John Stevens believed that Jesus Christ was not only the Savior, but also the Lord of every believer (II Peter 3:18). The following quote from his personal statement of faith is one of the best summaries of John Stevens’ concept of the Lordship of Jesus Christ:
To be a Christian, as I understand Christ, means the acceptance of the absolute authority of Jesus in all of my life. It means that in everything that I am and do when I eat and drink, when I buy and sell, when I work and play, when I read and think—that I take Jesus as my Master…. It means that I honor His name above every other name, and place obedience to Him above every other obligation.1
Stevens taught that we cannot just pay lip-service to Christ as our Lord, but that we are to truly submit everything we are and everything we do to His perfect authority. This scriptural reality is declared in Philippians 2:10-11: “…every knee will bow…every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
Submission to Jesus Christ is a necessity of the Kingdom of God. He is the King, and He rules the Kingdom. Therefore, proclaiming Him Lord, and truly submitting to His Lordship, is one way that Christian believers establish God’s Kingdom on this earth. This puts into practice the Lord’s Prayer, which states: “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). Stevens believed that the Kingdom must first be established in the hearts of believers, and that the Lordship of Jesus Christ2 was an integral part of that process.
Stevens taught that the true expression of the Lordship of Jesus Christ would be our submission one to another as Christ comes forth in each individual’s heart (Ephesians 5:21). Therefore, the Lordship of Jesus Christ is the foundation for submission to divine order. However, divine order in the Church is but a prelude to the King returning and His Kingdom being established.
Citations
1. Stevens, John Robert: “To Be a Christian”, To Every Man That Asketh, p. 13: Copyright © 1959 by John Robert Stevens, revised 1971 by The Living Word.*
References
Stevens, John Robert: “The Church or the Churches”, Walking Together: John Robert Stevens, 1973. 97042501R
Stevens, John Robert: “Lesson 33: Terminology”, The First Principles: The Living Word, 1999; John Robert Stevens, 1958, 1970, 1977. 99091001R
Stevens, John Robert: “Head ‘Em Off at the Pass”, Beyond Passover: John Robert Stevens, 1977. 77010502R
The term Christ appears 11,604 times in Stevens’ written materials.
The term Jesus appears 8,274 times in Stevens’ written materials.
Stevens mentioned the Lordship of Christ 380 times in his written materials.
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