WHO DO YOU SAY THAT I AM?
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Matthew 16:15 (NKJV) — 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
Mark 8:29 (NKJV) — 29 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered and said to Him, “You are the Christ.”
Luke 9:20 (NKJV) — 20 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered and said, “The Christ of God.”
"Who do you say that I am?'' is the question required of every generation, and every generation must answer it for itself.
Every Christian needs to be able to answer the question “who do you say?”
And if we get our "you say”, wrong, we get everything wrong
Every revival and restoration in the church has been a rediscovery of some aspect of Christ in the process of answering this critical question.
On Friday, we were praying for a spiritual awakening
In fact, three features are present in every revival in the history of the Christian church:
1. rediscovery of the "living Word” or the Scriptures and its authority;
2. rediscovery of the “living Christ” and His supremacy
3. rediscovery of the “living Spirit” and the Spirit's gifts and power to manifest Christ in the context of that culture.
God has a history of taking seriously people who take the eternal Word seriously.
Hebrews 11:6 (NKJV) — 6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
James 4:8 (NKJV) — 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
Psalm 119:2 (NKJV) — 2 Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, Who seek Him with the whole heart!
Jesus Himself said that when He is lifted up, He will draw all people to Himself.
But because we don’t trust Jesus to do what He says He will do, or believe that He is who He says He is, or have not caught a glimpse of His infinite glory, we sit at drawing boards and draw up programs and methods and draft strategies that we hope might bring people to Christ.
But Jesus could not have been clearer the only begotten Son of God is the treasure.
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.
Our mission is simply to lift Him up in a context that our culture can understand and appreciate.
Whenever this happens, the rest will take care of itself.
Unfortunately, “Who do you say that I am?”, is no longer the only question.
“What are you doing to bring in the kingdom of God” is now an equally asked question, as is “What are you doing for justice” and “In what causes are you engaged” or “What are you doing to evangelise the world” and “To whom are you accountable to” and “Whats your gift?”, and especially, “What kind of a leader are you?”
Yet Jesus quizzed Peter with one ultimate question, and only one.
And that one question is the same one He asks us today.
It is not, “Are you ready to accept leadership status in My church?”
It is not, “Do you know how to build a movement?”
It is not, “How many people did you lead to Me?”
It is not, “Have you spoken in tongues yet?”
It is not, “Is leadership your passion?”
It is not, “To whom will you be accountable?”
It is not, “Are you doing your best so that God will be happy with you?”
And it is not, "Will you surround yourself with people who have leadership potential and will make you look good?"
The question is only this: "DO YOU LOVE ME?"
John 21:15 (NIV) — 15 When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”
So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Feed My lambs.”
What does Jesus want from us? Leadership? Or love?
Unfortunately, we cannot properly love Him if we do not understand how beautiful and glorious He is
But once we do-once we catch a sighting of Jesus Christ in all His glory-we will gladly exchange our dusty rites, Christian-speak, and pop- culture church-building tactics for the j oy of becoming a walking, breathing " Jesus Manifesto."
"The Lord Jesus Christ is far beyond what most of us could ever dream or imagine. His greatness, His beauty, and His splendor are unknown to many Christians today. This is why a fresh look at Him-a fresh Christology-is so vital. To put it in a sentence: To faithfully represent Jesus in our time requires re-presenting Him. And that's what we are attempting to do in this book.
Christians have made the gospel about so many things—things other than Christ.
It is all too possible to emphasize a spiritual truth, value, virtue, or gift, yet miss Christ, who is Himself the embodiment and incarnation of all of these things.
And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.
And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.
Christ Alone Is Our Everything
“He is before all things" sums up who Jesus is as Creator
He is before all things because he created all things and thus is above all things.
He is the head of the body, the church
Colossians 1:20
and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.