Bond-Servant: Jesus

We like to talk about all that God has done for us. We like to talk about our salvation and all that Christ has done for us. We love to explore the parables of Jesus. (For many, the parables are like mini-mysteries where the different characters and events provide clues to a hidden message.) Many of the parables feature characters with a master-slave relationship.

We are happy to discuss all the way that Jesus served. We love the verse that tells us that “the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:28)

We are happy to see the humble lives of the apostles after the death of Jesus, men who gave their lives to the cause of Christ, men who referred to themselves as bond-servants of Christ.

In fact, most of us who wear the name of Christ are quite happy to serve. We are mostly happy to be a servant, but we are hesitant to go to the extent of service to be a bond-servant.

In a sense, you are a servant to your boss. We might be uncomfortable with that terminology, but it is accurate. There is a fair exchange of work for pay (presumably), but you follow the orders of your boss. He is your master at work and you are the servant. However, you stop at the end of your shift or work day. You have your private life...YOUR life.

The bond-servant gave up his will and made the master’s will his own. It is more than, “Your wish is my command.” It is, “Your desire is my own desire.” If someone were to ask the bond-servant, “What do you want in life?” or “What are your personal goals?” The answer would come without hesitation, “My desire is to do my master’s will. My life is completely devoted to my master.”

Do you understand that the issues of our day are related to the human will? All the identity confusion is people asserting their will on others to the point that they wish to govern the language and how you use it by forcing their perception of reality on others. Feminism is about the human will. The fighting among our political parties is a struggle of the human will. Crime is most often the assertion of the human will to obtain something, whether justice or possessions. Anger is the human will boldly expressing its dissatisfaction with the current circumstances. And the list goes on….

The human will is a part of the human spirit. When the soul allows the human will to assert itself and control the person, then that person becomes the center of their universe: “MY will be done!” The only possible result is conflict with others who also live by the same, “MY will be done!”

Jesus felt the struggle of the human will the night before He was crucified. He asked God to “remove this cup from Me.” In other words, His human will wished to avoid the crucifixion. Yet, He immediately followed, “yet not My will, but Yours be done.” He walked the path to the cross: Bond-servant.

“MY will be done” embraces...

     Eve, 

          Cain, 

               Sodom & Gomorrah, 

                    Korah, Dathan & Abiram, 

                         Nadab & Abihu, 

                              Deliliah, 

                                   Goliath, 

                                        Jezebel, 

                                             Judas, and so on.

Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although he existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, he humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross. 

--Philippians 2:5-8

You say you want to be like Jesus. 

It’s all about the will….

Mark Stinnett

August 2, 2026

There Is No Faith Pill

When you go to the doctor, what do you want his response to be?

• You must change your diet? No.
• You must eat less and exercise more? No.
• You must slow down and rest? No.

Our society often expects immediate relief, a quick solution. All too often, we expect a pill to heal. And yet, most often the quick remedy is no remedy at all but an aid so the body can heal itself.

This kind of quick-fix thinking has bled over into Christianity. For many churches salvation is by faith alone, but a faith that is little more than mental assent to the deity of Jesus. Just ask Jesus into your heart, embrace him as your Savior, say a prayer and you’re saved.

That characterization will sound critical to some. And yet, Jesus did not call upon people for mental acceptance; He asked for more.

Yes, the gospel proclaims that Jesus is the Son of God. That, you must accept and believe!

Yes, the gospel proclaims that Jesus is the Savior of the world. That, you must accept and believe!

And yet, the gospel proclaims that Jesus is both Lord and Christ. He is King!

It is a startling realization for some that the cross of Christ was not the end, but the beginning. “It is finished” were the words of Jesus as He completed God’s will as a willing sacrifice for the sins of mankind. However, before ascending to heaven Jesus continued to teach His disciples. And what did He teach??

To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God. 

— Acts 1:3

Jesus kept telling His disciples about the kingdom of God. His death on the cross was indeed for cleansing, but it was also to inaugurate a new covenant. The coming of the new covenant marked the coming of the kingdom of God on the earth.

At the end of Mark’s gospel Jesus…“was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.” (16:19) Peter, in the first declaration of the gospel after the death of Jesus, declared Him to be both Lord and Christ. All these describe One who was enthroned as King!

There is no faith pill that magically makes you a disciple. The King of Kings demands allegiance!

Faith in Jesus demands a radical change of allegiance from all the things of this life to Jesus. Loyalties no longer lie with possessions, family, career, or country. Allegiance to Christ demands loyalty to the King, and only to the King. Allegiance demands loyalty in good times and bad, when life is easy and when life is difficult.

Allegiance to Jesus is first a call to bow in awe and submission, and then to rise up to action. Action may be the discipline of prayer; action may be that of restraining one’s desires; action may be the display of a godly frame of mind in demanding circumstances; action may come with enjoyable service; and action may come with costly and difficult sacrifice.

The cross marked the beginning of a new covenant. Your embrace of salvation at the cross of Christ marks your new beginning in the kingdom. You die to self promising allegiance to Jesus and it will not be easy. His death and your death mark new beginnings. You have died to yourself. Rise to allegiance to Christ where the promise is life everlasting.


Mark Stinnett

September 29, 2024

An Offering

He offered what!? 

(Righteous Lot - Genesis 19)

God sent two angels to warn Lot and his family of the impending destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. It was evening when the angels arrived at the city of Sodom and found Lot at the city gate. Upon their arrival Lot, not knowing that they were angels from God, invited the strangers to his home.

Before going to sleep that night men from all over the city of Sodom came and surrounded Lot’s house. They called to Lot instructing him to release his guests to them so they could commit terrible sexual sins with the strangers. Lot refused and advised them against their wickedness.

Then something happened that absolutely stings the mind to even think about. As a parent it is unbelievable and shocking.

Lot called back to the men of the city and...
Offered them his own daughters for their sexual desires...

Was he out of his mind!?!

He offered what!? 

(Jephthah, Judge of Israel - Judges 11)

Jephthah was an outcast among the Israelites; his mother, a prostitute. So he had been driven away.

However, when Israel found herself facing a war against the nation of Ammon, she needed a strong warrior to lead her. The elders of Israel called on Jephthah to lead them in battle.

Jephthah, still bitter over the way he had been treated, agreed to lead Israel in battle with one condition: He would become their head leader. The elders agreed and Jephthah became the general of their armies and the leader of Israel.

The Bible says that the Spirit of God came upon Jephthah as he led Israel. He then made a vow to God. Jephthah vowed that if he was victorious, he would offer as a burnt offering whatever came out of his house upon his return.

It is doubtful that Jephthah could have imagined what would happen upon his return. Most likely he imagined that an animal would exit his house and that he would joyfully sacrifice the animal to God as thanks.

God gave Jephthah success in battle, however, upon his return home it was not an animal that exited the doors of his house. Jephthah was devastated as he saw his daughter rush out of his house to greet him. He knew that he had made a vow to God that could not be taken back.

The scene is mind-numbing. How could a man be so foolish? How could he have overlooked this possibility? How could he possibly keep this vow? How could he not keep a vow to God!?

One’s mind races with thoughts of horror, but the broken hearted warrior kept his promise and… offered his own daughter as a sacrifice...

Was he out of his mind!?!

An Offering
Years after the days of Lot and Jephthah, yet many years in our past, the world was in turmoil. The power of sin reigned and there was no hope for mankind. But Deity looked down with compassion, hearing our cry, and….

Many agree that it is the most well-known verse in the Bible: “For God so loved the world….” You see it on homemade signs held up at football and basketball games. Our children recite it and we are proud of them, maybe even entertained. It rolls off our lips so easily: “For God so loved the world….”

Does it sting our minds more to think of Lot’s offering or Jephthah’s sacrifice than the offering and sacrifice of Jesus?

God offered as a sacrifice his only begotten Son…

Was He . . . !?!

Mark Stinnett

August 25, 2024