Church of God, New World Ministries

What Does The Title “Lord” Mean When Applied To God?

The majority of professing Christians refer to God as the Lord, buy why? Any dictionary will supply us with the answer.

“The Lord is one who has dominion over others; a master chief or ruler; one who has authority. A Lord has the authority to tell others what to do.”

This is what Jesus Christ understood this word Lord meant:  “Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and not do what I tell you” (Luke 6:46)?

God is the supreme Lord. He has the authority to tell us all what to do. But how many who claimed to believe the Bible understand that?

Years ago a reader of the old Plain Truth Magazine wrote in response to the question of keeping Easter – this person said: “The reason for Easter’s celebration appears to be the same reason why Christians celebrate Advent, Christmas and birthdays.”

And this person gave several Bible verses supporting the view on why we shouldn’t celebrate Easter (Deut. 12:30-32; Jere. 10:1-2). We are not to worship God in their pagan ways: He admitted that Easter was pagan.

Then he said this: “Easter being taken from a pagan tradition is of no concern to me or other Christians; I or any other living Christians haven’t’ stolen Easter from any pagans that we know of. So why not celebrate Easter?

Now we know that millions of professing Christians think just like this man. But they should be concerned. Their argument is this: “God has to be specific and to the point or else they are going to do exactly what they want to do.”

Just how specific and to the point must God be before we obey him?

On the day of Pentecost (Exodus 20) God gave 10 specific and direct commandments from Mt. Sinai. Those commandments were uttered in simple, unmistakable language. And all the people heard them. And later they were etched in stone, so that they could not be erased or altered in any way.

But from the days of those who stood on the foot of the mountain and saw the lightning and smoke, and heard the thunder and received the tables of stone until this very day. Most people have managed to find reasons for not obeying the Ten Commandments.

These Commandments are memorized, they are featured in religious publications, they appear on wall plaques and even a movie was made about them.

How many people do we know that obeys the 4th Commandment; “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.” Or the 9th Commandment against lying.

    Human beings are quite able to reason around them all to their spiritual hurt.

Just how specific does God have to be before it is no longer possible to reason around what He says? But the fact is – it never has been God’s purpose to be specific and emphatic about every detail He wants us to know.

“We are unprofitable servants if we do only that we have been specifically commanded” (Luke 17:10). And that person is fit to be cast into outer darkness (Matt. 25:30).

The Bible is God’s instruction book for human beings. It is a revelation of the knowledge we need to fulfill why we were created in the first place. The Bible reveals what God’s will is for us, how we should live, how we should conduct ourselves in relations with our neighbors and especially to God.

In other words, how we should do the right and avoid the wrong.

God is very practical. If he had to spell out in precise, descriptive words every single decision every human being who ever lived and in every possible circumstances, just how big would the Bible be? There would be thousands of volumes of the Bible.

Why the sheer size of the Bible would serve as an excuse for not obeying what is in it. But God has made it easy, the entirety of His will and law is summed up in one word – LOVE.

But He knew we’d need more information than that to direct our lives. So He said “Love God above all and love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Matt. 22:37).

God inspired the preservation of one volume of the Bible full of examples and principles to illustrate and application of His law.  The burden is upon us to study the biblical examples and principles to see what they reveal about God’s way of thinking and looking at problems.

When Jesus Christ was confronted by Satan the Devil, and Satan began to quote scriptures to Him, Jesus said:  “It is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4).

Christ was speaking of the Old Testament the new one had not been written yet.

Paul warns us that examples recorded in the Old Testament “Are warning for us, they were written down for our instruction” (I Cor. 10: 1-11).

We Christians are to heed what is written in the Old Testament, and what it means when God told Israel not to adopt pagan customs. And not to eat unclean meats – we ought to pay attention and not try to reason around it.

And that goes for the Sabbath and the Holy Days, tithing and all the other laws ordained for the good of mankind.

In the New World to come, David will be made king over all the tribes of Israel. David never argued with God, he loved and respected God’s specific law, commandments, statutes and judgments. David said: “How precious also are thy thoughts unto me O God” (Ps. 139”17).

David’s attitude showed where his heart was, he wasn’t seeking loopholes, he didn’t try to rationalize and find excuses. So God said of David “I have found David, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfill all my will” (Acts 13:22).

So what does the word LORD mean to you?

 
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