dictionary.com defines Lord as, “a person who has authority, control, or power over others; a master, chief, or ruler. The Lord, or Master, is the one in charge, the one who gets to decide what’s right and wrong, acceptable and unacceptable.

God is the Author of life and as such He has designed it to function a certain way. God is also perfectly good and loving. Which means that His design for life is perfectly good and loving. He desires obedience for two reasons. First, God is concerned about His own glory. He wants to be the most important relationship in our lives and He wants others to know this as well. In other words He wants us to experience His glory and make His glory known through obedience to His Word. Second, it just so happens that God’s glory is directly tied to our joy. When we live life the way He has designed it to be lived we actually experience ultimate joy. We are doing what we were made to do. Therefore, God desires our obedience because it both reflects His glory and brings us joy. To disobey, then, is to choose a path that will result in something less than God’s best for our lives. As one pastor put it, God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him (John Piper).

(See leader’s note about) What God has commanded us to do is what God has created us to do. Lordship is not supposed to be some begrudging submission to a bitter and grumpy old man in Heaven who just doesn’t understand us and doesn’t want us to have fun. Lordship is simply doing what we were made to do. And, if we were made to do it then it is what will most greatly satisfy our souls. Therefore, Lordship is not the restriction of what you can do, it is the path for what you were created to do.

Spurgeon is saying that when we desire what God desires then God will give us those desires. In contrast, when we desire what God does not desire then God does not give us what we desire. Both are the result of His love for us. He gives us what we need, and keeps us from what will harm us like any loving father would do. The only places in Scripture where God gives people what He doesn’t desire for their life is when they have hardened their hearts and denied God’s glory and purpose and are unrepentant in habitual sin (see Romans 1:18-23). But, when we submit to God’s will and ask for those things associated with it then our prayers will be answered. This is what John meant when He said, “And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. 15And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.” (1 John 5:14-15)

Freedom isn’t just the ability to live without restraint, or to do whatever you want to do. Lack of restraint can lead to slavery and bondage very quickly. Just ask someone who felt free when they jumped out of the airplane, but when they pulled the parachute chord nothing happened. They do not feel very free at that moment. Freedom is the ability to do what you ought to be doing, not just what you want to be doing. If we are made to image God and reflect His glory in every aspect of life then that means true freedom comes when we do that. Therefore, obedience to God means our relationship will be free to be what God intended them to be. Our finances will be what God intends them to be. Our view of sex will honor God as He intends for it to. When this is reality then you can experience true joy in your relationships, finances and marriage.

The Gospel assures us of God’s love for us, His goodness to us, and His willingness to sacrifice for us, which in turn should show us how amazingly trustworthy He is. Therefore, we can obey God because we know that anything He would ask of us is coming from a good, loving, perfect heart that desires the best for us.