Who Do You Say I Am??

Just had a good fellowship with yapster for lunch at the coffeeshop nearby my place. Yapster had come all the way from Toa Payoh to Pasir Ris just to meet me. And what make this fellowship so precious was that he travelled all the way down by MRT and bus, not by car which I initially thought so. I really enjoyed my time with him. We ate and share about our lives as Christian, after which I introduce him to the beautiful and friendly neighbourhood of Pasir Ris. We parted after that but it was really a fellowship that I enjoyed. Like what I'd told Jack last week, that with all honesty, what I look forward to during service and cell group days are really the fellowship.

Back to the fellowship, bible says when two or three gather in His name, Jesus will be in our mist and this prove to be so truth. Every time I fellowship with Christians, there will bound to be revelation. This time round it was also true. We were sharing about the different trademark of the christian from the various church that we had come across. We concluded that Christians from Lighthouse are very good in healing, while christians from New Creation Church(NCC) are very good at receiving blessings from God. These conclusions are not unfounded. Recently a colleague shared; Mr. Kah, shared with us that he knows of this Christian from NCC. This brother from NCC is super rich, a multi-millionaire and he attributes every blessing to God and always very thankful towards God. However he live a very promiscious life and cheated in his business but yet he is always prospering. On the other hand, for the last few nights I had been fellowshipping with some Christians from Lighthouse and they shared countless of healing testimonies. Wow!! It was like miracles after miracles as if a Bennyhinn crusade is ongoing on every weekly service and cell group. Just as bible says, as a man think so he is. How true this verse is.

At that very instant, as we were sharing about the trademark of the Christians from different churches, suddenly I begin to understand Jesus's conversation with Peter in Matthew 16:13-17.

13When 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.


So often as Christians, we defined Jesus by that one unqiue and life changing experience/encounter we had with Jesus. For example, a person that is dying and miraculously healed by Jesus will say that Jesus is his/her healer and whenever they share with others about Jesus, they declare and potray a picture of God IS a Healer. On the other hand, a person that is on a point of bankruptcy and miraculously saved by Jesus of His bankruptcy and became so prosperous will testify that Jesus is his/her Blesser. I guess this is what Jesus mean when he say flesh and blood in verse 17. We define and conclude who Jesus is by that one life changing encounter. After which we go around testifying of Jesus like what those people in verse 14 did. However, this is and will never be a complete picture of who Jesus is. Jesus wants us to know Him in totality, not just in parts. That's why when Simon Peter said that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God,it was such a powerful knowing and truth that Jesus declare this, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven." It was after this declaration that Jesus goes on to say 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[d] in heaven.”

The fullness of living a victorious Christian life is a result of knowing who really Jesus is (by communion with the Holy Spirit-Relationship) and not by that one life changing encounter. A life changing experience is for that Kiaros time, Jesus has moved on so we need to. There's so much of God to explore.