. While he was still very small, his parents fled with him to Egypt. When they came back, they lived in a small town called Nazareth. Jesus became a carpenter, just like his father.

Nothing about him seemed great or important. It was as Isaiah had prophesied: “he had no stately form or majesty that might catch our attention, no special appearance that we should want to follow him” (Isaiah 53:2).

Even when Jesus started to do miracles, the people did not believe in him. The people of his own town tried to kill him. His own family said, “He is out of his mind.” The Jewish leaders said, “He is possessed” (Mark 3:21–22). As Isaiah had prophesied, he was “despised and rejected by mankind, a man of sorrows, and familiar with pain” (Isaiah 53:3).

Jesus humbled himself even more. He made himself a slave of people (Philippians 2:7). And in the end, “he humbled himself, by becoming obedient to the point of death¾even death on a cross!” (Philippians 2:8). To die on a cross was a very shameful thing. Only the worst criminals died in this way. But that is what Jesus did for us. He took all our shame and all our guilt on himself.

6.7 Our Lord←⤒🔗

Jesus Christ is not only the Lord. He is also our Lord (Acts 15:26; Romans 1:4; 1 Corinthians 1:8). If we believe in Jesus, he is the Master and King of our lives. Just like Thomas, we say to Jesus, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28).

When the first people (Adam and Eve) sinned, all people came under the power of Satan. Satan fooled us to think that we were free. But in reality we were his slaves (Ephesians 2:2). And he would not let us go, because he had the right to be our master! He had the right to take us to hell with him. We had given him that right, because we had listened to him. We had sinned against God.

To save us from Satan’s power, Jesus had to take away all our sin. That is why he humbled himself and came to earth. He came to redeem us (buy us back), so that we would not belong to Satan anymore, but to him. For this he had to pay the highest price. He had to give his own blood, so that our sins could be forgiven (1 Peter 1:18-19).

Jesus is the King who gave his life to save us. When we believe in him, then he is our only Master. We do not have to serve Satan and sin anymore. God has “rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves” (Colossians 1:13).

If Jesus is our Lord, then we know that we are on the winning side! Our Lord will come back soon. Then every knee will bow and every tongue will confess, “Jesus Christ is Lord” (verses 10-11 of our passage).