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| Matthew 16:15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? |
Matthew 22:42 Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The Son of David.
John 8:21-29 Then said Jesus again unto them, I go my way, and ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sins: whither I go, ye cannot come. Then said the Jews, Will he kill himself? because he saith, Whither I go, ye cannot come. And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world. I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.
Then said they unto him, Who art thou? And Jesus saith unto them, Even the same that I said unto you from the beginning. I have many things to say and to judge of you: but he that sent me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I have heard of him. They understood not that he spake to them of the Father. Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things. And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.No one person in all of history compares to our Saviour Jesus Christ. Indeed, history revolves around His Story. No man ever spoke like Him. No man ever lived like Him No man ever died as He died. No man ever rose like Him. Jesus Christ the Lord. Names of men throughout history have come and gone, but His Name lives on forever.
There is a name I love to hear, I love to sing its worth. Yet in spite of the glory ascribed to this Name, men ignore Him and reject Him and hate Him. Why? I believe it is because they don't really know who He is and don't really know Him.
Paul said, in Philippians 3:10 "That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;"
F. B. Hole states: "There is no greater question between the covers of the Book than that which the Lord Himself raised with the unbelieving men of His day - 'What think ye of Christ?' (Matthew 22:42). In these five short words He set before them the pivotal point upon which everything turns. The deepest foundations of the faith lie here, and any error or fault in this matter is sure to make its influence felt throughout the whole building. As John Newton puts it: -
'What think ye of Christ?' is the test
To try both your state and your scheme;
You cannot be right in the rest
Unless you think rightly of HIM.'"I believe that just as Brother Hole so clearly states, no greater question exists in all the society of mankind. Yet, we find that the society is woefully ignorant of this question and its answer. Glenn Beck doesn't know the answer, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh and the vast society of talk show hosts that we listen to for great pearls of wisdom don't know the answer. I could go on and on quoting names of so-called 'great individuals' who have no clue Who He is, but I'm sure you get the picture. Mankind in general is clueless. The Mormons don't know Who He is, the Russelites, don't know Who He is, the Muslims don't know Who he is, and we could go on listing religious groups ad infinitum, but they just don't know!
From the very beginning of time and creation, God has endeavored to tell us Who He (Jesus) is. Most of mankind has rejected God's revelation of the Saviour. In this morning hour we will fall very short of discovering the complete revelation of our Lord and Master. How I wish that I were a better wordsmith so that I could go on for hours declaring unto you Who He is, but your dinner awaits. What did God the Father say about Jesus?
Matthew 3:17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.This Voice from Heaven - the Voice of God the Father takes us from that point 700 years back in time to when Jehovah God the Father spoke to Isaiah:
Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, (His humanity)
unto us a son is given: (His Deity)
and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called
Wonderful, - A miracle
Counseller,
The mighty God,
The everlasting Father,
The Prince of Peace.Jesus is the Son of God, God the Son.
Hebrews 1:8 But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.He is the Second Person of the Triune Godhead. He is God the Son.
In our text from John 8 we see the declaration from the lips of our Saviour Himself. He is The Great I AM of Exodus 3.
Exodus 3:14 And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.Yes, He is the Great I AM. The Self Existent One, The Eternal, Almighty, Omniscient, Omnipresent, Unchanging God of all creation.
To further help us understand, let us go back to the beginning, in John 1.
John 1:1-3 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.Do you know Him? Here in John 1, we see Him described as the Creator of the universe.
Many places elsewhere in Scripture He is recognized this way.
Hebrews 1:2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
Colossians 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:Jesus not only is our Creator, but He is our Saviour.
John 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:In the words of the great song, 'Down from His Glory' by William Booth-Clibborn,
O how I love Him! How I adore Him!
My breath, my sunshine, my all in all.
The great Creator became my Saviour,
And all God's fullness dwelleth in Him.Saviour - Saviour - Saviour - Oh, how those words thrill my soul! Jesus Christ the Lord of Glory left Heaven's beauty and came to earth to be my Saviour. Is he your Saviour? Do you love Him? Do you adore Him? You Need a Saviour.
Let Him be your Saviour to day.
2 Corinthians 6:2 (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)…e.g. "Dr. S. D. Gordon tells of a Christian woman whose age began to tell on her memory. She had once known much of the Bible by heart. Eventually only one precious bit stayed with her. 'I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I committed unto him against that day.' By and by part of that slipped its hold, and she would quietly repeat, 'That which I have committed unto him.' At last, as she hovered on the borderline between this and the spirit world, her loved ones noticed her lips moving. They bent down and heard her repeating over and over again to herself the one word of the text, 'Him, Him, Him.' She had lost the whole Bible, but one word. But she had the whole Bible in that one word" (American Holiness Journal, from Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations)
What a great Saviour! Do You know Him? Trust Him today before it is too late!
