Intimate Lordship

Colossians is the book about Jesus' Lordship. Paul uses the word "Lord" no less than 10 times in chapters 3 and 4. He is at pains to emphasize that there is not a square inch of the universe over which Jesus does not say, "Mine!" Whether you have in mind the physical universe or the sundry powers and authorities that have spheres of influence in it, Christ has authority over it all. That has interesting implications for your praying life: The buck stops with Christ, so don't let an underling tell you that you can't ask for a miracle or for some impossibility in your life to be bent.

"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me," said Jesus (Matthew 28:18).

In the Greek, the word "all" has a very particular meaning: It means … "all." There is no sin problem, no place of personal bondage, no physical or psychological illness, no juggernaut of circumstances over which Jesus does not have the jurisdiction and the power to change, heal, reverse, or overturn. On Tuesday I was given a firm and peremptory "no" regarding the possibility of an inmate friend being able to transfer his parole to another state. A few of us prayed and fasted, and within 24 hours the situation turned around 180 degrees, through a most unusual series of events. Christ is Lord of all.

Lordship used to be an abstract and remote concept in my life. It has become an intimate one. That is, Jesus is not only the Lord over galaxies; He is Lord over everything that comes out of my mouth. Before speaking, especially in situations when I know there is a temptation to respond out of carnal motives, I pose myself questions like: "Does what I want to say proceed from faith (Hebrews 11:6)?" "Does it tend to build up or tear down?" (1 Thessalonians 5:11) "Is it pure?" (Hebrews 12:14)

This does not always go as smoothly as one would think because we are used to looking at the surface. If a statement (or sometimes a question) is not outright sinful on the face of it, we tend to let it go. It takes practice to dig deeper. And the minute you commit yourself to a lifestyle of digging deeper, scratching the surface of a motive reveals that the flesh is at war with the Spirit (Galatians 5:17). It is important to fight until the flesh is subjugated to the Spirit. And God says we are able to do that now (1 John 2:14). After all, the whole point is that Jesus is Lord.