Today, my message is entitled “Jesus Your Leader.” We’re going to be talking about who Jesus is and why we must follow Him as our leader.
The question “Who is Jesus?” is one of the most important questions in the world. How that question is answered separates Christianity from every other religion on the face of the planet. How the question “Who is Jesus?” is answered separates true Christian churches from cult Christian churches that are Christian in name only. Finally, how an individual person answers the question “Who is Jesus for me?” determines whether they are truly saved or not.
Romans 10:9 (NIV) That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
So, the heart of salvation is acknowledging and confessing that Jesus is Lord. My message title, Jesus Your Leader, is just another way of saying Jesus Your Lord. A Lord is a leader, Jesus is an absolute leader, He is the Lord of Lords and King of Kings.
John 14:23 (NIV) Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.
Those who choose to follow Him as Lord are believers. Followers of Jesus love Him and obey everything He says. So, if Jesus is not a person’s Lord or leader, than that person is, by definition, not a follower of Jesus, nor a believer in Him. Unfortunately, this clear teaching from the Bible is not taught in many places. The end result is that millions of people think they are Christians, when they are not.
Let’s look at little more closely at how we teach the process of salvation to understand the importance of Jesus as leader and Lord. Every Sunday, I give an invitation for people to become followers of Jesus Christ. The invitation consists of three steps.
Admit that you have sinned. Most people have no problem with this, for we know that all have sinned, just as the Bible teaches.
Believe that Jesus died to forgive you. Here again, most get this part right, as everyone wants to be forgiven so that they can go to heaven.
The problem is that many think that after this step you are saved and going to heaven, but you are not. What is taught is that you can have Jesus as your Savior without having Him as your Lord. In others words, you can be saved, but you don’t have to obey Jesus, it’s optional. That teaching is not true. In order to be saved, Jesus must be Lord of your life. That’s why we have the third step.
Commit your life to following Jesus as your Lord.
This is not optional, it is not an advanced step in Christianity, it is a requirement to become a believer. Jesus must be our Lord and leader in every area of life. So, today, we’re going to continue our studies in Colossians and look at the incredible Lordship of Christ, over all creation, our salvation and our individual lives.