Who Do You Say I Am? (Pastor Ron Termale) September 26, 2021
The most consequential and important decision that someone can make is their answer to Jesus’s question, “Who do you say I am?” (Matt 16:15, NIV).
The people who were baptized this morning answered that question correctly when they publicly declared that Jesus Christ is their Lord and Savior. Jesus says that this revelation of who He is can only come from the Father (i.e. through a personal touch from God) (Matt 16:16-17). Scripture teaches that whoever declares that Jesus is Lord will be saved (Rom 10:9).
Baptism is a biblical command given by Jesus Himself (Matt 28:19; see also Acts 2:38). The great cloud of witnesses in heaven must have been rejoicing this morning as they watched many new disciples of Jesus leave their old lives in the water and rise up as new people (Heb 12:1).
Jesus makes several important claims as to who He is. Jesus says, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me (John 14:6, NIV). Jesus also says, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die” (John 11:25-26, NIV).
Furthermore, Jesus states that He and the Father are one, which is another way of saying that He Himself is God (John 10:30).
The author C.S. Lewis wrote that Jesus was either a lunatic, a liar, or that He is who He says He is based on His radical claims (Mere Christianity, Bk. II, Ch. 3).
There is significant evidence that Jesus’s claims are true and that He is who He says.
The New Testament records several eye-witness testimonies that Jesus did in fact rise from the dead. Jesus’s resurrection supports His claims that He is unlike any historical figure.
Jesus also fulfilled all of the Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah, which were written many centuries before Jesus was born and total to about 350 in number (with topics ranging from where the Messiah would be born, to how many pieces of silver would be paid for His betrayal, to where He would be buried, for example). The vast improbability of Jesus fulfilling every prophecy about the Messiah like He did speaks to the truthfulness of His claims.
Comprehending who Jesus is takes more than being knowledgeable of Scripture. Faith in Jesus is always connected to a spiritual experience, like the one that Peter had which led to his revelation that Jesus is the Messiah (Matt 16:17). Jesus told the Pharisee Nicodemus that he must be spiritually reborn (John 3:3-6).
An encounter with the Holy Spirit is what empowers us to be witnesses to who Jesus is (Acts 1:8).
How do you have an encounter with the Holy Spirit and experience who Jesus is? You ask. The Father gives the Holy Spirit to those who ask (Luke 11:13), so ask God that you be filled with the Spirit (Eph 5:18).
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