Why is it Very Important that this World see Jesus as Lord - Essay Example

Why is it Very Important that this World see Jesus as Lord? of the Religion and Theology Name of the Concerned Professor August 30, 2011 Why is it Very Important that this World see Jesus as Lord? Final Exam Questions 1. The scriptures, both the Old and New Testament time and again refer to Jesus as being the Lord. As per the scriptures, the purpose of life is to strike a relationship with Jesus as one builds a relationship with Lord because Jesus is the Lord. The scriptures encourage the believers not only to build a personal relationship with Lord Jesus, but also to love him as Lord, with all of one’s heart. In that context, it is really poignant to delve on some scriptural references that prophesied Jesus to be Lord. (Isaiah 7:14) “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The Virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel (God with us).” These are the words of prophet Isaiah. These words were written in the period 739-680 B.C. At this time God drove out of Judah, the Assyrian armies that had earlier taken Israel as captive. Here, prophet Isaiah intended to warn the people of Judah against the wrath of God and makes to them a promise that eventually God will comfort his people and will make them strong again. In that context, prophet Isaiah makes many prophesies about Jesus and the coming of the Lord and Savior. It specifically needs to be mentioned here that the word ‘Immanuel’ used by prophet Isaiah to refer to Jesus means “God is with us” and hence prophet clearly prophesied that not only will Jesus come to Erath, but that Jesus is truly the Lord. Prophet Isaiah goes on to refer to the coming of Jesus as the Lord and savior of the people. (Isaiah 9:6) “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Here again prophet Isaiah goes on to prophesy that Jesus is the Lord and Savior. Prophesies about Jesus being Lord is continued on in the New Testament. The Gospels many a time mention Jesus as Lord and declare Jesus to be Lord. (John 1:1) “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.” These are the word from the Gospel of John, written by John, one of the disciples of Jesus. In this Gospel John writes about the period A.D. 26-30, when Jesus taught and performed miracles. The Gospel of John clearly shows to the people that Jesus is Lord. Believing the scriptural evidence that confirms Jesus as Lord, it is the duty of people to totally surrender to Jesus, as one surrenders before one’s Lord. Going by the fact that Jesus is Lord, it is the duty of the believers to live for Him. 2. There exist ample scriptural references that testify beyond doubt that Jesus was the Messiah. For instance, when around 627 B.C., when people of Judah mocked and hated prophet Jeremiah, he prophesied the mercy of God, and the restoration of the people of God, through the coming of Messiah by saying that: (Jeremiah 23:5-6) “The days are coming, declares the Lord when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The LORD our Righteousness.” Yet history has stood witness to the fact that time and again people have failed to comprehend Jesus being the Messiah. Jesus himself predicted that He will be rejected by people as a Messiah. In Mark 12 Jesus clearly testifies to this fact. For one, Jesus was rejected by people of Israel because Jesus was quite contrary to what the expected the Messiah to be. They held that the Messiah will uproot the enemies of Israel and not crucified. Many of the people of Israel believed that to be hanged on a tree meant to be cursed by God. (Deuteronomy 21:23) “You must not leave his body on the tree overnight. Be sure to bury him that same day, because anyone who is hung on a tree is under God’s curse……” Misguided by the popular perceptions of Messiah, people failed to comprehend the fact that Jesus had come to pay the price of their sins by his blood. To a great extent, the same is happening today. The second reason people failed to comprehend that Jesus is the Messiah owing to the conspiracy of the religious leaders of those times. The selfish religious leaders guided by their vested interest, did not want the people to comprehend Christ for what he was, that is the Messiah and the Lord. They wanted people to renounce Jesus and follow them. The same thing is happening in the present times. Hankering after petty goals and worldly aims and objectives, people fail to comprehend the peace, love and salvation offered by Jesus, the Messiah and the Lord. Thirdly, in a way, by doing so, people depict the perfection of God’s love and promise and the imperfection of Humanity, originating right from the rebelliousness of Adam and Eve. 5. I his discourse with the disciples in the upper room, Jesus narrated the story of the True Vine to highlight and mark the importance and relevance of staying connected with Jesus. (John 15:5) “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.” The message given by Jesus through this example was very illustrative and demonstrative. Everybody knows what happens to a branch that remains connected to a vine, it flourishes and blooms and bears fruit. In contrast the branch that is cut off from a vine, dries up, withers away and dies. The same is true of people. Those who remain connected to Jesus abound in peace and joy. Those who renounce Jesus fall prey to misery and everlasting death. This concept is of extreme relevance and importance to anyone trying to evangelize the lost and convince them that Jesus is real. A true messenger of Jesus could use this story to make the lost and the suffering souls help understand and come to terms with the fact that the unhappiness and fear gripping their lives is the direct outcome of their being severed from the true source of spiritual nourishment, which is Jesus, the Lord and the Savior. The believers can use the same example of the true vine to insist the lost souls to give up their disbelief and dare to connect with Jesus for once to receive His abundance and bounty. The messengers of Jesus the Lord could cite the example of the true vine to make the lost and unbelieving practically visualize the consequences of staying away from the very source of everlasting salvation and peace. The evangelists can convince the lost to connect with Jesus for once to be able to bear fruit. For, it is only after connecting to Jesus that they can bear the kind of fruit that that they expect. Read More