Who Are You?

Ryan Tice

Tone-Setting • Sermon • Submitted 4 years ago

Matthew 16:13–17

0 ratings

· 4 views

Notes

Transcript

Intro:

Good Morning!!!!! How great is it to finally be together again. I am very excited for what God has for each one of us, our church, and our community. Now that we are together again I want to discuss for a moment the different ministries within Parkside. Youth Group will begin meeting again on June 28th at 6pm. Wednesday Night service will resume this Wednesday Night at 7pm. In the near future we will be announcing when the Women’s Bible study, Ladies Prayer, and the Kingsmen Men’s ministry will resume. Next Sunday, Father’s Day, I am excited to announce that the Secretary Treasurer of the Assemblies of God Michigan District, Pastor Curt Dalaba, will be here on Father’s Day to share God’s Word with us.

A few weeks ago I launched into this series called Tone-Setting. I shared that each of us are called to ministry by looking at the life of Moses. On Pentecost Sunday I shared about the importance of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. Last week I shared on authority. I said that to be Tone-Setters we need to come under God’s authority and we do that by having an authentic relationship with Jesus. Would you turn in your Bibles to Matthew 16 verse 13.

As you are turning there allow me to discuss what it means to be a Tone-Setter. A tone-setter is disciple of Jesus. A tone-setter knows their calling, they have a relationship with Jesus, they are disciplined, and they submit to God’s authority.

Matthew 16:13–17 NIV

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.

Let’s Pray!!!

It’s interesting that Jesus asked his disciples “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” Essentially He is asking who do people say I am? At that time there were many guesses to who Jesus was. Herod thought Jesus was John the Baptist resurrected. Some thought he was a lunatic, some a good teacher, some thought he could be Elijah. Jesus is asking about identity. Jesus knows the importance of identity. This morning we are going to be talking about identity.

Knowing Jesus

For the disciples then and for us today it is of absolute importance to be able to answer the question who is Jesus? It is important to note that in our text, this was not the first time someone confessed Jesus as the Son of God. Nathanael confessed Jesus as the Son of God in John 1:49. Matthew 14:33 accounts that the disciples declared Him the Son of God after He stilled the storm. Peter declared Him God’s Son after Jesus said He was the Bread of Life.

Why then is this confession in our text this morning different? To begin with Jesus explicitly asks for this confession.When Jesus asks who do people say I am, the confession is not an emotional response from people who had just seen a miracle, no this confession is from a man who has done life together with Jesus for a period of time. From a man who has submitted to the authority of Jesus, from a man who has a relationship with Jesus, who has allowed Jesus to correct him, and who is devoted.

Jesus’ identity is of absolute importance. If Jesus is anyone other than the Son of God then we would only be worshipping a person and that would be idolatry. There is no possible way that you and I can be devoted to, submitted to, have a relationship with, or allow ourselves to be corrected without knowing who Jesus is.

Think about that for a moment. Think about your interaction with other people, maybe your husband or wife, maybe you’re children, maybe one of your friends. Now imagine with me for a moment, that you are a financial advisor, walking up to a complete stranger on the street and instructing that person how they should handle their finances. First would you do it? The answer almost anyone would give would be NO. Secondly, without relationship there is slim to no chance that person will take your advice. They need to know you in some kind of way. Now if you take the same person and a friend of theirs introduces the two of you, that person might be willing to listen to you.

It is important for everyone to know Jesus. It would be impossible for almost anyone to have relationship with Jesus, much less submit to his authority without knowing who He is. Also can you imagine trying to introduce someone to Jesus and not be able to answer who he is? Someone might say I can answer who he is, He is the Savior. Yes, that is correct. But what does that mean? Why do I need saving? How do you know He is the Savior? and on and on the questions can go. If all I have is that Jesus is the Savior I probably won’t have much confidence in introducing someone to Him.

Some folks have a very hard time following Jesus. They really really want to do the right thing but keep going back to their same old ways. I know this personally. For years I wanted to the right and serve Jesus, but I kept on doing just the opposite. Why? Because I didn’t know Jesus. I knew of Him, but I didn’t know Him. I wanted Him to work through me, but I didn’t do the work of a relationship. Look friends, relationships are work. Deep relationships don’t happen overnight. As the saying goes “You don’t get married on the first date.” At least most people don’t get married on the first date.

Relationships were created by God. Having a relationship with Jesus takes work and commitment. Here is where some folks get caught up. They enter into a relationship with Jesus and expect Him to do all the work. And let’s not be quick to be too hard on these folks. More than likely they were not properly introduced to Jesus. They may have been introduced to a pocket God if we’re being real. They were told give your life to Jesus and everything will get better. But that isn’t who Jesus really is. In order to lead anyone into a real relationship with Jesus we must know who He is. That will require those who desire a relationship with Him to pray. And I’m not talking about Hail Mary prayers. Just a prayer that you throw up in a last ditch effort to get out of a jam. I’m talking about a conversation with Jesus. If you are married or have ever dated in your life this is easy for you to understand. When you first meant that special someone, you found ways of communicating with them. Krista and I when we first meant found ways to communicate. When I first meant Krista I lived over an hour away from her plus I didn’t even have a car. Don’t feel too bad for her she had plenty of opportunities to run away. We found ways to communicate with each other because we were interested in each other. We talked on the phone for long periods of time. My phone had this thing at the time where it would disconnect at the 2 hour mark, that’s how long we would talk for and then call each other back. This is what our relationship with Jesus should look like. We should be so interested in knowing Him that we find ways and make time to communicate with Him. We should also be a people that know His Word, the Bible. God has went to great lengths, lengths we can’t even begin to imagine to have relationship with us. In order to be tone-setters we need to be people of prayer and of His Word. I guarantee you that if you have conversations with Jesus and really try and live out His Word you will become a person who walks with God, you will become a tone-setter.

Who Are You?

Now that we know the importance of knowing who Jesus is let’s flip the script.....literally. Jesus asked who do people say I am? Let’s turn the question on ourselves. Ask the question of yourself who do people say I am? Or Who am I? If someone asked you to answer that question, Who am I?, in under a minute, could you do it?

Genesis 1:27 NIV

So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

You are God’s creation. Everyone, disciple of Jesus or not, is created in the image of God.

Psalm 139:13–16 NIV

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

God created you in the womb. He made you wonderfully and has a wonderful plan for you. You are God’s masterpiece. I used to get uncomfortable when a person of faith would tell me that I was wonderfully made by God or that I was God’s masterpiece. You want to know why I would get uncomfortable? Because I didn’t allow God to define me, I allowed sin to define me. If you are uncomfortable, I encourage you to allow God to define you. If you knew that God truly loved you, would it be easier for you to have a relationship with Him? The answer is yes. We struggle to have relationship with God sometimes because we doubt His love to some degree. When I was growing up I had a stepfather. My mom and stepdad would argue because my stepdad felt that I didn’t like him or didn’t love and that I didn’t want anything to do with him. He was right. I never believed he loved me. I didn’t believe he loved me because of the way he treated my mom. The same happens to people everyday, they question if God really loves them. They question his love by the way the world treats them. They have allowed the world to define love for them.

You are God’s creation, I am God’s creation. I am loved by God, You are loved by God.