“Jesus – Who is He?”
April 27, 2008
“When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?"
They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah ; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets."
"But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?"
Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ , the Son of the living God."
Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter , and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." Then he warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.”
Matthew 16:13-20
A mother was busy doing her housework, washing dishing, clean floors, dusting and so on, when she noticed her four year old son really engrossed in making a picture with his color crayons. His tongue was over on the side of his mouth and his brow was wrinkled and he was really concentrating on what he was doing.
His mom asked him what he was drawing. He said, “I’m making a picture of God.”
“Oh, Honey,” his mom said, “Nobody has seen God. Nobody knows what God looks like.
Without looking up, the boy cheerful declares, “They will when I’m done!”
Don’t you love a child’s confidence? I wish I could be so confident about my message today, because the truth of the matter is that no one has seen God and no one is intelligent enough to completely explain who Jesus is. This morning, though, I am going to share four important things about Him that we can know. We can know these truths and be confident of them because He has revealed them to us.
Before I do that, let me share what we Nazarenes believe about Jesus. In our church manual, the second article of faith says,
2. We believe in Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Triune Godhead; that He was eternally one with the Father; that He became incarnate by the Holy Spirit and was born of the Virgin Mary, so that two whole and perfect natures, that is to say the Godhead and manhood, are thus united in one Person very God and very man, the God-man.
We believe that Jesus Christ died for our sins, and that He truly arose from the dead and took again His body, together with all things appertaining to the perfection of man’s nature, wherewith He ascended into heaven and is there engaged in intercession for us.
I guess if you look real hard, you will find the four important things I am going to talk about in that statement – but let me simplify just a little bit. The first very important fact about Jesus that you need to know is:
1. He is God. Jesus is not just another religious icon. He isn’t another great teacher or spiritual leader. Jesus is God. I talked about this a few months ago. Do you remember the chart I shared with you? Here it is again: (Power Point)
It is only logical to believe in the deity of Jesus. Jesus very clear declares it. He says,
"You are not yet fifty years old," the Jews said to him, "and you have seen Abraham!"
"I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!" At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.” John 8:58-59
Jesus used God’s name. Why? Because He was God. The Jews knew He was saying He was God – that’s why they were going to stone Him. How did He get away? He was God. Did He blind them? Did He become invisible? Did He confuse their thinking? We don’t know. But when you are in the middle of a crowd and they want to kill you – it would be pretty hard to slip away - unless you were God.
Why is it important to believe Jesus is God? Because God says,
"I am the LORD your God… You shall have no other gods before me. “ Exodus 20:2-3
If you don’t know that Jesus is God – you may put some other God or some other belief above God.
Also, who do you thank for all the beauty and good around us? Buddha? Allah? Mother earth? The bible says,
“Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” James 1:16-17
“Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song. For the LORD is the great God, the great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker.” Psalm 95:1-6
Jesus is God. He is King of all kings. One day EVERY knee will bow; one day EVERY tongue will confess and acknowledge Him as such. (Romans 14:11) I want to do it NOW. I want to do it willingly. I want to do it freely. I want to do it lovingly. If you do not know who your God is or who you serve – you are in BIG trouble. We need to come to a place where we realize and believe and declare - intellectually, spiritually, and emotionally – that Jesus is God.
The second very important fact about Jesus that you need to know is that He is our Savior. The bible says,
“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12
Do you mean that no one else is going to be saved from the fires of hell except Christians? Do you mean all those people with good intentions and those people who know the secret of a happy life will not go to heaven? Do you mean all those millions who put their faith in Allah or Buddha or some other faith will not make it? Yes. That’s what I mean. “But isn’t that very exclusionary?” That’s one of the things Oprah and so many people object about Christianity. We think we are the only way. No – the Bible says it. Jesus said it. He said,
“Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6
We Christians believe that salvation is only through Jesus. The result of sin is death. Jesus died for us. Therefore it is not good intentions or being mostly a good person that will save us. It is the blood of Jesus that saves us. And that is why evangelism is so important to us. That is why we have such a mandate to share the gospel message – which we call the “Good News”. All those wonderful people we love are going to spend eternity in hell – if we don’t convince them that Jesus is their Savior. Each person must come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Each person must personally confess their sin and invite Jesus into their heart to be saved. Each person must believe in their heart that Jesus is Lord and confess it to people around them (Romans 10:10) to be saved.
You know, it’s wonderful to come to church and pray and sing and worship God. It’s wonderful to bow at the alter in prayer or raise your hand to acknowledge Jesus as your Savior – but that’s only a part of it. We have to share it, too. If we don’t share it – we really don’t believe it. And if we don’t believe it – we can’t be saved. Jesus is the only way to heaven. He said it. I believe it.
And that is not very popular in the world right now. Christians are being portrayed as arrogant and exclusionary because of our belief. You can see how popular opinion can very quickly turn on us and we can become the bad guys overnight. You can see how the Christian can be persecuted for our beliefs. And some Christians are compromising. Listen to all the candidates for president. They all claim to be Christians – but all believe other religions will make it, too. They are trying to be more tolerant – more politically correct. But Jesus is either the only way to be saved – or He isn’t. I believe He is. He says it. The Bible says it. I believe it.
The third very important fact about Jesus that you need to know is that He is our Friend. Jesus said,
“I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.”
John 15:15 NIV
Jesus is the King of kings. He is the Lord of lords. Jesus is the Creator of this world. And yet He loves you. If you could go all around this planet you would find some awesome people; some beautiful, talented, Godly people. And yet – God knows you. You are His child. You are His friend. With all your faults and failures and blemishes and ugly moments – He still loves you. Can a father love one child more than another? Sometimes it is the weakest and sickest and most dependent- that the father cherishes the most. The bible says,
“The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ’Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and "sinners." Matthew 11:19 NIV
Apparently Jesus loved very imperfect people. He spent more time with sinners than He did with religious people. You need to understand that Jesus wants to be your friend. Friends talk to each other. Friends share with each other. Friends make each other a priority. Friends spend time together. Jesus wants to be your friend. Will you make Him your friend? Jesus said,
“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” Rev 3:20
Friendship is not forced. It is mutual. It takes two to make a relationship. And Jesus patiently waits for you to realize that He is there. He waits for you to open the door and make Him a part of your life. He desires an intimacy like we have when we are dining together. Some of the most special times I have with my wife or my kids or my friends, is when we eat together. We share the pleasure of food and the pleasure of each other’s friendship. Jesus wants that closeness with you. How blessed when we realize that.
It is so important to realize Jesus is God and Savior and Friend – but maybe the most important thing is to realize He is Lord. The most important thing is to have that relationship where He is Lord of your life. That means He is the boss. That means He leads and we follow. That means He instructs and we obey. Jesus said,
"If you love me, you will obey what I command.” (John 14:15)
“Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him." (John 14:21)
“Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” (John 14:23)
Salvation is only for the obedient.
“and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.”
Hebrews 5:9
Some people think obedient is an option. We are saved by grace. We are saved by the blood Jesus shed. We are saved by putting our faith in Him. We simply have to believe. Nothing else is required. And every word of that is true. But true belief- true faith is always expressed in action. If you are not moved to obedience – if you are not motivated by love – you don’t really believe. You may believe intellectually – but not spiritually. If you really believe on Jesus for your salvation you will make Him your Lord.
Jesus talked a lot about the “Kingdom of Heaven”. Sometimes He used the term, “Kingdom of Man”. What was He talking about? Where is this place? The Kingdom of heaven is where Jesus is King. The Kingdom of (the) MAN – is where Jesus is Lord. And as important as it is to realize Jesus is God; as important as it is to realize Jesus is the Savior of the world; as important as it is to realize Jesus wants to be your friend – it is MOST important to make Him your Lord. Why? Unless you make Him your Lord – He can’t be any of the others.
So how do you make Jesus your Lord? Simple. Just step off the throne – and give it to Jesus. Take the ‘boss’ sign off your desk and give it to Jesus. Quit calling the shots and let Jesus call them. The bible says that without faith it is impossible to please God. It also tells us how to acquire faith. Luke 17:5-10 tells us. Simply put – we put Jesus’ will ahead of our own. We do what HE wants – rather than what we want. Are you ready to grow in faith? Are you ready to put Jesus’ will ahead of your own? It’s easier said than done. But maybe this prayer will help.
Dear Jesus,
I believe in You. I love You. I want You to be my God and Savior. I want You to be my friend and my Lord. I surrender my life to You – right now. I invite you to be the King and Lord of my life. Help me to follow You and obey You from this moment on.
In Jesus’ Name,
