After God gave the law to Moses in Exo. 19-20, He went on in ch. 21:1-6 to speak of a slave who did not want to go out free but serve his master forever because he loved his master, his wife, and his children. The law was given to show the people of Israel who God is and what He wants from them, but the only way the law can be fulfilled in us is if we as God’s people take the position of a slave.
However, in today’s world no one wants to be a slave; most people ARE slaves to their job, car, sports, family life, hobbies, gadgets, and all kinds of things, passions, lusts, desires, vices, etc – but actually no one wants to be a slave.
The Lord Jesus, God Himself, came to the earth and lived among us not merely as the Son of God and the Son of Man but also as a Slave, the Slave of God; he denied Himself, humbled Himself, and emptied Himself so that He may be made like us and be found in fashion as a man, lowering Himself to the position of a slave to serve God and man.
The Apostle Paul was also a slave: he served God and became all things to all men so that they may be gained for Christ and may grow in life for the building up of the Body of Christ. Being a slave of God is not a “job” or a “hobby” but a living; a slave lives to the Lord, not to himself.
Today we would like to prayerfully explore and consider what it means to live to the Lord and how can we live to the Lord today. As slaves of God, we live not only for the Lord (which implies that we’re still our own and from time to time we live for God) but to the Lord (which implies that we belong to the Lord, we are His, and we are one with Him; therefore, we have a life and a living that is to the Lord).
As Slaves of God, we Live to the Lord and No Longer to Ourselves!
As slaves of God we live to the Lord, not to ourselves; a slave lives to the master, listening to the master and doing what the master tells him to do. The love of Christ constrains us because we have judged this: that Christ died for us all, therefore we all died; and He died for us all so that we may no longer live to ourselves but to Him who died for us and has been raised (2 Cor. 5:14-15).
Why do we live to the Lord? It is because we see His dying love for us and we are constrained by His love; therefore we consider this and we realize that we should no longer live to ourselves but to the Lord, taking the Lord as the aim of our living. Paul testified, I through law have died to law that I might live to God (Gal. 2:19).
To live to God means that we are under God’s leading and His constraint to fulfill His demand and accomplish what He desires. As believers in Christ we are slaves of God and of Jesus Christ in the church life, and we should take Christ as our unique aim in our living and in everything we do so that we may live to Him.
To live to the Lord means that we’re not living to ourselves, accomplishing what we desire, and fulfilling what we intend; to live to the Lord means that we’re under the leading and constraint of the Lord to fulfill His demand, satisfy His desire, and accomplish His purpose (see 2 Tim. 1:9; 3:10).
“To the Lord” implies that we are the Lord’s possession, that is, we already belong to Him; “for the Lord” implies that we are still our own and according to our pleasure and convenience, and from time to time (or when we remember) we do things for the Lord.
Paul didn’t say that the love of Christ constrains us and so we now live for Him; he said, we no longer live to ourselves but to Him! Living for someone means that we are we and he is he, and we do things to please that someone; but living to someone means that we’re one with that person and we do things in oneness with him for the fulfillment of his desire.
To live to ourselves means that we’re under our own control and direction, we take care of our own business, we have our own aims, and we do things to accomplish our own goals; to live to the Lord implies that we’re the Lord’s possession – we belong to Him, we are one with Him (1 Cor. 6:17), and we live to Him in this oneness with Him.
If we merely live for the Lord we can still do things “for God” according to our own pleasure and convenience, doing a “work for the Lord” by our natural zeal and aggressiveness.
But living to the Lord means that we reject anything that’s natural and we are one with Him, we abide in Him, we let Him make His home in our heart, we check with Him about everything, we allow Him to direct us and rule us, we enjoy the Lord, we do everything in oneness with Him, and we never leave Him but do all things according to His heart’s desire and good pleasure.
God doesn’t want many independent and individual people who “do great works for Him and in His name”; He desires to have a group of people who live to Him as genuine slaves of God, some who no longer live to themselves but to the Lord by taking Him as the unique aim of their living.
Lord Jesus, Your love constrains us because we have judged this: You died for us all, therefore we all died; therefore, we no longer want to live to ourselves but to You who loved us and died for us and has been raised! Lord, we take You as our unique aim in our daily life. In everything we do and say we take You as our center, our aim, and our goal. Lord, we are one with You in spirit; we are here not only to live for You but to live to You! May Your love constrain us until we fulfill Your demand, satisfy Your desire, and accomplish Your purpose!
Living to the Lord is Based on the Fact that We are the Lord’s – we belong to Him!
How can we live to the Lord? In ourselves we live only TO ourselves, doing our own things, deciding things on our own, desiring things according to our liking, and going where we want to go.
But when we see that the Lord has bought us with the great price of His precious blood (1 Cor. 6:19-20; 1 Pet. 1:18-19), we realize that we are no longer our own – we have been bought by the Lord, and now we belong to Him.
Judicially, Christ paid the highest price to purchase us for Himself; organically, He loved us and died for us in love. Now the Lord is our Master, and we belong to Him. We live to the Lord because we are the Lord’s – whether we live or we die, we don’t live or die to ourselves but to the Lord, because we are the Lord’s (Rom. 14:7-8).
We shouldn’t say that we’re doing certain things “for the Lord” as if we’re apart from Him and still live to ourselves; we belong to the Lord, we are the Lord’s, and we are one with Him; we are no longer under our own restraint, leading, and control, but we are the Lord’s!
May we really see that the Lord has paid the highest price to purchase us, and His dying love constrains us to no longer live to ourselves but to Him who loved us and died for us – and who now has been raised and is the life-giving Spirit in our spirit!
May we have the same ambition as the apostles who desired that, whether travelling or preaching the gospel or living daily, they would be found in Christ, live to Him, experience Him, accomplish His desire, and fulfill His purpose.
All that we have, all that we do, and all that we are, are to the Lord; everything is wholly to Him, and now we should live to the Lord.
Those around us in the world may live to themselves, accomplishing their own purposes and desires, but we are under the Lord’s restraint, we obey His inner leading, and we have His aim and goal as our aim and goal, desiring to be well-pleasing to Him.
Living to the Lord is based upon the fact that we are the Lord’s – we belong to the Lord; therefore, we no longer live to ourselves but to Him!
Lord Jesus, thank You for dying for us on the cross to redeem us back to God; thank You for paying the highest price of Your precious blood to buy us for Yourself. We love You, Lord! We are constrained by Your dying love to just love You and take You as our Master. Lord Jesus, we belong to You: You are our Master, and we are Your slaves, and now all that we have, all that we do, and all that we are – are all to You! Lord, our aspiration is to live to You, being well-pleasing to You, and accomplishing Your purpose and desire!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my Christian experience, brother Ron Kangas’ sharing in the message for this week, and Truth Lessons—Level 3, vol. 3, pp. 78-79 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Exodus (2), week 5 / msg 5, Christ as the Slave of God and the Believers as Slaves of God and Christ Jesus in the Chuch Life.
- All Bible verses are taken from, Holy Bible Recovery Version.
- Hymns on this topic to strengthen this burden:
# Jesus, I live to Thee, / The Loveliest and Best; / My life in Thee, Thy life in me, / In Thy blest love I rest. / Jesus, I die to Thee, / Whenever death shall come; / To die in Thee is life to me, / With Thee I’m ever one! (Hymns #504)
# Lord, I thank You for another new day to live You; / Another day for me to practise being one spirit with You. / Remind me this whole day to reject my self, / Not to trust myself, / And not to live by myself. / Strengthen me to live by You. / Make this a day for me to live You out. / Taking You as my everything, / Abiding in You as a branch in the vine. (Song on Living to the Lord)
# Your love constrains me to give my all to You. / Lord, I can’t help it; my heart is drawn to You. / Oh what a privilege! I give myself to You! / I love You, Lord, dearest Lord. / I love You! I just love You! (Song on being constrained by the Lord)
About aGodMan
In 2 Corinthians 5:15 Paul says, “He died for all that those who live may no longer live to themselves but to Him who died for them and has been raised.” Worldly people always live to themselves, but the love of Christ constrains us to live to Him and not to ourselves. To live to ourselves means that we are under our own restraint, leading, and control, mindful only of our own aim and goal. This is not only to live for ourselves but also to live to ourselves, taking ourselves as the aim for our living. The apostles, however, had the ambition to live to the Lord, to be well pleasing to Him; they were absolutely under the Lord, under His leading, restraint, and control. Everything they did was for the accomplishment of the Lord’s purpose and desire. Since they were this kind of people, they did not live to themselves but to the Lord. (Witness Lee, Truth Lessons—Level 3, vol. 3, pp. 78-79)