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1/16 Reading Portions: Genesis 17; Matthew 16; Nehemiah 6; Acts 16

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“But who do you say that I am?” Matthew 16:15

WHO?

Many years ago, a Christian told me there were four important questions in life: (1) Who am I? (2) Where did I come from? (3) Why am I here? and (4) Where am I going when I die? My immediate thought was that I never consciously considered these questions before. I figured I must have thought about them in some roundabout way. Interestingly, one of my college classes in 1978 was Philosophy 101— and I don’t remember studying such a thing even then. Today, I’m certain, I never gave those questions a conscious thought before I heard them articulated. It wasn’t until I was ministering in Scammon Bay, Alaska (2005-2008) that I realized there’s only one question that matters; the one Jesus posed to His disciples: “But who do you say that I am?” The fallen and corrupt world wants you to ask, “Who am I?” Our fallen flesh wants us to ask the same thing— “I, I, I, I.”

Yet, the Holy Spirit asks, “Who is Jesus?” Jesus is the Christ (Matt 16:18a), the perfect Man and Anointed of God. He was born of a virgin and lived the holy, righteous life before God— the life you and I cannot possibly live. “Where did Jesus come from?” Jesus is the Son of the living God (Matt 16:18b); therefore, He is very God— the eternal One who came from heaven— and by His incarnation, His pure life shows that all have sinned and fall short of God’s glory (Rom 3:23). “Why was Jesus here?” Jesus came to suffer at the hands of sinful men and die a cruel death upon a cross (Matt 16:21a); for it took nothing less than God becoming a Man to be the propitiation for mankind’s sins (Rom 3:25-26). “Where did Jesus go when He died?” Jesus rose from the dead on the third day (Matt 16:21b), then ascended into heaven with the promise to return so all those who believe on Him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16). Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Until who Jesus is has been settled in our souls, the answers to any other question matters not at all.

Life’s greatest questions are not “I?”
But the one Jesus pos’d;
Its answer comes from God on high—
Christ’s holy truth expos’d.

Who is Jesus? — “The Most Important Question of All” Matthew 16:15

Jon J. Cardwell's Daily Devotionals & Commentaries

The Most Important Question of All