THE TRUE IDENTITY OF JESUS CHRIST

In the scriptures, three of the Gospel accounts that teach what Jesus said and did while He was on this earth, reveal a very important question that Jesus asked His disciples. In Matthew 16:1-4 Jesus had been severely rebuking the religious Pharisees and Sadducees who tempted Him to show them a sign from heaven. His answer to them was, “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign shall be given except the sign of the prophet Jonah!”

After saying that, Jesus walked away from them and warned His disciples to beware of the false teachings of those religious rulers. Then He asked the twelve, “Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” They answered, “Some say you are John the Baptist or one of the prophets such as Elijah or Jeremiah.” Then Jesus asked, “But whom do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ … the Son of the living God!” (Matthew 16:16) By calling Jesus “the Christ”, Peter was identifying Him as THE ANOINTED. Jesus was pleased with Peter’s answer and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonas, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but My Father in heaven has done so. I say to you that you are Peter (“petros” in the original KoineGreek language, meaning “a little stone”), and upon this rock I will build My church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it!” (Matthew 16:13-18) Jesus did not mean that His church would be built upon Peter as some teach, but upon what Peter SAID about Him He will build His church. Jesus is THE ROCK (“Petros”) who is the very cornerstone of the church. In Acts 4:11, Peter himself declares this truth and tells us that faith alone in Christ alone is the ONLY means of salvation. He states that fact again in his first epistle … 1 Peter 2:1-8.

The apostle Paul refers to Jesus as the chief cornerstone of the church in Ephesians 2:20. In 1 Corinthians 10:4, his first letter to the local church at Corinth, Paul explains the significance of the words of Moses as recorded in Exodus 17:6 when Moses used a ROCK as a teaching tool to teach the Children of Israel that their Messiah would be smitten … a reference to the cross on which Jesus would die many years later.

The personal name given to our Lord’s humanity was JESUS, which means “Savior”}. The angel Gabriel announced to Mary that the child that would be conceived in her womb by God the Holy Spirit was to be named Jesus. (Luke 2:21) In the Greek language of the New Testament, CHRIST means “The Anointed.” In the Hebrew language of the Old Testament, the word for The Anointed is “MESSIAH.} Peter’s brother Andrew had been a disciple of John the Baptist, and when Jesus came to John for baptism, to identify Himself with the Father’s plan for His life, Andrew heard John announce to the crowd, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” (John 1:29) Andrew found his brother Simon Peter and said to him, “We have found the Messiah!” (John 1:35-41)

In Mark 8:27-30, we find the same question being asked by Jesus as we noted in Matthew 16:13-16, and Mark tells us Peter’s response was, “You are the Christ!” Luke recorded Peter’s answer as, “You are the Christ of God!” (Luke 9:18-21) We must understand that each of the men who wrote about the earthly ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ was inspired by God the Holy Spirit, but because each man had his own personality, he was free to express the events he witnessed in his own words.

Many times, Jesus proved to those who believed in Him, as well as to numerous unbelievers, the fact that He is truly God and Man in one Person. One of those instances took place after the Jews had been celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles, and Jesus was in a crowd, teaching those Jews who believed in Him that if they would follow Him and continue to learn and apply the Word of God they would know the truth, and the truth would set them free.

Some Pharisees in the crowd had been listening to what Jesus said, and they challenged Him saying, “How can you say we can be set free if we follow you? We are Abraham’s seed, and we were never in bondage to any man!” After Jesus explained that they were in bondage to their sinful natures, He said to them, “I know you are the descendants of Abraham, but you do not the works of Abraham.” They answered back, “God is our Father … we aren’t illegitimate children!” Jesus replied, “If God were your father, you would not be trying to kill Me, and you would know that My Father has sent Me here. You are of your father the devil who has been a liar from the very beginning, and you act accordingly! I tell you that if any man observes My words and follows Me, he shall never see death!” They retorted, “Now we know you are of the devil, because Abraham and all our prophets of old have died, so how can you say that if a man will keep your words he shall never die? Just who do you think you are?” Jesus replied, “My Father, whom you claim to be your God, is the One who honors Me. You do not know Him, but I know Him. If I should say I do not know Him, I would be a liar like you. As for Abraham, he rejoiced and was glad when he looked forward to Me being here on earth at this particular time.”

Sarcastically, they again retorted back, “You aren’t even 50 years old … how can you say you have seen Abraham?” Jesus replied, “Truly, truly I tell you that before Abraham existed, I AM!” (those two words are in the perfect tense in the Koine Greek language which are “ego emi”, meaning perfect existence … the Lord Jesus Christ is telling them that He existed in eternity past.. Those religious men knew Jesus was claiming to be DEITY, because they were familiar with Exodus 3:13,14 where Moses asked the Lord for His name so he could tell the Children of Israel who had commissioned him to be the one to lead them out of Egyptian slavery, and that God’s answer was: “I AM THAT I AM”. You shall say to the Children of Israel that I AM sent you.” Then they picked up stones to throw at Him, but He hid Himself from their eyes and disappeared through their midst, (details are found in John 8:31-58)

The scriptures reveal the identity of Jesus, the Christ. The gospel of John presents Him to us as ETERNAL GOD: “The Word existed in eternity past, and the Word was with God (God the Father), and the Word (God the Son) was GOD.” (John 1:1) John 1:3 tells us that the Son of God is the creator of all things in the universe. The apostle Paul also states this truth in his letter to the Colossians: “All things were created by Him and for Him.” (Colossians 1:16) John 1:4 says, “In Him is eternal life, and the life is the light of men. His light shines in darkness, but those living in unbelief cannot see that light.”

The Word became flesh (true humanity … God and Man in one Person), and He lived among men. John says “we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father … full of grace and truth.” (John 1:12) In Revelation 19:13, His name is called THE WORD OF GOD.

As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, how important is it for us to know, believe and apply the Word of God? Because it is the very thinking of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16) we must learn to be able to look at every situation in life the way he does. If we truly desire to know Him better and grow up spiritually so that our lives will glorify our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, we must make daily Bible study our number one priority as we travel along the narrow road that leads to eternal life.

Written by Lois Delnay
Fallbrook Ranch Productions
loisdelnay@hotmail.com
Books for sale by L. Delnay
http://www.amazon.com/Bible-Schoolhouse-Studies-Children-Teens/dp/1438212003/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1212685141&sr=8-1
12/07
links to Lois Delnay's Children Bible Study
http://gettoknowyourbible.org/
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Lois Delnay's writings on Helium

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