4. God Made Jesus Lord

Today there is a handful of pastors who preach “Jesus is Lord”--and they speak the truth. They're in the right. They are bolder than other preachers. They call people to repentance, and declare that it's not enough to just "receive Jesus in your heart as Savior." Their argument is that you must also receive him as Lord.

That's better than sermonettes for christianettes. It's better than Christianity "lite." But it's not enough. What today's pastors need to preach, if they're really going to be Biblical preachers, is “God made Jesus Lord.” This declaration was the cornerstone doctrine of the Early Church—the very message that gave birth to the Church!

When 3,000 people understood that “God made Jesus Lord” history pivoted on its axis. This doctrine was the spark that set the World ablaze. Peter boldly proclaimed it as his final argument for why people should believe in Jesus at the conclusion of the most Earth-shattering sermon in history. At the end of that sermon on the first Christian Pentecost, he concluded his exhortation with these words:

Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah (Acts 2:36).

Peter preached in Jerusalem 50 days after the Crucifixion.

Peter launched the ministry of the Christian Church that day, only 50 days after the Crucifixion. Peter selected a finale that would cut deep into the heart of his audience like a dagger: 'God has made this Jesus… Lord.' Speaking of the crowd that heard Peter preach, the Scriptures say ‘when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart’ (Acts 2:37).

No less than 3,000 people were convicted of their sins and brought to repentance hearing these words! They heard: ‘God has made this Jesus… Lord’ and 3,000 people repented of their sins, believed in Christ Jesus as Lord, were baptized in water, got forgiven of their sins, and received the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

They became the first-ever members of the Body of Christ. The Church was born that day—the same Church we’re part of today, and the same Church that will be with Christ forever in the Kingdom.

The declaration that ‘God made Jesus Lord’ had a remarkable impact on the people who listened to the preaching of the Apostles, but who does it impact today? It should be transforming all of us—but most likely it doesn’t. Let's look at the reasons why it doesn’t, starting with this: We are a generation that has been blinded. Our generation has been deceived. As a result, we can’t discern the importance of God making Jesus Lord.

Exalted for a Reason

Jesus ascending to Heaven--on his way to the exaltation God had for him.

‘God made Jesus Lord’ is stated in another very important passage—one which we also must examine very carefully. Let’s read it and pay close attention to what it says: that God exalted Jesus with an objective, a purpose.

And, what is that objective? That everyone would recognize Jesus as the Lord.

God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name that* at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in Heaven and on Earth and under the Earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:9-11).

We gave the word that* an asterisk because you need to focus on it. It’s the key to interpreting the passage. All other words in the passage revolve around that because it is a conjunction, a word that joins two clauses. In this case, it's the conjunction that indicates the reason why God exalted Jesus.

So, what was that reason? That everybody should recognize Jesus is Lord. In other words, the passage in its skeletal form says:

God exalted Jesus

that

everybody might acknowledge

Jesus as Lord.

Lord means boss. It means the one in charge, the one nobody should question. A lord is someone who has unquestioned authority.

Jesus serves God in Heaven, standing as a High Priest on our behalf.

This Bible verse tells us why we’re supposed to recognize Jesus as Lord. Did you get it? The reason is because of what God did in him. Do you understand? It's very difficult in these times of apostasy for anyone to understand, but you honor Jesus because God honors him. You esteem Jesus because God esteems him. You glorify Jesus because God glorifies him.

You call yourself a Christian. Good. But did you know that calling yourself a Christian means that you believe not in Jesus? It means that you believe and have put your faith in God--the God who exalted Jesus! Don't take my word for it. The Bible says so.

Through him [Jesus] you believe in God, who raised him from the Dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God (1 Peter 1:21).

Think about it: Anybody who believes in Jesus directly trusts in Jesus but indirectly and ultimately that person trusts in the One who sent Jesus. Our faith is ultimately in God because everything Jesus did and said were from God. They were not Jesus' words or his will. They were the words and will of God.

Jesus cried out and said, ‘The one who believes in me does not believe in me, but in the One who sent me’ (John 12:44; LEB).

So, if God exalted Jesus that everybody might acknowledge Jesus as Lord, when did this exaltation take place exactly? When did God exalt Jesus to the highest place? When did he give Jesus a name above every name? It happened when God resurrected Jesus from the Dead.

You must believe that God, ‘who alone is immortal’ (1 Timothy 6:16) resurrected Jesus, ‘freeing him from the agony of Death’ (Acts 2:24). The God who is the source of all life, gave life to Jesus. Do you believe that? That was the conclusion of the apostles. Jesus said this about them in his prayer to God the night before he was crucified:

... they have come to know that everything which you have given me is from you; for the words which you gave me I have given to them; and they received them and truly understood that I came forth from you, and they believed that you sent me (John 17:7-8; NASB).

God’s Fullness

Now, let’s look at a passage similar to the previous passages—another that says that God was happy to place his divine nature, authority, and glory in Jesus. Those elements: the nature, authority, and glory of God together constitute what Paul calls all God’s fullness. Look at what God did with them: he had them dwell in Jesus.

… [Jesus] is the beginning and the firstborn from among the Dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him [Jesus]… (Colossians 1:18-19)

Jesus served, worshipped, and obeyed God, his Father.

Now, it stands to reason that if this fullness was in God, and God shared it with Jesus at a certain point in time, then prior to that time, it was not in Jesus. So at what point in time did God share his fullness with Jesus? The answer: at Christ’s Resurrection.

Prior to Jesus’ Resurrection he was dead. He did not have the divine nature. Anyone with the divine nature is immortal. They cannot die. In the grave, Jesus did not have glory, authority, or supremacy. Jesus did not have God’s fullness dwelling in him in Hades.

It also stands to reason that God had a purpose in putting all his fullness in Jesus. So, why did God make that fullness dwell in Jesus? What was God’s reason for putting not just part of his fullness, but all of his fullness in Jesus?

That there was a reason can be seen in the words ‘Jesus is… the firstborn from among the Dead, so that…’ The words so that mean that Jesus was glorified for a reason. 

What was the reason for Jesus’ glorification? In other words, why did God resurrect Jesus? The passage answers that question for us. God resurrected Jesus in order to give Jesus the supremacy in everything.

God brought Jesus back from the Dead to give Jesus supremacy, and supremacy is complete authority. What was God accomplishing by doing this? Why did God want to give Jesus authority? He wanted to do it in order to demonstrate his love, his grace, and his intention to lift up all of us--you, me, and all those who believe. Jesus is the example of what God will do with any person who will serve God.

Do you want to be glorified? Do you want to be resurrected? If so, you have to follow God’s laws--and one in particular--the law of humbling and exalting. In Christ’s resurrection, God showed the World what he will do with those who humble themselves. If you humble yourself the way Jesus did, you too will be exalted.

… whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted (Matthew 23:12; LEB).

God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble (James 4:16; NKJV).

So, live by this law. Be humble the same way Jesus was humble. Serve God the way Jesus served God. Do God’s will, not your own. Speak God’s Word, not your own. When all is said and done, those who have followed this law, which we see so faithfully carried out in the life of Jesus, will receive glory like Jesus did.

But remember: That glory is only for those who believe that God made Jesus Lord.

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