Declaring Jesus to Be the Christ of God Comes with a Sober Realization

Luke 9:18-27

Click for a description of the mark of the beast.

• Let us say that Jesus is the Christ of God.
• To declare that Jesus is the Christ of God comes with a sober realization.
• Survival in this world is different than Salvation in Christ. 
• We confidently declare that Jesus is the Christ of God.

Let us say that Jesus is the Christ of God. “And it happened, as He was alone praying, that His disciples joined Him, and He asked them, saying, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” Luke 9:18 The crowds never have a clear idea of who Jesus Christ is because they are following the broad way leading to destruction. Today, there is no belief in a Divine God so any description from the multitudes of who He is will strip Him of His Deity as the Son of God. When Jesus was walking on this earth, the multitudes thought of Him as a great man, but never as the Christ of God, “So they answered and said, “John the Baptist, but some say Elijah; and others say that one of the old prophets has risen again.” Luke 9:19 Jesus asks each one of us as individuals who we say that He is, “He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Luke 9:20a. As followers of Christ, the answer we give is, “The Christ of God,” as did Peter, “Peter answered and said, “The Christ of God.” Luke 9:20b.

To declare that Jesus is the Christ of God comes with a sober realization. “And He strictly warned and commanded them to tell this to no one…” Luke 9:21 In the coming verses, Jesus explains why He warned them not to tell anyone that they believe He is the Christ of God. It relates to the hostility this world has towards believing in Him as the Divine Son of God. They live by the mark of the beast and despise Jesus Christ, blaspheme God, trample on the Holy Spirit, and ostracize the people of God. To declare that Jesus is the Christ of God we have to be ready to be rejected and afflicted, which includes losing money, possessions, and physical comforts. Jesus made it clear that He would suffer many things, be killed, and then resurrected, “…saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.” Luke 9:22 To declare that Jesus is the Christ of God is to be willing to follow in His footsteps, to be persecuted, killed, and raised to eternal life to live with Him in the Paradise of God, as Jesus says here, “Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” Luke 9:23

Survival in this world is different than Salvation in Christ. “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.” Luke 9:24 People try to save their life by conforming to the expectations of those who govern by the mark of the beast. They see their bread-n-butter as coming from the social network which lives by humanism empowered by the mark of the beast. It’s their source of money, possessions, and physical comforts. Gaining a life by the materialistic standards of this world is to lose it in the eyes of God because they are destined for Hell in the eternal lake of fire. When we lose our social and materialistic life in this world, we are complete failures in the eyes of everyone else, but we gain everything in the eyes of God through Jesus Christ. In Him we have eternal life in the New Jerusalem. Unfortunately, humanity has chosen to gain the whole world through the global government of the mark of the beast. It is destined to a violent end and those who live for it will be destroyed in Hell, “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?” Luke 9:25

We confidently declare that Jesus is the Christ of God. We must never be ashamed of Jesus Christ and His teachings, no matter how much of our life we lose in this world. Our reward is coming when Jesus Christ returns in the full power of His and His Father’s glory and of the Holy angels. When He returns, He will not be ashamed of anyone who lifts up His name as the Christ of God. If we are ashamed of Him in this world, then He will be ashamed of us when He returns, “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the Holy angels.” Luke 9:26 The Apostles were the first to see the kingdom of God. They saw Christ’s death, resurrection, ascension, and Salvation which was to see the kingdom of God appearing before their eyes. They saw the kingdom of God because they confidently declared that Jesus is the Christ of God, “But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the kingdom of God.” Luke 9:27 In the coming verses, some of His Apostles saw the kingdom of God during what is called the “Transfiguration.”

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“….to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets,“
‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.’”
“I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”
Revelation 2:24-25, 3:11