“Jesus is Lord!” How often has that phrase been spoken in the past two thousand years? It is an amazing theological statement full of implications but it can also be a phrase used so often that it loses its meaning to those who use it most.
We can also say with great accuracy that Jesus not only is Lord but has been Lord and will always be Lord. The prophet Isaiah was given a great vision in the year that King Uzziah died. It was a year of uncertainty in Israel. A good king had died and the few faithful kings that ruled over Israel were typically followed by disastrous years of rule by wicked kings who forced God to send judgment on a rebellious nation. It was a year and a moment when Isaiah needed encouragement.
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” (Isa.6:1-5).
In his moment of need, Isaiah wass given a vision of the throne room of God which exuded the power, the glory, and the might of the one on the throne. This was his God and the one who watched over Israel. It was a reminder that even when the earth or our particular part of the earth is in chaos, there is no chaos or panic in heaven. At the same time that this vision was meant to reassure Isaiah that “God was still on his throne,” the sheer glory, power, and holiness of the Lord overwhelmed Isaiah with a sense of his own sinfulness. Yet God immediately cleansed the prophet so that he could stand in the His presence. He then gave him his prophetic orders.
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” He said, “Go and tell this people: “ ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’ Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.” (Isa.6:8-10).
In John 12, the apostle quotes this passage from Isaiah about Israel but then says, “Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him” (Jn. 12:41). Isaiah’s vision opens up to us the glory that Jesus had in heaven before he put on flesh and became Son of Man. He was Lord before the incarnation as well as after. The word Lord, in both Hebrew and Greek simply means “one who has immense authority and one to whom great respect is due.” It is frequently applied to deity in both languages.
When we speak of Jesus as Lord, we echo his position of great authority and the immense honor due to him. The N.T. speaks of his great authority over and over.
God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. (Eph.1:20-23)
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. (Matt. 28:18)
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Phil.2:9-11)
As those who are in Christ by faith, we have the immense honor of not only serving the King of Kings and Lords of Lords but of knowing him as a friend and brother. It’s not always easy keeping the balance between friendship and kingship, between reverent awe and familiarity. And yet we have the privilege of doing just that with the one who made Isaiah tremble. It is possible, not because Jesus has been brought down, but because we have been raised up with Him and “seated with Him in the heavenly places (Eph. 2:6).
Three things we should remember today:
1. Jesus is Lord and as such should have our immediate and complete obedience in all things as well as our greatest respect. He isa to be honored above all.
2. Jesus has all authority in heaven and earth and he exercises that power and authority on your behalf. When you enter into seasons of turmoil and chaos in your life, remember Isaiah’s vision of Christ on the throne and remember that although he is the Lord who sits in unspeakable glory, he also knows you by name and watches over you as a friend, a brother, and as the Good Shepherd.
3. You are seated with Christ in heavenly places and you represent the King of Glory with immense authority that has been delegated to you by the King. As his representative (ambassadors) on the earth you are to re-present Jesus and do what he would do in every circumstance of life. Your words carry weight, your prayers carry weight, and your actions carry weight when you are faithfully serving Him. Because you serve a king with great significance you are a person of great significance.
Spend some time today imagining Jesus in all his glory and seeing yourself in that same throne room, sitting at his right hand, as his ambassador and close friend. You are eagerly waiting for your next diplomatic mission. How are you dressed? How do you feel? How do you sit? How do you walk? How do you speak? Carry that with you today because that is who you truly are in Christ – King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
