Two Questions

 In Matthew 16:13, Jesus asks His disciples, "Who do men say I am?" They give several answers, but it is Peter who focuses on the right one. He proclaims, "You are the Christ. The Messiah." This is a beautiful passage, and it is one that must take place in the life of every true follower of Jesus. We cannot say we are His if we have no real idea or knowledge of who He is, and it cannot be mere head knowledge. Jesus blessed Peter's answer and stated clearly that flesh and blood didn't reveal the true identity of Jesus Christ to Him but that the Father's Holy Spirit did. Only the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts and our minds can make who He is real to us. It moves us from knowing who He is in reputation to knowing Him by relational experience. So, who do YOU say He is, and does your answer reside only in your mind, or in your heart as well?

There is a second question for us. One that we too rarely ask or answer. Chris Tiegreen asked about it in one of his writings. We each have a desperate need for His answer.....Tiegreen asks, "Jesus, who do You say that I am? You alone define my identity."

We don't lack for people, organizations, or political leaders who try to tell us who we are. Putting labels on each other is what we do, even in the church. Most of these labels and names are destructive and have left deep wounds and scars upon us emotionally and spiritually. "Stupid. Ugly. Fat. Trash. Loser. Failure. Slut." Those are only a few and they are far from the most hurtful. The truth is, there will always be someone who tries to define you. Where is it that you've listened to them? Are you ready to break free from labels put on you by those who don't really know you? Are you ready to hear who it is that the One who does know you, who made you, says that you are?

What would change in your life if you would come to Him, and in humility ask Him, "Lord Jesus, who do You say that I am?" I guarantee you that in His time and way, He will answer you, and it will be an answer that will play out over the entire course of the rest of your life. In His telling, He will shatter all the false names and labels that others have put upon you and bring forth the truth and beauty of His name and description of you. 

Many people who knew me before I came to Christ have told me that they couldn't believe that I became a preacher. I'm never offended by that. I know very well who and what I was before He entered my life. When He did, He brought to life the person He made me to be. A person very different from the broken mess I had been. He didn't change my personality so much as He changed my heart, my mind, and my character. He brought out of my life what He had placed there when He created me and what the awful power of sin had overwhelmed for so long. He has transformed me and He continues to transform me. I'm still learning who He says that I am. It's a learning process that will extend into eternity.

No matter what label that's been put upon you, would you go to Him, right now, and ask that life altering question; "Jesus, who do You say that I am." Only He who made you can define you. Be amazed at what His answer will tell you.

Blessings,
Pastor O