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2000-11-29 - Who Did He say He Is?
Matthew 16:15-16 (NIV) "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."
Spirituality and Religion appear to me, to be becoming almost faddish. Whoever
has "the latest and greatest" way of doing life "spiritually" becomes the
most popular. Some of the New Age movements and other cults combine a little
Christianity, a little Eastern religion and whatnot, to appeal to people.
Some books that seem to be Christian are actually not Biblical. Sermons are
preached that seem to expound the Gospel, but do not. My own personal litmus
test for any author, preacher, teacher or religious group is the same question
Jesus asked Peter: Who do you say Jesus is? Many people will agree that He
was a great teacher and had a profound impact on history. But when you narrow
the focus down to Jesus being God, you will eliminate the false teachers
and teachings.
Unlike other major religions, Christianity is the only religion that is really
a personal relationship with not only God, but also the Creator of the religion.
Other sects focus on the teachings, but not the teachers; Christianity focuses
on Jesus.
Did Jesus claim to be God? Let's look at the following verses.
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Jesus is clearly claiming that He and the Father are one and the same.
John 14:8-9 (NIV) Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father,
and that will be enough for us." Jesus answered: "Don't you know Me, Philip,
even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen Me
has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'?"
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Below, Jesus is claiming that He existed before Abraham was born.
John 8:58 (NIV) "I tell you the truth," Jesus answered,
"before Abraham was born, I am!"
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In fact, John writes that Jesus existed even before the beginning of time.
1 John 1:2-3 (NIV) He was with God in the beginning. Through
Him all things were made; without Him, nothing was made that has been
made.
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The prophet Isaiah tells us that only God can forgive sins.
Isaiah 43:25 (NIV) I, even I, am He who blots out your
transgressions, for My own sake, and remembers your sins no more.
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In Mark, Jesus claims to forgive sin.
Mark 2:5-6 When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the
paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven." Now some teachers of the law were
sitting there, thinking to themselves, "Why does this fellow talk like that?
He's blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?"
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Even his enemies point out Jesus' claim to be God.
John 10:33 (NIV) "We are not stoning You for any of these,"
replied the Jews, "but for blasphemy, because You, a mere man, claim to be
God."
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The most compelling claim of Jesus being God is His prediction of His own
resurrection.
Matthew 12:49 (NIV) For as Jonah was three days and three
nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days
and three nights in the heart of the earth.
Romans 1:4 (NIV) And who through the Spirit of holiness
was declared with power to be the Son of God by His resurrection from the
dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.
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There is proof of that predicted resurrection.
1 Corinthians 15:3-6 (NIV) For what I received, I passed
on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according
to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day
according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Peter, and then to the
Twelve. After that, He appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers
at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen
asleep.
I would like to leave you with one of my favorite verses:
Acts 17:11 (LB) But the people of Berea were more open-minded
than those in Thessalonica, and gladly listened to the message. They searched
the Scriptures day by day to check up on Paul and Silas' statements, to see
if they were really so.
I wanted to take the time to lay all this Scripture out before you, so that
you may do as the people in Berea and search the scriptures daily, to see
if what you are reading or hearing is the Truth. Any teaching that denies
the Deity of Jesus Christ is simply false.
Father-protect us from the seemingly "true" religious
fads. Help us, particularly in these busy and stressful days, to stay focused
on You. You are the Author and Perfector of our faith. In Christ's name,
Amen.
Comments or Questions?
David
david@masseyre.com
http://www.cfdevotionals.org
http://www.peacewithgod.com |
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