Since God is MAJESTIC and MESSIAH, we are compelled to declare Him to be MASTER. As we looked at last time, that's what happened in Isaiah 6. The Old Testament prophet, Isaiah, saw the MAJESTY of God, experienced how He was MESSIAH, and Isaiah declared God to be MASTER. Reminder - Here is what Isaiah 6:8 says: Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!” In Isaiah’ response, what is he really declaring to God? He is saying “God is my MASTER”.
Let’s look at someone in Scripture who struggled with making God MASTER. With this life, we see the slippery slope we go down when God is not the ultimate MASTER of our lives.
Here goes: The Story of Lot Read Genesis 12:1-8. Just like Abram, Lot left God and followed by faith. Abram left the land that he knew so he could go to the land that God would show him. This took faith. Great faith! Lot went with Abram. I believe this took great faith on Lot’s part! You could say that Lot started well, and 2 Peter 2:7-8 even refers to him as a righteous person. How? We are not declared righteous because of what we do. According to Romans 4, we are made righteous by faith. Lot’s faith enabled him to be declared righteous before God. However, I think Lot struggled with declaring God MASTER. This greatly impacted Lot’s life and the spiritual impact that Lot had on his family. Read Genesis 13:1-13.
Focus on verses 12 and 13. After this dispute broke out between Abram and Lot, Abram let Lot choose whatever land he wanted. Lot chose the land that he thought looked preferable. It may have been preferable, but it was also near evil. This was Lot’s first mistake. Things may appear better, but they are never better if they are near evil.
The problem with being near evil is we cannot simply stay “near evil”. Jeremiah 17:9 tells us the heart is wicked and deceitful. If I put myself near evil, then I am going to be in the middle of it before long. That is what happened to Lot.
Read Genesis 19:1-36. In verse 1, you see that Lot is now at the city gate. This indicates to me he is in the middle of the city. If he is in the middle of that city, then he is in the middle of evil. In Genesis 19, God sends angels to rescue Lot from the evil of the city. What does all this indicate? Lot started in Genesis 13 near evil, but he is now right in the middle of evil.
Since Lot is in the middle of evil, he eventually becomes influenced by that evil, and his family is influenced as well. Let’s not throw stones at Lot. If we exist in the middle of evil, then we eventually are influenced by that evil as well.
In Genesis 19, some angels come to Lot to rescue him and his family from the destruction God is going to bring on the city. Some men of Sodom and Gomorrah come to Lot’s house because they want to have sex with these angels. Lot told these men not to pursue the angels, but they could have his virgin daughters and do whatever they wanted to do sexually with them. What!?! This clearly shows Lot has become influenced by evil. What type of father would think this is a good idea?
Fortunately, the angels rescued Lot’s family from these men, and ultimately, these angels tried to help rescue Lot’s family from the evil of Sodom. However, Lot had become so influenced by evil himself that he lost the spiritual influence on his family. Here are some examples: Lot’s future son in laws did not take Lot seriously and thought he was joking when he said to flee the city (Lot’s future son in laws were destroyed)
Lot’s wife had a love for the city and looked back after being rescued (When looking back, God turned her into a pillar of salt) No wife, no future son in laws (just him and his daughters). They lived alone, and his daughters thought they would never be mothers. They got their father drunk, had sex with him, and became pregnant by him (Wow!!! Are you kidding me?)
All of this is so tragic! What happened to the Lot of Genesis 12? To me, it comes down to the issue of MASTER, wholehearted devotion. Do you see wholehearted devotion to God in Lot’s life? I don’t. Did Lot miss opportunities to build a spiritual legacy for his family? He most definitely did. Did God still rescue Lot? Yes, he did. No matter how far we fall, God is always able to rescue us (I think we must cooperate in letting him rescue us though).
So let us learn from the example of Lot. We want to be wholeheartedly devoted to God. How do we do this? If Jesus is our MASTER, then we will walk in a worthy manner. Read Colossians 1:10. If He is MASTER, then we will indeed walk in a worthy manner. We will please Him. We will bear fruit.
We will grow in knowledge of Him. How do we walk in a worthy manner? Answer=By Grace Through Faith Ephesians 2:8 tells us we received Jesus by grace through faith, and Colossians 2:6 tells us that just as received Jesus, continue to walk in Him.
If I want to walk in a worthy manner of Jesus (MY MASTER), then I must do it by grace through faith. What happened to us when we received Jesus by grace through faith? Understanding this helps me let grace reign and rule in my life. When grace reigns, Jesus will be My MASTER.
Romans 6 helps us understand this. Read Romans 5:20-6:14 on your own in conjunction with Colossians 1:10, Ephesians 2:8, and Colossians 2:6. Romans 5:20-21 helps us to see that either grace is going to reign, or sin is going to reign. For the one who is in Christ, grace can reign. For this to happen one must understand the truths of who they are in Christ. Focus on 6:3, 6:6, and 6:9. Do you know KNOW that you are dead, buried and resurrected in Jesus? Because we are dead, buried, and resurrected, we don’t master our lives anymore. Jesus does. He reigns. His grace reigns. The problem is often times we don’t even KNOW that we are dead, buried, and resurrected in Jesus. Do you KNOW this?
Now focus on verse 11. We need to take what we KNOW and CONSIDER it deep in our hearts. I KNOW I am dead, buried, resurrected in Jesus! Now what does that mean for my life? Have I CONSIDERED it so much that it gets deep down in my heart? Do we KNOW this truth in our head? Have we CONSIDERED this in our heart?
Finally, do we PRESENT ourselves as those alive from the dead. Focus on verses 12-13. Do I KNOW in my head that I am dead, buried, and resurrected in Jesus? Have I CONSIDERED this in my heart? Am I PRESENTING myself as one who is alive from the dead? If we are doing these things, then we will live with Jesus as MASTER!
Romans 6 is the believer's new identity in Christ. Now let us continue into Romans 7 and Romans 8. Romans 7 is the believer trying to live out their new identity in Christ on their own. Romans 8 is the believer letting grace reign as the Spirit empowers them to live out their new identity in Christ. We have looked at this already in this blog but go back and read Romans 5:20-6:14. In addition, go read Romans 7:1-8:13.
We have already seen that grace reigns, that Jesus is MASTER if we KNOW and CONSIDER that we are dead, buried, and resurrected in Christ. When we KNOW and CONSIDER this, we will PRESENT ourselves to God as those who are spiritually alive.
Romans 7 shows us we can’t do this in our own strength. It just won’t work!!! If I try to live by rules, I will fail. Jesus can’t be MASTER if I am just giving myself a bunch of rules to follow.
That’s where Romans 8 comes in. It is there we understand that God has given us His Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit empowers me to PRESENT myself as one alive from the dead spiritually. In essence, the Holy Spirit is the one who empowers me so grace can reign, and Jesus can be MASTER. Will you let the Holy Spirit empower you today so Jesus can be MASTER? For Jesus to be MASTER, we must cling to Romans 6, 7, and 8. We must understand our identity in Christ, and we must let the Holy Spirit empower us to live that out. Our God is worthy of nothing else. You might want to memorize Galatians 5:16. The one who lives letting the Holy Spirit control them won’t gratify their sinful desires. If the Holy Spirit is in control, I can’t bow down to idolatry. I will bow down to Jesus and will live a life worthy of what He has called me to live? He will be my MASTER!
