I can’t remember what I was looking up originally, but last week I came across this passage (Matthew 16:13-20) and it stood out to me. I think it is a crucial thought...who is Jesus to you?
Jesus asked his disciples first, “Who do *men say that I am?” They replied, “some say John the Baptist, others Elijah and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” Then, he asked his disciples, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter said, seemingly without hesitation, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus then said to Simon Peter, “Blessed are you, Simon **Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it.....And many have tried to kill off the church and faith in Jesus. Many believers have been killed, but the church continues. (Often, when the church comes under attack, the Holy Spirit moves among the bystanders, and even more people are born again than are killed, so that Satan is defeated by his own actions!)
So who is Jesus to me?
He is the Son of the living God...The Christ, The Messiah that the Jews were waiting for. He is God in the person of Christ, and he is my saviour, my redeemer, my Lord and my hope for the future. ^The cornerstone of the church and the hope of mankind.
Who is Jesus to you? A stumbling block? or the cornerstone of your faith?
Food for thought!
This is how I understand my God.
Read for yourself, see what you think.
^(In Matthew 21:42 the word cornerstone is taken from the Greek word Kephale, and ***means; The head/Superior/chief/principle/one to whom others are subordinate).
*Some passages say people, or crowds.
**I think this is either his Sir name, or it means Son of Jona.
*** according to Mounce Reverse-interlinear new Testament.
[According to the online dictionary, Cornerstone means;
Similar meaning to: Foundation, basis, keystone, mainspring, mainstay, linchpin, bedrock, fundament, base, key, fundamental principle, main ingredient, central component, centrepiece, core, heart, centre, focus, crux, prop, backbone, anchor.