Jesus asks a couple of very important questions in Matthew 16. The answer to the first is not as important as the answer to the second. The answer to the second will impact where you spend eternity. Here they are…
- Who do people say Jesus is? Matthew 16:13
- Who do you say Jesus is? Matthew 16:15
People have all kinds of opinions about who they think Jesus is. A lot of people are willing to accept Jesus as a good moral teacher. There are others who simply make up things about him. Then there are those who say he never existed. Only the Father in Heaven can give us a proper revelation about who Jesus really is.
Peter received this revelation and declared “You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God” (Matthew 16:16). There are many who believe Jesus established the church on Peter himself. They are wrong. Jesus called Peter a small stone. That’s what his name means. Peter is not the rock on which the church is built, but rather the first of many living stones that Jesus would use to build his church. The foundation of the Church is Jesus himself. He is the chief cornerstone.
Peter confirms this in his very own words…
As you come to Jesus, the living Cornerstone—rejected by the world, but chosen by God and precious to him— you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For in Scripture it says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame” (1 Peter 2:4-6).
As you affirm what the Scriptures reveal about who Christ is, as you recognize Jesus as the anointed Messiah, and as you trust in him to save you from your sins, you become a living stone that Jesus uses to build His church. His church is not made of brick and mortar, nor with human hands, but by God Himself and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.
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