In my 79 years of life, I have made thousands of decisions, large and small. We all will over the course of our lives. It comes with being human.
Now, suppose you looked ahead for a moment and asked the question, “how many of those decisions will matter AFTER I die?” To be clear, I’m not referring to how much better off your beneficiaries will be upon your demise. I mean, are there decisions that you can make in this life that will determine your destiny in the next?
According to the Bible, the answer is a resounding YES! And it has to do with what you have personally decided about the person and work of Jesus Christ.
RSVP, Please
“When Jesus arrived in the villages of Caesarea Philippi, he asked His disciples, “What are people saying about who the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some think he is John the Baptizer, some say Elijah, some Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.”
He pressed them, “And how about you? Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter said, “You’re the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”1
And there it is, the most important question in the Bible: “Who do YOU say I am?”
For most of my life, I viewed Jesus Christ as a remote historical figure, like Napoléon Bonaparte or Abraham Lincoln. I believed that He founded a religion, inspired billions of people and suffered a tragic death. I kept Him at arm’s length. To me, He was safer at a distance — He might cramp my style.
You see, Jesus had the annoying habit of nailing people like me with the truth. He could see right through my polished and evasive rhetoric and peer into my heart. All He found was darkness, selfishness and self will. Yet after getting a glimpse of my inner core, instead of running away as fast as He could, He came toward me, as He does with all sinners. He wasn’t put off by any of that.
Up Close and Personal
While I was still holding Christ at a distance, He took the initiative and suddenly broke into my consciousness, not as an omnipotent sovereign but as a dear Friend. I love that about Him — He faithfully reveals Himself to those who open their hearts to Him.
Jesus melted my resistance and made me feel at home in His presence. We became “fast friends.”
It was all His doing. That was when I realized that God is not looking for subjects or slaves, but friends (like Peter). And we start first with our friendship with Christ, then we have the basis for friendships with others.
In the fall 2018 Westmont Magazine, theologian G. Walter Hansen wrote:
“Augustine learned and taught that our love for God needs to order all our loves. If we refuse the love of God and substitute God’s love with friendship love, we will impoverish and eventually destroy friendship love. Only when we love God first above all can we then truly love our friends in God.”
The Angels Throw a Party in Heaven
The angels must have had a blast as they heard Peter’s glorious response to Jesus’ pregnant question, “Who do you say I am?” He stepped over the line and committed: “You’re the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
No one coerced Peter to say this — in fact, he was signing his own death warrant by siding with this controversial and religiously radioactive rabbi from the sticks.
Jesus responded, “God bless you, Simon (Peter), son of Jonah! You didn’t get that answer out of books or from teachers. My Father in heaven, God himself, let you in on this secret of who I really am.”2
As he made his astounding declaration of faith in Christ, Peter shattered earth’s sin-imposed cloak of darkness and opened a shaft of light that has been getting brighter and larger ever since. His faith became the prototype for all believers to emulate and became the rock upon which Christ would establish his eternal church, pushing back the gates of Hell.
How About You?
So, what’s it going to be for you? Who do YOU think Jesus is? Have you decided for yourself?
If you haven’t reached that point yet, ask God to reveal His Son Jesus to you. If you’re serious, I promise you, He will.
— D.C. Collier is a Bible teacher, discipleship mentor and writer focused on Christian apologetics. A mechanical engineer and Internet entrepreneur, he is the author of My Origin, My Destiny, a book focused on Christianity’s basic “value proposition.” Click here for more information. Click here for previous columns. The opinions expressed are his own.
1. Matthew 16:13-16 The Message (MSG)
2. Matthew 16:17-18 MSG