He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 16:15-17).
We need a revelation of Jesus Christ! This is certainly an emphatic statement; one that emphasizes our need for Someone who is greater than we are. Without an understanding of Him, we will never know who we are!
The apostle Peter said to Jesus, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” In response, Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah [son of Jonah], for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter” (Matthew 16:17-18). What an amazing response Jesus gives to Peter upon his recognition of who the Savior is. Knowing Jesus always gives us Divine perspective; the Father’s perspective becomes ours. Let us look at this revelation again, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah […] you are Peter.” Christ is Light, and knowing Him brings that Light into our heart! When we receive this Light, we begin knowing Jesus Christ- that is Jesus, the Power of God, and the Wisdom of God! This is overwhelmingly good! It is so astonishingly wonderful that God could love us so much. Because He is God, it is not a matter of would love us but could love us. God is love. It is not something that He does (only), but it is a matter of Who He is.
Principles are wonderful and the rules of life great, especially those methods and steps that work, but Jesus Himself is and should be our only emphasis and purpose. He must be revealed to us and in us! In Galatians 1:15-16, Paul says, “but when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood.”
When Christ is revealed, lives are changed forever! “Father, reveal Your Son to us and then in us!”