5. Unpacking the Meaning of "Lord"

We have successfully identified the time when Jesus became Lord. God exalted Jesus as Lord when he raised Jesus from the Dead. That is to say, Jesus became Lord at his resurrection. But what does becoming Lord entail? What does it mean for God to make someone Lord? Let's unpack the term Lord.

God Exalted Jesus

God made Jesus Judge of All so that we would honor Jesus the way we honor God..

Consider what else God did for Jesus after he resurrected him. These are the things that makes someone Lord:

• God appointed Jesus to be Judge of the Living and the Dead.

• God sat Jesus down at God’s right hand, permanently.

• God placed everything under Jesus’ feet.

We glean this information from the two passages below:

He [Jesus] commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the One whom God appointed as Judge of the Living and the Dead (Acts 10:42).

... [God] seated him [Jesus] at his right hand in the Heavenly Realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.

And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be Head over Everything for the Church (Ephesians 1:20-22).

Head over Everything

Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

Did you notice that last phrase? God appointed Jesus to be Head over Everything. Sounds pretty important, doesn’t it? It is. Jesus is our Sovereign Lord (2 Peter 2:1; Jude 1:4). He is sovereign. He is the Head not only of the Church, but over everything. We'll get back to this verse at the end of the post. For now, focus on this:

He is the Head over every power and authority (Colossians 2:10).

God has set Jesus above all demonic powers and authorities. Jesus now exercises authority over all of them. He still needs time to make them a footstool at his feet, but he has a position of rule far above them even now.

Above his Companions

Furthermore, God has set Jesus above all those who serve God with him: prophets, pastors, and apostles. God calls them Jesus’ companions.

You [Jesus] have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions (Hebrews 1:9).

Our High Priest

Jesus serves us as High Priest in Heaven.

In addition, God made Jesus our High Priest.

… no one takes this honor on himself, but he receives it when called by God, just as Aaron was. In the same way, Christ did not take on himself the glory of becoming a High Priest. But God said to him, ‘You are my Son; today I have become your Father’ (Hebrews 5:4-5).

In case you haven’t yet realized how great Jesus’ role of High Priest is, consider this: There had never been a heavenly High Priest until Jesus came along. That is, there has never been anyone in Heaven to help us in our relationship with God until now. No one has ever interceded for us before God until now--at least not in Heaven! No one has made it there to facilitate the forgiveness of our sins—until Jesus went to Heaven. Now there is someone there for us!

One Term Says It All, Lord

So, there’s a lot to reflect upon if you’re going to comprehend the things God did in Jesus after Christ’s resurrection. It’s almost too much, isn’t it? To analyze the breadth of what is encompassed in the verses we have shared with you here, you would need hours, even days.

The best we can do for now is to sum things up. In the simplest terms, what exactly happened when God resurrected Jesus was that God made Jesus Lord. If that doesn’t sound like much, it’s because you do not yet comprehend how much Lord means! You’ve got to unpack the term, like we just did.

For the Church

And even then, if it's still not exciting to you, you need to dwell more deeply on this Bible verse:

And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be Head over Everything for the Church (Ephesians 1:20-22).

For Aksah

Othoniel, a Jewish conqueror, also the first judge.

We said we'd come back to this passage. Previously, we pointed out that God appointed Jesus to be Head over Everything. But that's not all the passage says. It says that Jesus was appointed Head over Everything for the Church. The story of Caleb's daughter illustrates this New Testament truth.

And Caleb said, 'I will give my daughter Aksah in marriage to the man who attacks and captures Kiriath Sepher.' Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, took it; so Caleb gave his daughter Aksah to him in marriage.

One day when she came to Othniel, she urged him to ask her father for a field. When she got off her donkey, Caleb asked her, 'What can I do for you?' She replied, 'Do me a special favor. Since you have given me land in the Negev, give me also springs of water.' So Caleb gave her the upper and lower springs (Judges 1:12-15).

Do your own interpreting of the passage by asking yourself five questions:

1. Who does Aksah, the daughter of Caleb represent?

2. What kind of man did Othniel show himself to be?

3. What did Othniel acquire by accepting Caleb's challenge?

4. Did Othniel help Aksah to get anything else from her father?

5. Could Caleb refuse anything for his daughter Aksah?

So, we just read the story of how Caleb gave Othniel, a brave warrior who conquered a city, to his daughter. Along with Othniel, her new husband, Aksah received many other blessings. How many more blessings does God have in store for the Church through Jesus?

Jesus, as Head over all Things has been given to us so that we, as his Bride, would be able to access many other blessings. We are in a covenant relationship with someone who is Lord of All. It's the dream of many women to be married to a rich man. We live that dream today, as the Church of Christ.

For Zipporah

Moses meets Zipporah at a well in the desert of Midian.

The same illustration of a man giving to his daughter a princely husband--the means by which she would receive many blessings can be seen in the story of Moses and his encounter with Jethro's daughter Zipporah. She would become Moses' future wife. Her father would decide to give Moses to her as her husband, and she would be blessed.

Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian, where he sat down by a well. Now a priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came to draw water and fill the troughs to water their father’s flock.

Some shepherds came along and drove them away, but Moses got up and came to their rescue and watered their flock.

When the girls returned to Reuel [Jethro] their father, he asked them, 'Why have you returned so early today?' They answered, 'An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds. He even drew water for us and watered the flock.' 'And where is he?' Reuel asked his daughters. 'Why did you leave him? Invite him to have something to eat.'

Moses agreed to stay with the man, who gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses in marriage. Zipporah gave birth to a son, and Moses named him Gershom, saying, “I have become a foreigner in a foreign land (Exodus 2:15-22).

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