The Lordship of Yeshua

The Lordship of Yeshua over all aspects of our lives must be stressed in the Hebraic Roots Movement and, presently, to our shame, it is not. The rule of Torah is trumpeted loudly by many Hebraic roots Torah teachers, but the lordship of Yeshua, sadly, is not. Yet the lordship of Yeshua is a dominant theme in the Testimony of Yeshua (or New Testament), and we’re preaching a skewed gospel message if we don’t teach this. Not only this, but we need to teach that the Torah and Yeshua are synonymous concepts, and that without Yeshua in our lives, we can’t even properly obey the Torah.

In the Scriptures, Yeshua has many titles. In the Testimony of Yeshua he is referred to as Christ or the Messiah 569 times. But this isn’t his main title. The title Lord holds that place with more than 700 references in the Testimony of Yeshua. By comparison, the name Jesus occurs 745 times in the Testimony of Yeshua.

The Greek word for lord is kurios, which is defined as “he to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has power of deciding; master, lord; the possessor and disposer of a thing; the owner; one who has control of the person, the master; in the state: the sovereign, prince, chief, the Roman emperor; is a title of honour expressive of respect and reverence, with which servants greet their master; this title is given to: God, the Messiah.”

Acts 10:36 and Romans 10:12 say that Yeshua is Lord of all. The lordship of Yeshua over all aspects of our lives must be stressed in the Hebrew Roots Movement. Currently it is not, even though his title Lord is mentioned more than 700 times in the Testimony of Yeshua.

We must also teach that the lordship of Yeshua equates with the rule of the Torah in our lives. This may be a hard concept for many coming out of the church system to swallow, but it is the truth of Scripture. It goes like this: The Torah = the Word of Elohim = Yeshua = the Living Word of Elohim incarnate = the Lord/Master of our Lives (John 1:1, 14; Rom 10:4–8).

Romans 10:4 says Yeshua is the “end goal of the Torah.” Everything in the Torah points to him. He is the living, walking, talking Torah. He showed man how to live it. He promised to help man live it through his example and through his Holy Spirit — the Comforter.

In Paul’s mind Yeshua and the Torah were synonymous (Rom 10:4–8).

Yeshua’s Right to the Title LORD

Yeshua has the legal right to exercise his lordship over our lives for the following reasons:

• He is God or Elohim (John 1:1), and he created everything. Thus, all humans owe him their obedience, honor, fear, and worship (John 1:3; Col 1:16; Heb 11:3).
• All authority has been given to him in heaven and earth (Matt 28:18; Eph 1:22).
  “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.’”
• Elohim (the Godhead) has made Yeshua both Lord and Messiah (Acts 2:36).
  “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”
• If Yeshua is our Lord, then we must obey him (Luke 6:46).
  “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do the things which I say?”
• Yeshua has bought and paid for us by redeeming us from sin’s death sentence. We were dead until he paid for us. We therefore are not only indebted to him, but he literally owns us. We owe our lives to him (1 Pet 1:18–19).
• As Lord, every knee will bow to Yeshua (Phil 2:10). We’d be wise get used to bowing to Yeshua NOW in all areas of our lives!
• Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit, so we are not our own, we were bought with a price; therefore, we must glorify Yeshua in our lives (1 Cor 6:19–20).
• On this earth, the saints are ambassadors for Yeshua and his kingdom. We must obey and represent his kingship and rule wherever we go and in whatever we do (2 Cor 5:20).
• We are Yeshua’s priesthood, his own special people who he brought out of spiritual darkness (1 Pet 2:5–9).
• Those closest to Yeshua (i.e., his disciples or apostles) called themselves bondservants or slaves to him (e.g., Rom 1:1; Gal 1:10; Phil 1:1; Jas 1:1; 2 Pet 2:1; Jude 1:1). Should we not follow their example and view ourselves in the same light?
• At his second coming, Yeshua is coming as the Supreme King, Lord and Master to judge all men. Yeshua is the only person who holds the power over life and death. As the Just Judge of all men, he will determine who lives and dies in the eternal sense. There are numerous parables where Yeshua likens himself to a king returning to his subjects where he will judge or reward them and hold them accountable based on their level of obedience and faithfulness to the tasks he has given them (e.g., the parables of the Talents, the Laborers Penny, the Sheep and Goats, the Wheat and the Tares, the Wicked Vinedressers, the Unforgiving Servant, the Wedding Feast).

As Our LORD, How Should We Act?

If Yeshua is the Lord of our lives, how should we then live?

• We are not to live to ourselves, but live to Yeshua our Lord because we belong to him and we are accountable to him for all our actions, for we must all stand before his judgment seat (Rom 14:7–12).
• We should take every argument and high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of Elohim captive to the obedience of Messiah (2 Cor 10:5).
• As belonging to Messiah and has having our lives hid in him, we must set our mind on things above, not on things below. This means that we must put to death our carnal passions or the old man with his sinful deeds, and as a new man or creation, strive to be renewed in knowledge according to the image of Yeshua our Creator (Col 3:1–10).
• Must seek to have the mind of Yeshua — to think and act as he did (Phil 2:5).
• As belonging to Yeshua, whenever we speak, let us speak the oracles of YHVH (1 Pet 4:11).
• In our secular work, we must conduct ourselves as if Yeshua were our employer or master because he is (Eph 6:5, 7).
• We must view ourselves as servants of Yeshua, and even come to the place, as did the apostles, as seeing ourselves as his bondservants or slaves (e.g., Rom 1:1; Gal 1:10; Phil 1:1; Jas 1:1; 2 Pet 2:1; Jude 1:1).