"When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, 'Who do people say that the Son of Man is?' 'Well,' they replied, 'some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.' Then he asked them, 'But who do you say I am?' Simon Peter answered, 'You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.' Jesus replied, 'You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being,'" (Matthew 16:13-17 NLT).
Jesus asked His disciples, "Who do men say that I am?" And they began to tell Him what they'd heard. "Some say you're John the Baptist. Some Elijah, Jeremiah or one of the prophets."
Then He turned to His disciples and He asked them, "But, who do you say that I am?"
In other words, "You've told me what everybody else is saying, but who do you, those who walk closely with Me. You who talk with with Me. You who've seen me do miracles.
Who do you say that I am?"
Simon Peter responded, "Thou art the Christ. The son of the Living God."
(17)Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being. (NLT)
Let me ask you a question-When you look at your life, everything about your life, who are you saying (And, I'm not talking about with words) that He is?
What are your actions and thoughts saying? Who do your responses say that He is? When you remain in sin, who are you saying that He is? When you walk in fear, who are you saying that He is?
Think about it.
Because, whether we want to believe it or not, our lives do speak. And everything about our life should declare to God that we know who He is. This knowledge of who He is, must be reflected in our lifestyle.
Also, those who walk closely with God, their very lives should declare to the world, "This (my life, my good works, my living holy, my walk of righteousness, love, and joy) is who God is. He will be revealed through us.
Who we say that He is should be different from who the world says He is. People should be able look at your life and see The Father.
Your life should say who He is, just as Jesus did when he walked the Earth. Jesus came declaring the Father. Revealing and interpreting Him in the Earth. He came manifesting the very glory of God in the Earth.
When Philip asked Jesus, on one occasion, to show them the Father, Jesus asked him, "Have I been with you all of this time and yet, you don't know me?" Jesus then told Him, "If you've seen Me, you've seen the Father."
Such a powerful passage in the 14th chapter of John. It reminds me of why I am in the
Earth. That through my life, God the Father may be seen and experienced. May we live our lives in such a way that God is revealed, made known and declared to this dying world.
When Jesus ended His earthly ministry, He prayed a prayer in which He told the Father, "I have manifested your name in the Earth." Let's read it.
"I have manifested Your Name [I have revealed Your very Self, Your real Self] to the people whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, and You gave them to Me, and they have obeyed and kept Your word," (John 17:6 AMP).
This must be our desire and focus. That each day, we live before God and man in such a way, that Christ, the real Christ, is revealed.
And, in order for us to do that effectively, we must know Him. We must have a divine revelation of who He is, just as Peter did. Divine revelation does not come from any human being. An intimate knowledge of who He is can not come from man.
Man can tell you all day long who they think that He is. But a divine revelation can only come from God.
Let that be your heart's desire. That in this season of your walk with Him, God would reveal even more of Himself to you. This revelation will empower you.
It's about knowing Him for yourself so you can declare and proclaim Him to everybody else.
Dan 11:32b says, "but the people who know their God shall prove themselves strong and shall stand firm and do exploits for God!"
When we read in the Word of God about those who did awesome things for God, Moses, Abraham, Joshua, Paul, Gideon just to name a few, we see that they knew Him.
When a young, shepherd boy named David stood before a giant named Goliath, he was empowered by an intimate knowledge of His God. When you know Him, something happens on the inside. Faith arises and it empowers you. The truth of who He is prevails over fear, doubt, or worry.
Today, my prayer is that you see Him in everything. May your life forever declare the truth of who God is to the world.