By Miles McKee

When we call him Lord we are declaring that He is the Sovereign.  When we call Him Jesus we are declaring that He is the Savior and when we call Him Christ we are declaring that He is the Sufficient One. He is the Sufficient, Sovereign Savior! What a marvelous combination of saving power and wisdom. And yet there are those that refuse to see that only a Sufficient, Sovereign Savior can possibly be God. Let’s now look at the word ‘LORD’ more closely;

To say that someone is ‘LORD’ is to admit that they are the one in charge. Jesus continually demonstrated His Lordship and sovereignty over all things thus proving continually that He was God.  He was Lord over all nature and with a single word calmed a storm.  He demonstrated that He was Lord over death by raising the dead.  He demonstrated His sovereignty over Satan each time He cast out demons. Sovereignty is God’s domain! Is it any wonder then that Jesus gave a continual demonstration that He possessed it?  

Yet, when God showed up in the person of Jesus, He was rejected and scorned. In fact, men’s hatred boiled against him. But in the midst of this hatred, Christ took wonderful opportunities to demonstrate His sovereignty.  Do you remember when one Sabbath the church people got so mad at his sermon that they decided to kill him?  In their fury they marched Him to the edge of the cliff to hurl Him off, but Jesus decided He wasn’t going to die in that manner and simply walked through the crowd (Luke 4:28-30).  No one stopped Him; no one laid a finger on Him.  I can just imagine afterwards someone asking, “How did He do that?” To turn and walk through a crowd that is in the very act of trying to murder you is Sovereignty.  In His Sovereignty, Jesus chose the manner of His death; He chose the cross and refused to be killed by a mob. That’s the mark of God.  

He not only chose the manner of His death, He chose the very moment of His death.  When He was satisfied that redemption had been accomplished, He bowed His head and dismissed His Spirit.  He literally was Sovereign over the very second of His death.  Only God can do that.  Dying is not as easy as you think!  Of course you can choose the moment of your death by shooting yourself, but apart from that, just try dying right this second ---- just will to die right now!  You can’t do it!  No one can for we not have that kind of authority or power.  Power such as that is reserved for He who alone is Sovereign.

The Greek word for Lord is ‘Kurios’ and means quite literally ‘Supreme Authority’. This is the word that was continually used to translate the Tetragrammaton (a four-letter Hebrew name for God) which stood for the name of Yahweh in the Greek translation of the Old Testament (the Septuagint). The early Christians, knowing the usage of this word Kurios, refused, therefore, to swear an oath of allegiance to the Roman Emperor.  And what was the oath?  They were required to declare, “Cesar is the Kurios” which meant, “Cesar is the Lord.” Along with the oath they were also required to burn incense to the Emperor’s image. The Roman state saw this as an affirmation of political loyalty, but the Christians saw it quite differently.  They saw this as an act that betrayed Christ and one of idolatry at that.  To them there was but one Kurios --- Jesus!  There could be only one supreme authority.  Since there is no authority higher than that which is supreme, the Christians knew that to declare the Emperor the Kurios would be to declare him as God.  They refused to do so and paid with their lives.

There are those who point out that the term ‘kurios can be used of anyone in a position of authority.  It can in fact refer to anyone who is a leader. Property owners are called “Lord” (Matthew 20:8). Heads of households are called “Lord” (Mark 13:35).  Slave owners are called “Lord” (Matthew 10:24).  Husbands are called “Lord” (1 Peter 3:6).  This is true, but when the apostles used the term Lord they were declaring Jesus to be much more than a leader, property owner or head of a household; they were declaring Him to be God. The apostles urged their listeners to call upon the name of the Lord, the sovereign supreme authority. In Romans 10:9, Paul declared,

“if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus... you shall be saved”.

Then in Romans 10:13, Paul backs up this declaration by quoting from the Old Testament,

“For whoever will call upon the name of the LORD shall be delivered (saved)” (Joel 2:32).

It is remarkable to note that when Joel 2:32 is quoted in both Acts 2:21 and Romans 10:13, the “LORD" in question is identified as Jesus. This is all the more significant when we remember that the Jewish faith had always taught that the people should call upon the name of the LORD, Jehovah/Yahweh.

Consider this, among other things, the Israelites were to call upon Yahweh in prayer;

“I have called upon thee, for thou wilt hear me, O God: incline thine ear unto me, and hear my speech. “Psalm 17:6

Yahweh was to be called upon for deliverance (salvation);

Psalm 116:4 “Then called I upon the name of the LORD; O LORD, I beseech thee, deliver my soul.”

Yahweh was to be called upon for help;

Lamentations 3:55 “I called upon thy name, O LORD, out of the low dungeon.”

But when we reach the pages of the New Testament we see Jewish Christians insisting that people should no longer call on Yahweh, the Old Testament name of God, but now they must call only on the name of Jesus: Their conviction concerning Jesus was that "there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” Acts 4:12.

The early Christian, all of them Jewish, were persuaded that to call Jesus Lord was to call him Yahweh. This being so, we should remind the cults that in reality they cannot make the confession, “Jesus is Lord” because these three words are a confession of Christ’s supreme deity!

For the early Jews, being confronted by the confession of the Lordship of Christ was something greater than acknowledging Jesus as a leader or property owner.  It was a confession that the Sovereign God of the Old Testament had visited the earth and had walked among men.  This same Jesus with whom they had eaten and shared daily life was none other than Yahweh! We cannot over-emphasize this: The people of Israel were raised on scriptures such as,

Psalm 18:3, “I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.”
Psalm 55:16, “As for me, I will call upon God; and the LORD shall save me.”
Psalm 86:15, “For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee.”
Psalm 116:2, “I will call upon him (Yahweh) as long as I live”
Psalm 116: 13, “I will take the cup of Salvation and call upon the name of the Lord”


Now they are being told to call upon the name of Jesus.  Jesus is the Lord upon whom they are to call.  This is the make or break time!  A command like this cannot be greeted with neutrality. If Jesus is the God of the Old Testament then call Him LORD.  If he is not, call Him teacher, the son of David or a prophet, but don’t call Him LORD. If He’s not God, He’s a fraud!

Since, however, Jesus is God, Christians freely call Him the Lord. In 1 Corinthians 12: 3 we read,

“No man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost.”

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