Bruce Collins, Evangelist

Meditation for the week of November 16, 2008

Matthew 27:22 Pilate said to them, “What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said to him, “Let Him be crucified!”
Matthew 16:15-16 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Jesus is a name that either provokes awe and worship or it is a name that often provokes anger. Pilate said Jesus was “called” Christ. Those of us who believe in Him know that He is the Christ, the anointed one of God, the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies connected with the coming Savior. He is the Messiah. Those of us who believe in Him call Him Lord.

When we talk to people about the Lord, most say He was a good man and some even say he was a prophet. But often they deny that He is the Son of God which He claimed to be. However, it is not possible for him to be a prophet if he didn’t know who He was and He wasn’t a good man if he pretended to be something He wasn’t. So it is not possible for Him to be a prophet and to be good unless He is who He claimed to be.

Jesus is the personal revelation of God to us. When we know the Lord Jesus we know God. In John we read, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14).” John also says that in the beginning the Word was with God and the Word was God (John 1:1). It is quite clear that John is introducing us to the the Lord Jesus when he calls him the Word. The Lord Jesus is both the message of God and the messenger that carries the message. That is what a word does.

Today it is quite acceptable to talk about God and to feel that we have something in common with all those who worship God but “in a different way.” We are told that we all worship the same God. But if Christ is God and others worship God without worshiping the Lord Jesus, we are not worshiping the God who gave His Son to die and to take the punishment that our sins deserved. The other gods do not have the same Lord Jesus who is introduced to us in the Bible as the Son of God..

When I listen to Christians talk about their faith, many of them talk about God and not about the Lord Jesus. There may be a time to do that when we are first trying to get people to listen to the Gospel and when we know that they don’t accept Jesus as God. But at some point, we have to talk about the Lord Jesus. He is the rock or foundation of the church that He is building (Matthew 16:18). We need to ask the hard question, “But who do you say that I am?”

Is it possible that we are uncomfortable talking about the Lord Jesus because we are ashamed of Him? Or Is it possible that we don’t talk about the Lord Jesus because we don’t know Him? If we are ashamed of Him, one day he will be ashamed of us according to Luke 9:26. I have become very concerned about the many Christians who are trying to save the world through the political process and who tend talk only about God and not about the Lord Jesus. I have begun to realize that many Christians are trying to change the world without introducing the world to the Lord Jesus.

I for one want to get back to the basics. I recently faced the fact that I am mortal when I had a stent put into my heart to open up an artery that I had no idea was blocked. When I thought about death before I was saved I was fearful. Now I do not look forward to dying, but death is not something I fear. The difference is that I know the Lord Jesus Christ and I know He is my Savior. I always knew that there was a God and always believed in Him, but I didn’t always believe in or trust the Lord Jesus Christ. I think we need to get back to talking about Him if we really know Him. He alone is the solution to the world’s problems and He is the only one who gives us peace when we face our mortality.

Bruce Collins