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Jesus Both Lord & Savior
Link to sermon video: Jesus Both Lord & Savior - V Rossi
“JESUS - BOTH LORD & SAVIOR”
Some readily accept Jesus as Savior but stop short of accepting His Lordship..
You are only fooling yourself if you think you can. It’s a lot like what we talked about in one of our previous sermons.
10 lepers were healed but only one thanked Jesus. And just as the nine readily accepted the healing from Jesus, they did not or would not recognize His Lordship.
How many there are who want what Jesus offers, “forgiveness”, but will not follow His commands for their life. They want to cover the bases without making any change in their lives.
To accept Jesus as Lord we first must come to an understanding of just who He is! Some choose to not come to an understanding for fear of having no excuse for their continuing in a sinful life. Some fear changes. Some fear that they do not have the strength to live as Jesus would want them to. Some fear the shunning of family and of friends if they follow the Lord’s teachings.
However, the single most important question we ever have to answer is:
Who is Jesus, What does Jesus mean to me? Unless we seek an answer to this question, we will have difficulty accepting Jesus as both Lord and Savior!
Who is Jesus? We look to the Bible for our answers. Here are just a few references from the bible that give us a starting place for our understanding;
The Almighty, the alpha and Omega, the Author of life, the author of salvation, the beginning and the end, the bread of life, the creator of all, Emmanuel-God with us, faithful and true, firstborn from the dead, the good shepherd who gave his life for his sheep, the great I AM, the judge of the living and the dead, king eternal, the lamb of God, the light of the world, lord of all, our protection, redemption, and righteousness, the resurrection and the life, our rock, our savior, the son of God, the way, truth and the life, our Lord!
Jesus is all of these things and more! But all of us must ask ourselves, “Who is Jesus to me? Who is Jesus to you?”
[READ ISAIAH 61: 1-3]
This quote, this prophecy from Isaiah gives us some insight on what Jesus is to be to us. God has planted this seed nearly 700 years before the birth of Jesus.
In Luke 4, Jesus went back to His hometown of Nazareth. He went to the synagogue on the Sabbath Day, and was asked to read from God’s word. Jesus turned to this very passage in Isaiah and stood up to read.
[READ LUKE 4:18-19]
Then we read in the next verse that Jesus closed the book and sat down. Let’s not overlook this statement, “then He sat down.” In Jewish tradition the one who sat after reading was in charge! By the way, that’s where we get our word “chairman.”
In verse 21 of Luke Jesus makes a profound statement, “ Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
The people understood that Jesus was claiming to be the prophesied Messiah and promised King! But they would not accept this local man as their Messiah. And in fact, they became so enraged that they tried to throw the Lord off a cliff.
Of course God would not let this happen because His Son Jesus was to die on a cross for our sins. They also could not kill Jesus because He is the Messiah, Savior, and Lord over all. No one could take His life but Himself. Remember His words in John 10:11 – “I am the good Shepherd, the good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.”
This prophecy in Isaiah tells us much more about the Lord.
Who is Jesus to us?
Verse 1 of Isaiah 61 [READ]
The words, “bring good news” gives us a picture of something fresh and full, overflowing with goodness. To “preach the good news.”
He was sent to preach the good news to the afflicted, or poor. Although Jesus loves the poor, He may be speaking more to the poor in spirit.
It’s the same thing Jesus preached in Matthew 5:3, when He said,
“ Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.”
In vs. 1 of Isaiah we also read, “ He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captive, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.”
And in vs. 2 “ He has sent me to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”
The word “proclaim” as used here means “to cry out with a loud sound.” That should remind us that we have got news so big and so important that we should be shouting it to those in need of God’s saving grace!
Jesus came to set people free. And this takes us back to vs.1, where we read, “ He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captive, freeing those bound in prison.”
I’m not so sure that what is being addressed here is prisons per-say, but rather God speaking about prisoners who are trapped by their own sin.
Also in Isaiah 61:1 We read “He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted.” People are in need of having their hearts healed. A binding of their heart’s wounds. People need healing, we need healing. And the only true healing comes from the Lord!
We learn from the prophecy of Isaiah 61 that Jesus is the Preacher above all else and we also learn that He is a “healer.”
[ACTS 10:36-38] We are informed that Jesus is Lord over all! We are also told that -
“Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil.”
Jesus heals both the physical and the spiritual hurts we all face.
1 Peter 2:24 – talks about those who have been spiritually healed by trusting in the Lord; “Who Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness by whose stripes you are healed!”
Jesus is our Preacher, Jesus is our healer, Jesus is our LORD!
Best of all, He gives the ultimate, eternal healing to all who trust Him!
Someone put what the Lord can do for each one of us quite beautifully.
I will heal your heart don’t get discouraged. My beloved; pain is part of life. But I promise you that I will turn every tear you have cried into joy, and I will use your deep pain for a divine purpose. Don’t try to hide your hurts from Me. I know everything about you. You are mine!
I’m the only one who can handle your heart and restore you to health and wholeness again. I, too, have felt great pain, rejection, and disappointment.
Hand in hand I will lead you back to My place of peace and joy after the storm. The sun will shine on you again, and your heart will be healed. I promise you that when you go through deep waters of great trouble, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression you will not be burned.”
Who is Jesus Christ to you? Your King, your preacher, your healer. YOUR LORD!
And He wants to be our Comforter.
In verses 2 & 3 of Isaiah 61 we discover that Jesus was sent “ to comfort all those who mourn.”
We also find this in Matthew 5:4 – “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”
Jesus as Comforter. The word “comfort” has the flavor of someone being touched with compassion over other’s hurts, our hurts! The word “console” pictures someone who makes a commitment to show up and do everything necessary to help.
That’s Jesus the Christ! He is Comforter as well as preacher and healer!
He also gives grace to those in need. Jesus is a giver!
In [v3 of Isaiah 61], the Lord tells us that He was sent by His Father “to console those who mourn, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting.”
Our God is a giver! He gives His people “Beauty for ashes.” When the people of that day mourned, they often poured ashes on their heads. The “beauty God talks about here is the beauty of hope, the beauty of piece, the beauty rest and the beauty of comfort.
Jesus is saying here, “I will wash away those ashes of grief and give you a beautiful garland of peace and comfort instead.”
What is being emphasized here is that God is saying “I can do this for you.” I can turn your life completely around. I can give all of you the changes you need in your life! It is through Jesus that God offers life eternal. Jesus is saying, “Accept Me as your Lord and you will have a full life, a blessed life.
Remember what Jesus said in Luke after reading Isaiah 61:1-3, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
Could you imagine being there and hearing those words? That after nearly 700 years since they were written that in their presence the time of fulfillment was upon them. Isaiah 61:2, “To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.”
Jesus is both Lord and savior!
Jesus’ sermon on the mount is an in-depth explanation and fulfillment of not only Isaiah 61, but all of Isaiah!
Isaiah 61: Jesus was sent by His Father to give “beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for a spirit of despair! Our God is a giver! His words show this to us over and over throughout scripture!
As a prime example, read John 3:16
[Read Romans 6:23] “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
[Philippians 4:19] “But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”
[James 1:17] “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”
[Romans 8:31-32] “What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us. He that spared not His Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things.”
Every good gift is from God. And the best of all, He has given Himself! That’s what Jesus did when He died on the cross for our sins!
He is a preacher, He is healer, He is giver, He is Lord!
What is God’s goal for us?
To accept His Son as both Lord and Savior!
We read in Isaiah 61: 3 that as we accept the gifts from God we become, “oaks of righteousness”, so that He may be glorified.
God through Isaiah is telling us what Jesus will do for us. The followers of our Lord will become oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord for the glory of His Name.
CONCLUSION:
We must accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. We cannot separate the two no more than we can separate Jesus from the Father!
So many of us have a hard time letting go and letting God be in control of our lives.
We want to be in control. What we need is the faith to turn our lives over to Jesus as Lord.
We have discovered that Jesus is our; Preacher. He brings the good news of the Gospel
That He is our healer, He heals us from sin and spiritual emptiness
That He is our comforter, He gives us all we need, that He is there for each one of us.
That He is a giver. He gives to us the grace of God.
Jesus is the Son of God that gave His life on the cross for you and me. And now the risen Lord will forgive our sins. He will give eternal life to all who call on His name and are baptized into His Lordship.
After accepting Jesus you will able to say, “He is my Preacher, He is Healer, He is Comforter, and Giver. He is my Lord, my Savior, and yes, my Friend!
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