Who Is Jesus to You? The Name and the New Man

Sermon outline

Jesus asks each of us who we say He is, and a personal revelation of Him changes everything: what we detach from, how we forgive, think, carry our past and speak, and whether we are proud to be associated with the name that paid for us.

1. Who do you say I am?

   The disciples walked, talked and ate with Jesus, yet when He asked who they said He was, only Peter answered: the Messiah, the Son of the living God. Jesus told him this was revealed by the Father, and gave the keys of the kingdom to bind and loose. Is Jesus someone you heard a pastor preach about, or a line on somebody's Facebook status? Do not forward feel-good messages that are not Scripture; a false balance is an abomination and God's people perish for lack of knowledge, so read the Word for yourself.

   Illustration: He cannot stand WhatsApp pictures of waterfalls promising that God will open the windows of heaven. Before you send one, ask whether the sender is a tither.

   “Who do you say Jesus is?”

   • Matthew 16:13-19
   • Proverbs 11:1
   • Hosea 4:6

2. A revelation of Jesus unlocks the mysteries

   It has been given to us to know the mysteries of the kingdom, and blessed are the eyes that see and the ears that hear what prophets longed to see. Jesus wants a relationship with you, not because of your mother or your auntie. People struggle with forgiveness, love and priorities because they have never had a revelation of Him: He forgave first, so we can forgive; He loved the unlovable first, so we can love; and seeking the kingdom first puts the house, the car and the promotion in order. If you will not serve God where you are, how can He give you something greater?

   Illustration: Parents ask him to tell their children to serve in church, and he asks them why he has never seen them serve. Children imitate what they see, so be the mirror you want your child to look into.

   “If you want to see change in your child's life, you be the change in your own life.”

   • Matthew 13:10-11
   • Matthew 13:16-17
   • Matthew 6:33

3. The price is too expensive to go back

   When you see what Jesus has done for you, you realise your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost and the price paid for you is too high to go back to certain places and associations. Your life becomes salt, light and an advert that Jesus is alive, and He becomes an ever-present help. Stop doing it in your own strength: not by might nor by power but by My Spirit.

   “Stop doing it in your own strength and your own might.”

   • 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
   • Psalm 46:1
   • Zechariah 4:6
   • Philippians 2:9

4. Seven things that happen when you get a revelation of Jesus

   First, attachment to Jesus and detachment from the world: in it but not of it, a holy nation and a peculiar people. Second, healing and forgiveness, as broken relationships are mended and God becomes Abba Father to the fatherless and the perfect husband to the divorced. Third, your thinking changes, so you stop blaming others, value others above yourself and are transformed by a renewed mind. Fourth, you leave the baggage behind, the train carriages of hurt, betrayal and rejection. Fifth, you stop looking for approval, because you are accepted and your excellence shows in your fruit. Sixth, people see Christ in your actions and speech. Seventh, your speech changes: no more "just surviving" or "keeping our heads above water", but words of dominion and authority.

   Illustration: Many of us are like a train pulling carriages of hurt, betrayal, abandonment and rejection behind us.

   “Jesus fills the gap that anybody else has left.”

   • John 17:16
   • 1 Peter 2:9
   • Proverbs 23:7
   • 2 Corinthians 5:17
   • Philippians 2:3-5
   • Romans 12:2
   • 1 Peter 5:7
   • Matthew 7:16
   • Romans 8:6

5. Who Jesus is to me

   He is Emmanuel, God with us, wherever you walk in the world. He is Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace, with the government on His shoulders.

   “God is still Emmanuel no matter where I am in the world.”

   • Matthew 1:21-23
   • Isaiah 9:6

6. The brands don't know you, but Jesus chose to be associated with you

   We argue at the dinner table and on Facebook about car brands, each badge carrying its own reputation and its own drawbacks, but the brands do not know you exist and forget you the day you drive out of the dealership. Jesus wrote your name in His book and on the palms of His hands, and chose to be associated with you despite everything you have done, taking the stripes and the crown of thorns for sins you have not even committed yet. Yet we will not tell people we go to church. Whoever disowns Him before others, He will disown before the Father. Even demons know who carries the name, as the sons of Sceva found out.

   Illustration: He shows two car badges on the screen and asks what each one means to people: engines that run forever and a good trade-in, or luxury that loses its value. Nobody wanted a car he had built himself; he does not even change his own light bulbs.

   “They may forget. He never forgets. They will leave you. He will never leave you.”

   • Isaiah 49:16
   • Matthew 10:33
   • Acts 19:13-16
   • Hebrews 4:12

In this message