Theology for Everybody: Romansنموونە

Lost and Found: Finding God’s Peace

In the first sentence of his letter to the Romans, Paul introduces himself as “a servant of Jesus Christ.” Servitude is not a revered position in today’s world but a noble and distinguished role in the Kingdom of God. As believers, we must live Kingdom-down, not culture-up. Our King Jesus is a servant king, so when Paul declares himself to be a servant, he assumes the same posture as Jesus.

A servant has two main tasks:

·lift burdens

·give blessings

Jesus lifts our burdens and gives us blessings, and then He invites us to serve others by lifting their burdens and giving them blessings.

Jesus’ disciples regularly argued over the question, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” (see Matthew 18:1–4, Mark 9:33–37). The disciples should have easily been able to answer this question. They should have had a suitable answer because they were in front of a man who could walk on water, feed crowds with a little boy’s lunch, and cast demons out of people. Still, the disciples did not seem to understand the deeper meaning of what Jesus was teaching. One day James and John even dared to ask Jesus if they could sit at His right and left hands in His Kingdom. In other words, they wanted to be the greatest among all the disciples. How did Jesus reply?

Whoever would be great among you must be your servant and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:43–45).

Jesus left His throne in heaven and came to earth to be like us and to serve us. He lived His life without any sin on the earth to serve us. Jesus went to the cross, suffered, and died in our place to serve us. He experienced the wrath of God to serve us. Then Jesus rose from death and conquered Satan, sin, and death to serve us. He ascended into heaven, but He is still serving us today. Jesus is answering prayers. He is lifting burdens. Jesus is providing blessings. He is altering destinies. That same Jesus is still serving. He is the greatest in the Kingdom because He is the servant of all.

Do you want to be like Jesus? There are three requirements for you to be a servant in the Kingdom of God:

1. Allow Jesus to serve you. Before Jesus calls you to serve anyone else, He serves you.

2. Accept Jesus as your Lord.

3. Ask Jesus, “Who do you want me to serve, and how can I serve them?”

Today’s Reflection

What does it mean to you to be a servant of Jesus Christ?