Have you ever been pulled over and asked to provide "identification?" Have you ever had a friend come to you, point to someone else and say, "Who is that?"
Jesus took His twelve closest followers away from the massive crowds that were following them and asked, "Who do people say I am?" (Luke 9:18-20). The responses were varied. People weren't sure. There was some confusion. But then Jesus wanted to know, "Who do you say I am?" We're not sure what eleven of them were thinking, but Peter said, "You are the Messiah sent from God!" Peter saw Jesus as the Christ, the Deliverer, the Anointed One that had been mentioned by the previous prophets of Israel.
Lots of people followed Jesus and believed in His miracles, but the jury was still out on who He actually was. It still is today. There are lots of opinions and lots of confusion. It is interesting that 2000 years after this relatively poor man walked through a disregarded province of Rome that so many people are still talking, and talking so stridently, about who He is.
On April 22, 2011, Rasmussen Reports reported that 78% of Americans believe Jesus Christ was the Son of God and 74% believe Christ was resurrected from the dead. But what do they mean by that term? There are different definitions to the term "Son of God".
The "orthodox" position (ortho means straight - think orthodontist; dox means doctrine or teaching; so with orthodox we mean "straight teaching") would be that Jesus was in fact God living among men. When we explore deeper we find that many who answered positively to the above questions believe that Jesus was divine only in the sense that he was a man who was uniquely called by God to reveal God's purpose in the world.
Researcher George Barna defines "biblical worldview" as believing that absolute moral truth exists; the Bible is totally accurate in all of the principles it teaches; Satan is considered to be a real being or force, not merely symbolic; a person cannot earn their way into Heaven by trying to be good or do good works; Jesus Christ lived a sinless life on earth; and God is the all-knowing, all-powerful creator of the world who still rules the universe today. His research revealed that only 9% of all American adults held these views. Even among those classified as "born again" Christians, less than one out of every five (19%) had such an outlook on life.
This begs the question - What does the "Church" think of Jesus? After all, Jesus was asking this question of His followers and only one answered the question. My supposition is that at least some of His other followers weren't quite sure yet themselves.
A George Barna report released in 2001 said that most church-going adults reject the accuracy of the Bible, reject the existence of Satan, claim that Jesus sinned, see no need to evangelize, believe that good works are one of the keys to persuading God to forgive their sins, and describe their commitment to Christianity as moderate or even less firm.
I believe that Jesus Christ is fully God. In the words of the Nicene Creed (325 A.D.), "...God of God, Light of Light, Very God of Very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father..." He was born to a virgin, lived a sinless life, performed miracles, died in our place for our sins, physically rose from the dead, and was exalted to the right hand of God.
Peter and some others believed who He was, but they weren't quite sure what that meant.
With all the discussion and confusion both among those who are church-goers and those who are not, maybe the most important question of all is - What do you think of Jesus?
Again, that's the question He asked His followers. If you were hanging out with him, and he asked that question, "Who do you say I am?" how would you answer? And, what is the basis of your answer? Is the Bible true? And if it is not, what is?
If we identify correctly - there is great power here - a power of a secure future - for eternity!
What do you think of Jesus?
0 comments:
Post a Comment