Jesus is our Lord and the destination of our human life. He came to be our Savior because He is our Master. The Bible tells us that He is our Shepherd and that we are His lost sheep (Gen. 48:15; Psa. 23:1; Isa. 53:6; Mark 6:33-34; John 10:14-16). There is no shepherd who does not seek his lost sheep (Luke 15:4). The Lord as the Shepherd came to seek us, the lost sheep. He came from the heavens to the earth to seek and to save those who are lost (19:10). Although He is the great God, He did not come with glory and majesty; rather, He became a small man. He was God who became flesh (John 1:1, 14; Phil. 2:5-8; Isa. 53:2-3). Within, He was God, and without, He was a man. He was God putting on humanity, God in man. This man was called Jesus.
The past two thousand years of history prove that Jesus is a wonderful person. He came from a humble origin. He was born in a manger and grew up in a poor carpenter’s family in Nazareth, a small town despised by people. In the eyes of the world, He did not receive much education. He never attended a university or received any degree. He lived on the earth for thirty-three and a half years and was crucified on a cross. However, even though this One grew up in poverty, received little education, did not attain to a high position, did not live long on the earth, and was eventually crucified on a cross, the past two thousand years prove that He is the most wonderful person in the history of mankind.
Many people who have believed in Jesus know the preciousness of His name, and today thousands call upon His name, bow their knees to Him, proclaim Him as Lord, and revere Him in their heart. When Napoleon was about to die, he said, “O Jesus of Nazareth! You have defeated me. I have fought many battles, yet You did not fight a single battle. However, tens of thousands of people exalt You as King. Although You were a mere Galilean who lived only thirty-three and a half years and was crucified on the cross, there are people everywhere on the earth who exalt you as King.” It is not a coincidence in history that Jesus was crucified on the cross. Jesus of Nazareth was crucified because He was not merely a man but a man with God within Him.
The Lord Jesus was a young man at the age of thirty when He began His ministry on the earth. However, He was able to declare before many people that He and God were one (John 10:30; 17:22), that when they saw Him, they saw God (14:9), and that when they believed into Him, they believed into God (v. 1). He was not speaking wild or boastful words, nor was He telling lies. His mind was clear, His person was proper, and His words were honest and trustworthy. The whole world acknowledges His human life. His words recorded in the Bible were great, high, and full of wisdom. He said to people, “I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall by no means walk in darkness”; “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me shall by no means hunger, and he who believes into Me shall by no means ever thirst”; and, “Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall by no means thirst forever” (8:12; 6:35; 4:14a). These words are simple yet full of wisdom.
In the past six thousand years of human history no philosopher or wise man, whether in the East or in the West, has ever spoken such words. They had neither the boldness to speak such words nor the mind to conceive them. No one can say that he is the light of the world, the bread of life, and the living water of life. In six thousand years of human history, only Jesus of Nazareth has ever spoken such words. He could speak such words because God was in Him. Actually, He is God (Rom. 9:5; Heb. 1:8). He is God manifested in the likeness of man so that man can come near to Him and believe in Him (1 Tim. 3:16).
Jesus died for us and bore our sins on the cross (1 Pet. 2:24). This is a marvelous thing. Many people do not have peace in their conscience when they consider God, because they think of God’s righteousness, the eternal judgment, and their hidden life filled with many secretive, unspeakable, defamatory, and immoral things. Thus, they cannot help but be fearful. Their efforts to cultivate their moral character cannot comfort them, abstaining from meat cannot soothe the uneasiness in their hearts, and doing good deeds cannot give them rest. However, if they hear the gospel, believe in the name of Jesus, know that on the cross He shed His blood and bore their sins, and call on His name to receive Him, they will immediately have peace in their hearts, and the heavy burden of sin will immediately be cast off. Their condemning conscience will become a clear conscience, their anxiety will become peace, and their pain within will become joy. This is not a psychological phenomenon. If it were merely psychological, man would have no peace within. In many religions, when people are before their religious leaders, they still have no inner peace. However, once a person comes to Jesus and believes that He shed His blood on the cross and bore his sins, he has peace in his heart, his burden is lifted, and he feels released and joyful. This is marvelous.
Once there was a man who lived in Manchuria and who had done a great deal of business. One day, while he was sick and lying in bed, his conscience began to bother him. He felt that he was full of sins and trespasses. Thus, he beat himself on the chest, cried bitterly, rolled around in his bed, and even fell onto the floor. He had no inward peace. However, as he was crying, he recalled the gospel that he had heard in the past, which told him how Jesus, the Lord of heaven and earth, bore up man’s sins on the cross, and how man’s sins would be forgiven if man would believe into Him. In the midst of his pain, this man prayed to God, saying, “O Jesus, if You are the Lord of heaven and earth and if You have died for me on the cross, please forgive my sins.” Not long after he prayed in this way, he sensed an inexplicable joy like a burning fire within him. His crying turned into happiness, and he got up from the floor, joyfully and prayerfully giving thanks to the Lord. On that day he was saved in his hospital room.
Many believers have had similar experiences of a dynamic salvation, and many have experienced in their conscience the effectiveness of Jesus’ redemptive work on the cross. This is because Jesus is the Lord. He came to be man’s Savior and bore man’s sins on the cross. He resurrected from the dead and is now the Spirit who can be with man in any place (Acts 2:32; 1 Cor 15:45). Whenever a person turns his heart to Him, calls on Him, and believes into Him, He enters into that person and reaches him as the Spirit (Acts 2:21). If such a person is condemned in his conscience, once he receives the Lord, He will give him the peace of forgiveness. If he is in agony, the Lord will be unlimited comfort to him. If he is darkened within, He will be light to him. If he has no direction, He will be his way. No matter what difficulty man has, the Lord Jesus is the solution, and He has promised to be with man always (Matt. 28:20).
Therefore, it is difficult to find a sorrowful believer. Originally, many people were idol worshippers, but after they believed in Jesus, others could see the difference that had been wrought in them. Many idol worshippers have sad countenances, whereas the faces of believers, regardless of their age, are always happy and full of smiles. Believing in Jesus is a promising way, and to take any other way is to inflict pain on oneself. When a person calls on the name of Jesus and prays to Him, his pale face turns rosy, and his sad face becomes happy.
If a brother gets up in the morning with a frowning face, it indicates that he has not prayed to Jesus. However, if he is full of joy, it shows that he has prayed in the morning and has met Jesus. Because I am often busy giving messages, when people meet me, they are surprised to see that I am becoming more vigorous, and my complexion is getting rosier. I respond by telling them that the more I speak, the rosier my face becomes and the more vital I become, because Jesus is in me. My face looks healthy not only when I speak on the podium but also when I kneel down to pray to Him at home. I often feel like a piece of steel burning in the fire. I have no way to avoid being heated up by Him. Jesus is real. He is God, He is the Lord, He is the Spirit, and He can reach us to become our Savior.
The Lord Jesus is our good Shepherd who came to seek us out. On the cross He shed His blood and died for us so that He might save us from our sins. He rose from the dead (1 Cor. 15:3-4), ascended into heaven (Mark 16:19; Acts 1:9), and was made by God the Lord of all (2:36), including the universe and mankind. Today He is our Lord. We have no other lord but Him. This is a glorious matter. People in religion do not believe in the Lord. Neither Muslims nor Buddhists say that they believe in the Lord. Only those who believe in Jesus say that they believe in the Lord. No one will call a microphone, a stand, or a fan a person. Only a human being can be called a person. In the same sense, only Jesus is Lord. Buddha is not the lord, and Tao is not the lord. When we believe in Jesus, we believe in the Lord, because Jesus is Lord. We cannot apply the word Lord to any other person. We can use it to refer only to the Lord Jesus because only He, Christ Jesus, is the Lord.
That Jesus is Lord is a clear word in the Bible (Rom. 10:9; 1 Cor. 12:3; 2 Cor. 4:5). We all need to proclaim, “Jesus is Lord!” We need to pray that the Lord will bless our country and our government so that our relatives, friends, and loved ones may have the opportunity to receive Jesus as their Lord (cf. 1 Tim. 2:1-4). Today we have the freedom to listen to the gospel because Jesus is the Lord. We worship Him, take refuge in Him, and belong to Him. If we stand on His side, He will stand on our side. We should have faith that He has overcome the devil (John 14:30; Rev. 5:5) and that He has come to save our souls (John 3:17; 1 Tim. 1:15). Whoever is willing to turn to Him must confess that Jesus is Lord and proclaim before Him that he belongs to Him and that he would return to Him. He is my Lord, and He is also your Lord. He is our Lord.