BIBLE MESSAGES

What Think You of Christ?

 “Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, ‘What do you think about the Christ, whose son is He’?” [Matthew 22:42]

  This question has bothered man for the past two thousand years. While Christ was still walking in their midst there were many opinions. Now when Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, “Who do the people say that the Son of Man is?” They said, “some say John the Baptist, others Elijah; but still others say, Jeremiah or one of the prophets”. He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” That question is still as pertinent to us as it was to them in that day. Why is this so? Christ is still God’s only begotten Son. When Peter and John were being questioned by the rulers about the healing of the impotent man, Peter filled with the Holy Spirit, said to the rulers and elders of the people, “If we are on trial today for a benefit done to a sick man, as to how this man was made well, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the power of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by this name this man stands here before you in good health. He is the stone which was rejected by you, the builders, but became the chief corner stone. And thee is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved” [Acts 4:8-12].

  How many who wear the name Christian truly think of Christ as being their Savior? “Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation” [Heb. 5:8,9]. Paul also expressed this in another manner; “For while we were still helpless, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for a good man someone would dare to die. But God demonstrates His love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us” [Rom. 5:6-8]. How often do you completely disregard the fourth of July? Do we not have a feeling of being greatly in debt to those who fought and died, and to their families, that we might no longer have taxation without representation?

  Someone will say, “But we experience that freedom every day. It is real by experience”. This brings us back to our original question, “What think you of Christ, whose Son is He?” Let us go back to God. Just how real is God to you? When you greet each new day and you see the sun rising in the east, does it ever enter your mind that you are witnessing the handiwork of God. I have recently read the book of Job so now let us look at some of the questions God asked when He spoke to Job at the close of Elihu’s speech; “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth, tell me if you have understanding”. “Have you ever in your life commanded the morning and caused the dawn to know its place?” “Where is the way to the dwelling of light? And darkness, where is its place, that you may take it to its territory and that you may discern the path to its home”?

  With those sobering words from God let us read some from the pen of Paul: “For the wrath fo God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse” [Rom. 1:18-22]. You cannot deny that you are, that you exist. But no man has been able to identify that something which gives life to that body of clay. We have to do with a power far greater than we are.

  The one whom we identify as; “Thou art the Christ the Son of the Living God”. You and I were condemned to an eternity in the depth of hell but for His death on the cross. If we experience the material things of this life daily, that which we can do nothing with, but leave it here, we must live those same days one at a time without knowing when we will have the last one. The reason we feel close to the earthly things is because we absent ourselves from the One whom we should love more than father, mother, brother, sister, friend. Ask yourself the question, ‘why do I not feel any closer to God than I do?’ God has not moved; He is still where He has been throughout the ages....

Written by: Clifford Sims