Follow The Savior!
There is no other way to say it. Christianity is the following of The Christ and his teachings. It is a correction and extension of Judaism. It is not its own “religion” that just dropped out the clouds. It corrects doctrine that was misunderstood, admonishes us to keep God’s Ways and leads back to what God established to Adam, Eve, Abraham, Isaac, and Moses.
Christianity is centered on the person and work of The Christ Jesus. If the focus is on anything else it is not Christianity. That great truth is stated throughout the New Testament. In fact, everything in the Old Testament leads up to that great truth regarding His person and work.
The apostle Peter was one of the first individuals to accept that great fact. Jesus asked the question, who do the people say that I am? (Matthew 16:13). The disciples had been with the people and they told Jesus what they had heard. Some said He was John the Baptist risen from the dead, others that He was the prophet Elijah, some said He was the prophet Jeremiah.
Then Jesus asked the real question. “Who do you say that I am?” (v. 15). Peter spoke up for the whole group saying, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (v. 16).
That is what makes Jesus Christ so unique. He is not just a prophet, or a good moral teacher, but He is “the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus is the Messiah. He is the one who will reign forever on the throne of His great ancestor King David (2 Sam. 7:13, 16; Lk. 1:33; Rev. 22:16; Rom. 1:3; Jn. 7:42; Matt. 1:1). The eternal King is the Messiah. Jesus is God’s Anointed One who was sent to do God’s specific will. He is the one promised in the Old Testament. I hold the view that modern Jews who don’t accept Jesus also don’t accept God’s will. They prefer to dictate to God what His will should be and this policy will run them into a dead end.
Jesus is divine. He is “the Son of the living God.” It is an exalted view of Jesus. Peter could not have ascribed a higher place to Him. He/Peter declared in his confession that Jesus is God Himself who came to save His people from their sins.
In the original language the statement is even stronger than in English. “You are the Christ, the Son of the God, the living One.” This is a most comprehensive statement of the essential being of our Lord.
This truth is so important for us to understand that Jesus responded to Peter saying, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by the Father in heaven” (v. 17).
It is important that we keep in mind that Peter did not gain this understanding by human intelligence or profound spiritual insight. God revealed that truth to Peter; it was received by divine revelation.
We too must understand and accept this important truth in order to be saved. Jesus Christ is “very God of very God.”
One of the disciples of Jesus, Thomas, saw Jesus alive after the resurrection and declared, “My Lord and my God” (John 20:28).
Everything that Jesus did in dying as our sacrifice for sin depends on who He is.
If Jesus were not God, His death would be like yours and mine; He would only be dying for His own sins. If He were not God His death could not atone for anyone’s sins. However, because He is “very God of very God” His death on the cross has infinite value to take away our sins as the chosen Lamb of God.
If you believe this great spiritual truth it is because God has revealed it to you by the Holy Spirit. “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
Jesus Christ is the Messiah. He is the Son of the living God. He is the sinner’s Savior. In fact, He is the sinners only possible Savior. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as you shall be saved.” To trust in anyone else is to spend eternity in hell. There is no other way, not because I say so, but because God said it. The Bible says, “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation” (Romans 10:9-10).
This with slight modifications from: www.abideinchrist.com PUBLISHED 4.3.18
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