Our motto verse for 2020 is 1 Peter 3:15a: In your hearts, set apart Christ as Lord. It’s a short verse, but packed with insights!
In your HEARTS
When we think of the heart, we tend to think emotions, feelings, passions – “head vs. heart”. But the biblical Greek is different. The heart here is the locus of a person’s thoughts, volition, emotions, as well as their knowledge of right from wrong. Contrary to our Western understanding then, the heart rules more objectively than it does subjectively.
The heart is the battleground, a precious territory fought over by the will of ourselves and the wiles of the devil. In Matthew 6:21, Jesus says ‘where your treasure is, there is your heart’. In this passage, he describes a battleground between treasures on earth and treasures in heaven. Your heart, he says, should be in heaven, not on earth.
SET APART
Some translations prefer the word ‘revere’ here, rather than ‘set apart’. Reverence translates as hagiazō and normally means ‘sanctify, make holy’. But here it seems to have the sense, ‘treat as holy, regard reverently’. It has a similar sense in Matthew. 6:9: “Hallowed be thy name”, or “may your name be reverenced”. The phrase is also an adaptation of part of Isaiah 8:13: “But the Lord of hosts, him you shall regard as holy; let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.” Fear of the Lord rather than fear of men is reinforced.
Peter wants us to remember what our orientation to reality ought to be. In the face of suffering – whatever form it might take – the temptation is to orientate ourselves around that point. The difficult situation or relationship becomes the focus and we think and act in relation to that. But Peter says Christ must be our focal point. We orientate ourselves around him.
Peter illustrates his point in v. 23, pointing to Jesus: “When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.” In the face of his own suffering, Jesus set apart his Father as Lord.
The Father was his focal point; everything Jesus suffered was made bearable because it comported with the will of the Father.
Christ as LORD
To reverence Christ as Lord means to believe that he is in control. Such reverence is a deep-seated confidence in Jesus Christ as the reigning Lord of the universe (see 1 Peter 3:22). If our lives are centred on Christ, who is in control of the universe, we can respond properly to the uncertainties of life.
To set apart Christ as Lord is to acknowledge what Paul says in Romans 8:28: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
This is a wonderful verse of comfort, yet it is often interpreted along the lines of ‘everything works out in the end’. Paul is not making such a blanket statement here. Rather, he states that God works all things for good in relation to his pre-ordained will for our lives. In order to live a victorious Christian life, we must set apart Christ as Lord in our lives. That’s a conscious decision to submit to his good, pleasing and perfect well (Romans 12:2).
In reality, none of us set Christ apart fully in our lives. The key is to ask God to help us surrender all, piece by piece, day by day. Maybe you know very well in which areas Christ has no Lordship at all. Ask him to help you surrender. Or maybe you don’t know. Perhaps you’re bobbing along quite contentedly and think your spiritual life is fine. Ask God to show you otherwise.
If you’d like to talk more and pray about setting Christ apart as Lord, contact Jez Fernandez (Pastor).