13 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?” 14 So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
17 Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18 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. 19 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” 20 Then He commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ. Matthew 16:13-20 (NKJV)
Jesus presented Peter with the single most important question of his life. “Who do men say that I am?” What comes to our mind when we think about God is the most important thing about us. The most significant fact about any man is not what he says or do, but what he in his heart conceives God to be. We must know who God is and what He is like. When we have the wrong view of God, the more religious and materialistic we become. We must contend for a pure general knowledge of who God is and what God is like. Jesus highlighted how important Peter’s answer to His question was. Upon Peter’s confession, He built His church.
The church is built on individual and collective revelation and confession of who Jesus Christ is. As followers of Christ, we must know the right answer to the question and our lives must demonstrate it. The most important thing is between you and God. We have to know individually for ourselves who Jesus is and should have a personal relationship with Him.
There are a few important things about Peter’s confession in Mathew 16. This was a divine confession because Peter received it from God. Revelation is given by God and received by man; it does not begin and end with us. It does not depend on what we study; it is God who turns on the light and the humble heart who receives the light and does not turn it off. It is not reason. It is revelation and it does not have anything to do with your intellectual capacity. God likes to turn on the lights but man likes darkness. Many like to think that they can accomplish things on their own.
The same way we receive revelation of who God is, is the same way we receive revelation on an ongoing basis that helps us to grow in our relationship with God. It is an ongoing principle that everything we get is from God. It is divinely given and not humanly obtain. We have to remember every perfect gift is from God and He is the source of every blessing (2 Peter 1:3-4).
Our God is a good father who gives good gifts because everything that is good comes from Him. If we maintain the posture of childlikeness, we are able to obey God and accept His will for our lives. God’s divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life. What we believe about God is what shapes us. Our belief in God should determine everything about us. Our minds are transformed by the Word of God which brings us to a state where we understand our need for Him. We must be childlike in our trust and acceptance. What God says, He means and what He says He will do, He will do. We must be childlike in our beliefs. We must believe God for the big things, no matter how long it takes. We should not let the enemy trick us.
Jesus is fully man and fully God (Isaiah 7:14, 9:6-7, Hebrews 1:1-3). As the Son, Jesus possesses the same nature as His father. It is important for us to believe in the One who was sent by God. Jesus brings power to the earth to not only save us from sin but to heal, deliver and to set us free. He came to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8). We must let it resonate in our spirit and never let the enemy try to steal the revelation of who God is. Believing in Jesus Christ delivers us from the power of sin and death and gives us eternal life.
We cannot have such great revelation from heaven and not tell the world about it with passion. There is no grave that can keep us down. Before we know who we are, we must first know who Jesus is. The revelation of who Jesus is informs our destiny. Greater things that Jesus did, we can also do. The same anointing that rested upon Jesus has been given to us. The same way we have freely received the anointing, God has asked us to freely give. We are God’s anointed ones; we are the children of the living God. The enemy is after our faith. We must war and continue to believe in Jesus Christ.
