DAILY DEVOTION.
DAY TWENTY FIVE.
MATTHEW 18:13-15. When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, "Who do men say that I, the Son of Man am?" So they said, "Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"Jesus here asks His disciples a very important question, their answer is critical to the future of their own lives and to what Jesus is going to do in the future and what He is going to call them to do. I wonder if Jesus was to walk into any church anywhere in the world today and ask that same question what their response would be. Note what Jesus says in response to Peters answer; "Blessed are you Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven, and I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it." The rock that Jesus is referring to there is not Peter, but He is referring to Himself, to the revelation of Who He is. In Acts 4:11 and Ephesians 2:20 Jesus is referred to as the chief cornerstone. He is the foundation stone that everything else is built around. The church is not the building on the corner with a steeple and stained glass windows, or the auditorium with its fancy light shows and smoke machines. The church is people, you and I, born again believers the Ekklesia, the ones called out, ones who are called to be sanctified in Christ. As it says in 1 Peter 2:5 You also, are living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priest-hood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ, And in verse 9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. His own special people, that you proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
It is so vitally important, not only for our own lives, but for the life of the church, that we get the revelation of who Jesus really is. Sadly, I believe, too many Christians don't have a revelation in their own lives of who Christ is. They will tell you yes He is the Son of God, that He is their savior, that He is the Messiah, But what is missing is the revelation that the very King of Kings and Lord of Lords is living on the inside of them through the Holy Spirit. That their lives are no longer about themselves, but that they are called to a much higher purpose. As Paul put it in Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." Paul realized that his old life was dead, crucified with Christ, and that his life was now in Christ, yes, he had placed his faith in Christ, but what he is saying here goes far beyond a simple statement of faith, he is saying that his whole life is now in Christ because of what Christ has done for him. As Paul also said in Colossians 1:27 To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. The reason that this is so important is because Jesus said that He would build His church on this revelation and that the gates of Hades would not prevail against it. If you and I are the church then the church will only be as strong as what we are, we can't rely on the next person to do it all, we all have a role to play, a responsibility to fulfill our call in establishing God's kingdom in our lives and in the world we live in. I believe that this is the reason that the church is not as effective as it should. If we all had the revelation of who Christ is in us, then we would all have a greater awareness of what we are called to do and how we can reach the world around us. Peter had the revelation, he knew the power of the risen Christ in his life, in Acts 3 when he saw the man healed at the temple gates. What did Peter say to him? "Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk." And a man who had never walked in his whole life got up and walked. When Peter was questioned about the mans healing he gave all the glory and honor to Jesus, he knew that it was only through the resurrection life of Christ that this man could be made whole.
So, this is my challenge to all of us, If Jesus stood in front of us today and asked us that question, "Who do you say that I am?" How would we answer Him, Do we truly have a deep understanding, a deep revelation of who is living on the inside of us. The kind of revelation that allows us to say, like Paul, that our old lives are now dead, totally done away with and that we live our new lives in Him, in His anointing, in His authority. That our only desire is to see His kingdom authority established in our lives and then through us to see His kingdom established in the world around us.
