Jude 1:1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, To those who have been called, who are loved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ:
Jude speaks of two relationships here, one of his earthly brothers and the other his relationship with our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus. Jude and his brother James, the earthly brothers of Jesus, did not believe He was the true Messiah until after His resurrection (John 7:5).
In this verse, he did not mention he was the brother of Jesus but a servant of our Lord and Savior. James, the other brother of Jesus later became the church leader in Jerusalem and was the only one mentioned in the New Testament in that position. Jude clearly showed that he held his relationship with Jesus, as the Messiah, in higher esteem than his earthly relationship with his brothers.
Our eternal relationship with our Savior has a lasting value that our relationships on earth cannot have. That is not to belittle our relationship with our brothers and sisters in Christ in this life. However, we cannot compare our earthly relationship with the one that made it possible for us to have eternal life.
The idea of being someone’s servant is not an attractive perception to some people, but because of our love for Christ Jesus, we want to give Him our undivided loyalty. Whether we understand it or not, we are all servants of something or someone, either our sins or our Savior. To qualify for servitude to Christ Jesus, we must relinquish all our rights. There are only two options; either Christ Jesus is our master or sin is. (Romans 6:20; John 8:34).
The term Lord and Savior is two sides of the same coin, two halves of the same walnut shell. They are inseparable, like a horse and carriage. We can’t have it just one way; Jesus can’t be our Savior and not be our Lord. To truly consider Him as our Lord and Savior, we must surrender ourselves to Him heart, mind, body, spirit, and soul. He must come before our husbands or wives, our children, our gold and silver, our real estate, our jobs, and every other aspect of life as we know it. This dilemma is the supreme, perennial question we all must ask ourselves: Have we given Him our all and surrendered to Him? If not, then Christ Jesus is not our master, and we are not His servants.
All people who have accepted Christ Jesus as their Lord and Savior have a calling from God. Once we accept the calling to be His servant, He sets us apart to spread His Gospel to the ends of the Earth (Acts 1:8).
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