Christianity is Christ
There is no other way to say it. Christianity is
Christ.
Christianity is centered on the person and work of Jesus Christ.
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.
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 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).
Selah!
Message by Wil Pounds (c) 2006
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