Son Of the Living God

Our Love for God

Love Songs That Glorify God

Pondering God's Steadfast Love

Matthew 16:13-20 The Message

Son of Man, Son of God

13 When Jesus arrived in the villages of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “What are people saying about who the Son of Man is?”
14 They replied, “Some think he is John the Baptizer, some say Elijah, some Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.”
15 He pressed them, “And how about you? Who do you say I am?”
16 Simon Peter said, “You’re the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
17-18 Jesus came back, “God bless you, Simon, son of Jonah! You didn’t get that answer out of books or from teachers. My Father in heaven, God himself, let you in on this secret of who I really am. And now I’m going to tell you who you are, really are. You are Peter, a rock. This is the rock on which I will put together my church, a church so expansive with energy that not even the gates of hell will be able to keep it out.
19 “And that’s not all. You will have complete and free access to God’s kingdom, keys to open any and every door: no more barriers between heaven and earth, earth and heaven. A yes on earth is yes in heaven. A no on earth is no in heaven.”
20 He swore the disciples to secrecy. He made them promise they would tell no one that he was the Messiah.

For Reflection

God is a mystery. There are things that we know about God and many more things about which we know very little. 
But God is not unknowable.  Over thousands of years.  God has revealed God's identity slowly. No longer is God unknowable.  In Jesus, the Christ, we see God and God's will for humankind. Because Christ lived, we have proof that we humans can approximate the life of Jesus.  Such spiritual ambition is achievable. The promise in the birth, experience, and resurrection of Christ is our salvation from the perversions of humanity and the attainment of God's will for human perfection.

Pray

Pray so that you come to know God through Jesus.  Pray so that you can attain God's will for peace in the midst of human chaos.

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