Photo by Bob Freed, on a business trip to Brazil

April 22, 2026 / 0 comments

Vespers – Apostle’s Creed – Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

  • Romans 10:9

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 acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
    to the glory of God the Father.

  • Philippians 2:9-11

“Turn to me and be saved,
    all you ends of the earth;
    for I am God, and there is no other.
By myself I have sworn,
    my mouth has uttered in all integrity
    a word that will not be revoked:
Before me every knee will bow;
    by me every tongue will swear.

  • Isaiah 45:22-23

For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”), yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.

  • 1 Corinthians 8:5-6

Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

  • John 20:28

“You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am.

  • John 13:13

Philippians 2:10-11 ” The entire intelligent universe is called to worship Jesus Christ as Lord (cf. Ps. 2). This mandate includes the angels in heaven (Rev. 4:2–9), the spirits of the redeemed (Rev. 4:10, 11), obedient believers on earth (Rom. 10:9), the disobedient rebels on earth (2 Thess. 1:7–9), and demons and lost humanity in hell (1 Pet. 3:18–22). The Gr. word for ‘confess’ means ‘to acknowledge,’ ‘affirm,’ or ‘agree,’ which is what everyone will eventually do in response to Christ’s lordship, willingly and blessedly or unwillingly and painfully.”

  • John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.

  • Apostle’s Creed

The Message

We toss the word “Lord” around like it is just a title.  Our Lord is the supreme authority, master, and owner.

God is the Creator.  We already established that.  When you create something out of what God made, you have a certain ownership.  As such, God made us and has given the Lordship to His Son Jesus who through Him everything was made.

While Philippians 2 states that every knee should bow, Isaiah 45 changes that to every knee will bow.  As Rev. MacArthur says, either willingly and blessedly or unwillingly and painfully.

Saying that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior is not speaking a magical incantation, but many people feel that way about it.  I even had a pastor who got angry with me when I said that those words could be spoken and the person not be saved.  Romans 10:9 says that we must utter those words and believe them in our heart.  In believing them in our heart, we must accept the definition of “Lord.”

An unconditional surrender is required.  We surrender our will and accept God’s will in our lives.  This can be a rocky road at times, but it comes back to who is in our heart.

As long as we keep our eyes on Jesus, we will do fine, but doing that is not an easy task.  It gets better with practice, but we will never be perfect until we are with Jesus in Heaven.

And now let us sing.

The following song is Jesus is the Lord.  This is sung by the Seattle Baptist Church Kids Choir.

 

Closing Prayer

Dear Lord,
We believe in You.  We trust You.  You are my Lord.  I owe You everything.  Without You, I am nothing.  I make a mess of things on occasion, but that is when my attention span fails, and I take my eyes off You.  But You always keep Your eyes on me.  In thy Name we pray.
Amen

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.

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