Who Do you say I am?

Intro

Last week I asked each and every one of you to ask yourself is Jesus your teacher or is he your Lord. Because Jesus did not come and die to be your teacher and give you words of wisdom. It is so much bigger than that. Like we saw in our blueprint of redemption series Jesus came and died so that you can be redeemed. He isn’t just a teacher he is the only one worthy to be your Lord.

In order for you to make him your Lord you must answer another question.

Who is Jesus? Who is he? There are so many opinions out there on who Jesus is but if he’s your Lord the only voice that should matter to you is who Jesus says that he is.

The most important question you can answer is who do you say Jesus is. Everything else centers around it. What you believe about the teachings of Jesus come back to what you believe about who you believe he is. The way you interact with other people comes directly back back to who you believe Jesus is. The value you assign yourself it intertwined with what you believe about who Jesus is.

Who you believe you are come directly back to who you believe Jesus is. We are going to look at what happened when Jesus asked his disciples directly who do you say that I am?

Matthew 16:13–15 CSB

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” “But you,” he asked them, “who do you say that I am?”

Before we get to the disciples response. Id like to look at what people were saying Jesus is. Cause Jesus starts out very general. He is basically asking what is the general concensus about me in the culture?

And they give him what the scouting report is. Some say you are John the Baptist, some say you are Elijah, some say you are Jeremiah, some think you are one of the other prophets. These comparisons show that Jesus was still very popular. They are all complimentary.

1. Compliments Aren’t Commitment

Being Complimentary of Jesus, doesn’t make you a Christian

Comparing Jesus to John the Baptist, Jeremiah, and especially Elijah were very high compliments. The disciples are telling Jesus what he already knew the people like him, they are ready to put him up there with their mount rushmore of favorite prophets. What a compliment.

But they had missed who Jesus actually is. Jesus wasn’t just another prophet. He is the one who told the prophets what to say. He is on a whole different level as the Son of God.

The people had a very positive view of Jesus. They liked him but he wasn’t their Lord. They were complimentary but they werent committed to him. and the viewed him as a servant of God instead of the son of God.

Here is where we need to be careful we dont fall into the same trap or assume that everyone who says something nice about Jesus is a follower of Jesus. Because our culture doesn’t have a problem with Jesus. Most people like Jesus or atleast the idea of Jesus especially around here. The average person in Jesus’ culture liked him. and they still allowed him to be crucified. They weren’t committed followers.

You can have high praise for Jesus and for what he said. But that doesn’t mean you are a Christian. We all know people who if directly asked would say they are proJesus. They would say they agree with the teachings of Jesus. Who you know are not followers of Jesus because their is no evidence in their lives of submitting to the Lordship of Jesus.

Those friends and family members that you have. The ones that are complimentary of Jesus, who would never say anything bad about Jesus, but clearly don’t have any of the fruit in their lives that come from placing their faith in Jesus. Im going to say outloud what you already know in your heart.

There is a good chance they aren’t Christians, There is a good chance that if they died today they would be eternally separated from God.

I dont say that to discourage you. I say that to encourage you. to motivate you.

To motivate you to act on what you know to be true. To in your interactions with them push past the surface level general compliments of Jesus and ask the pointed direct questions. Like the one Jesus asks. after he gets the general concensus on who People say he is he asks them directly Who do you say that i am?

Peter answers as the spokesperson for the 12 as the oldest. he answers for all of them

Matthew 16:16 CSB

Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

2. Jesus Isn’t Just Good — He’s God

Jesus is the Son of God. You cannot be a Christian if you don’t believe this. There is no scenario in scripture that exists where you can follow some teachings of Jesus without believing in the divinity of Jesus and be redeemed by the blood of Jesus.

Because Either you believe Jesus is the son of God, or you have to believe he was crazy.

This in between area where people try to settle doesn’t exist. Because If Jesus wasn’t the son of God then he wasn’t a good teacher because he taught he was the son of God.

When we say Jesus is the son of God it does not mean that God fathered Jesus. That at one point before the earth was formed existed just God the father, and then he somehow fathered Jesus, and then the Holy Spirit showed up at some point. No The term son is a term for us to understand the closeness of the relationship between God and Jesus.

God is one being in three persons. that have always existed in relationship with each other. but still one being, yahweh. throughout scripture the father is referenced as yahweh, Jesus is referenced as yahweh and the Holy Spirit is referenced as Yahweh.

When we say Jesus is the son of God we are saying the same thing Peter was declaring. Jesus is God. He isnt just a little a God, He isn’t God light, he isn’t diet God, Jesus is God.

And the reason people don’t want to believe that because if you truely believe that. Like Corwin preached a couple weeks ago, what you believe fuels what you do. So if you believe Jesus is God. Then there is no other solution than to submit to him as your Lord.

And man we hate submitting to anything don’t we? I know I do. We naturally inclined because of our sinful nature to deny the authority over us, which all stems back to when Adam and Eve denied the authority of God in the garden of Eden. Kids deny their parents authority, We deny the authority of the government when we disagree with it, I deny the authority of the speed limit probably too regularly. We deny authority either subconcisouly or with our actions because if we acknowledge authority that means we must submit to it.

In order to move from a people who are complimentary of Jesus to redeemed children of God. Me, you, and everyone you know. must acknowledge Jesus is the Son of God, meaning he is an equal person in the being of Yahweh God. and if we believe that there is no other option than to humble yourself and submit to his authority as your Lord.

Matthew 16:17–19 CSB

Jesus responded, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will have been loosed in heaven.”

There is lots of debate on this section as what Jesus means by saying on this rock I will build my church. Some think Jesus is talking about himself. or the confession Peter made that he is the son of God. the more common view is that the rock refers to Peter. I lean that he is talking about Peter, but I encourage you to study it for yourself and see what conclusion the Holy Spirit brings you to. But I believe there is a significant truth here that can be applied to every one of us.

After Simon declares Jesus as the son of God, Jesus proclaims who Simon is. Peter, the one who will be the rock of the first church, who will preach the first sermon where thousands will become Christians. and those Christians would begin multiplying and multiplying and be the reason we are sitting here today.

Peter didn’t know who he was until he knew who Jesus was.

3.You Discover Who You Are When You Know Who He Is.

Before Jesus Peter was a rabbi school drop out fisherman. But who he was, was much more than his vocation. He didn’t know his purpose, he didn’t know what it meant to follow God with his whole heart. Until he met Jesus.

We all search for things or people to tell us who we are. We let our jobs tell us who we are, we let our friends tell us who we are, our families tell us who we are. We try to tell ourselves who we are. There is only one person who can tell you who you are, and that’s Jesus.

And the only way for Jesus to tell you who you are is if you know who he is. Peter came to the point he had no doubt of who Jesus was. so he allowed Jesus tell him who he was. and here’s the important part he believed him.

I feel like a lot of people, and this may describe some of you here today. I know some days it describes me. Where you know who Jesus says you are. Child of God, redeemed, found, light of the world, loved by God, Free, forgiven. You know who Jesus says you are but some days the fear and anxiety creep in and you don’t believe what you know to be true.

I have found that the days when I start to believe the enemies lies about myself are the days that I am not as focused on Jesus as I should be. Every lie of the enemy is refuted not by looking at myself but by looking at Jesus. He defines me. my title doesn’t define me. The size of the youth group or church doesn’t define me. my age doesn’t define me, my feelings don’t define me, my sin doesn’t define me Jesus does. My identity has been determined by Jesus. Because he is the son of God, who died for me.

I know who I am because I know who Jesus is. Do you? Where is your identity determined?

You find your identity and your purpose by knowing Jesus. If you believe Jesus is the Son of God and you have submitted to his lordship over your life. You have the same purpose as Peter did.

Matthew 16:19 CSB

I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will have been loosed in heaven.”

Peter and all the apostles were given the keys to the kingdom of God. Meaning their purpose after Jesus was gone was to open the door for others to enter the kingdom of God and know who Jesus is and discover who they were made to be.

We have that same purpose. Those people you thought of earlier. The ones who are complimentary of Jesus but aren’t committed to Jesus. It is your purpose to show them who Jesus really is. So they don’t miss out on eternal life in heaven and abundant life now which includes knowing who they are. freeing them from the burden of searching for things from the world to tell them who they are.

I need Jesus to tell me who I am, You need Jesus to tell you who you are, your kids need Jesus to tell them who they are, your coworkers need Jesus to them who they are, Your friends need Jesus to tell them who they are.

If you arent going to tell them who will?

I think of this image of us holding the keys to the kingdom, and I imagine all the people I know behind a locked door in a room where a fire has started. And I am on the other side with the keys to open that door. I cant make them come to the other side but what kind of person would I be if I held the keys to their life and I didn’t open the door.

It is our purpose to open the door. It is your purpose to open the door. If you know who Jesus is you know who you are. believe what you know to be true. if you know who Jesus is you know what your purpose is. it is to open the door. for everyone in you life who is not a child of God whether they like the idea of Jesus or not to move from being lost to being found, from being condemned to redeemed, from being dead to being alive.

Because you know who Jesus is you know who you are, you know what your purpose is. Use the keys to kingdom to open as many doors for as many people for as long as you can.

I want to close with a challenge for you today.

If you know who Jesus is and because of that you know who you are. I want you to start thinking about the people in your life who complimentary of Jesus but as far as you know are not Christians. If they died today they would not spend eternity in heaven. The question I want to leave the Christians in here today with is what are you going to do about it? are you going to keep standing there with the keys or are you going to try and open some doors.

If you are here today and you are complimentary of Jesus. You like him, you like what he has to say. I got to tell you my friend that wont save you. Im going to ask you what Jesus asked Peter.

Who do you say that I am? Who do you say Jesus is? is he a teacher, a wise person, a myth, an ideal to strive towards. Or do you believe that he is the son of God worthy of all praise and honor, worthy to bear the weight of your sin that seperates you from God, and worthy to submit your whole life to. There is no middle ground. He is your Lord and savior or he isnt. Who do you say Jesus is. If today you are ready to declare him as the son of God and your savior and lord for the first time today. Come down and talk to me and leave today as child of God. stop looking for something out there to tell you who you are. God created you to be like Jesus. Come discover who you are by meeting Jesus this morning.