Jesus Christ asked the most important question ever asked...   "Who do you say I am?"

Contrary to popular religious tolerance and philosophies that embrace the belief that "all roads lead to God" Jesus Christ proves to be a troubling figure in history and to other religious beliefs. Jesus Himself proclaimed to the religious leaders of His day "No one can come to the Father, except through me." You might say "How exclusive and unfair!  What narrow-minded thinking!"  "Who is He to make such a statement?"  This proves to be the most important question you will ever ask yourself, and for the answer to this question, we must look at what the Bible has to say about Jesus.
 
Our culture's perception of Jesus is that He is a good teacher, a prophet, or He is compared to other religious leaders like Buddha or Mohammed. It is often said the truths that Jesus taught are included in most religions. Isn't it amazing that so little is said about who Jesus Himself claimed to be?  Let's look at just three examples of what Jesus said about Himself.
 
1.  When Jesus came to Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, "Who do people say I am?" "Well," they replied, "Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah; some, Jeremiah or one of the other prophets." That was really a rhetorical question and Jesus didn't respond to their answers. Instead He then asked a more important direct question.  "Who do YOU think I am?" Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Messiah, and the Son of the living God." Jesus replied, "You are blessed, Simon, son of Jonah, because my Father in Heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being." (Matthew 16:13-17)  In this statement Jesus claims to be the Son of God. In the Jewish culture, they knew Jesus was claiming to be equal with God by calling Himself the Son of God.
 
2.  While talking to the Samaritan woman at the water well she said to Jesus "At least I know that the Messiah will come - the one they call Christ, and when He does, He will explain everything to us.' Then Jesus told her, 'I am the Messiah.'" (John 4:25-26) Here again Jesus clearly makes His claim.
 
3.  In the first chapter of the gospel of John, Christ is identified as God Himself in a human body. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through Him and nothing was created except through Him." (John 1:1-3) In these verses, the word "Word" refers to Christ. Verse fourteen says, "And the Word was made flesh (human) and dwelt among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen His glory, the glory of the Father's one and only Son." Jesus in the flesh was God dwelling among us.
 
Jesus Christ is who He claimed to be, or He was insane, or He was one of the biggest frauds the world has ever seen. If He is God in the flesh, then we must all make a very important decision about what we are going to do with this knowledge about Christ. We must accept Christ for who He claims to be or reject Him completely as a lunatic. We can no longer just think of Him as a good teacher or a prophet or a religious leader.
 
We must draw the conclusion from His claims that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God, and He is therefore God in the flesh.  Jesus said in John 14:6, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one can come to the Father except through me" A narrow-minded statement?  Nevertheless if it's the truth, it means the only way we can have a relationship with God the Father and the only way to get to Heaven and eternal life is by accepting what Jesus said about Himself.   
 
Are you willing to risk it all? We must understand the consequences of choosing to NOT believe that Christ is the only way to Heaven. The result is to be separated from God because of unbelief in what God did to provide a way for you and me to be forgiven of all sin and to enjoy a relationship with Him.  "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23)
 
Jesus is asking you right now,...  "Who do YOU say that I am?"

Until Every Believer is a Disciple Maker,

Dr Roy