Continued from Wednesday
“‘But what about you?’ he [Jesus Christ] asked. ‘Who do you say I am?’ Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’”9
Today we share more evidence to verify the reality of Jesus Christ as being the Son of God and Savior of the world.
For example, six hundred years prior to Christ’s coming Daniel predicted when it would be. One hundred years later Zechariah told how Christ would enter Jerusalem riding on a donkey; how he would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver; and how this money would be used to buy a potter’s field.10
All these predictions about Christ and many more—written hundreds of years before his coming—were fulfilled in detail, giving evidence to show that Jesus Christ was indeed God’s promised Messiah—the Savior of the world.
When Jesus came, he asked his disciples, “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”11
This is the crucial question that each of us needs to answer. If Christ is who he claims to be, then our response to this question will determine our relationship to God for all eternity.
One thing we cannot do is accept Christ as a great moral teacher but not as God. As C.S. Lewis, a former professor at Cambridge and Oxford wrote, “A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else would be the devil of hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God; or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool; you can spit at him and kill him as a demon; or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come up with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”12
Jesus himself said, “He who is not with me is against me.”13 That is, unless we act on our belief and make a commitment to follow Christ in our everyday life, we are automatically against him.
However, if you do believe Jesus is the Son of God, you can commit your life to him through a simple prayer. Tell Christ that you believe he is the Son of God who died for your sins, and that you would like to become one of his true followers starting today.
To assist you in doing this, click on the “How to Be Sure You’re a Real Christian” link below.
Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank you that your Word clearly shows that Jesus is your Son, and that history has verified that all the prophecies in your Word also confirm that Jesus is your Son, the only way to you, and the only Savior of the world. This I believe. Thank you for showing me the way and thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”
To verify that you know God who knows you, be sure to read the article, “How to Be Sure You’re a Real Christian” at: http://tinyurl.com/real-christian
9. Matthew 16:15-16.
10. Daniel 9:25-26; Zechariah 9:9-10 and 11:12.
11. Matthew 16:15-16 (NIV).
12. Cited on Christian Odyssey website at: http://www.christianodyssey.com/history/lewis.htm. 13. Luke 11:23 (NIV).
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