The Living God

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

THE LIVING GOD

Matt 16:13-20

13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?"  14 They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets." 15 "But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?"  16 Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." 17 Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.   19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."  20 Then he warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.

NIV

It is interesting, having stood at a particular location in Caesarea Philippi. There was a ruin of a temple that Caesar had built and a ruin of a temple that was built to the god Pan. We can only imagine these temples stood in all their majesty and glory when Jesus and his disciples walked past them. Here was Caesar, a man who wanted to be a god, and there the temple of Pan, a god who was represented as a man. Here is where Jesus asks his disciples who do they say he is. Was he a man who wanted to be a god or a god that presented himself as a man? An interesting question in such a unique location. It is also interesting what some people say who Jesus is. Some thought he was someone other than who he is. However, Peter gets it right and answers the question, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” First, Peter understood that God was a living God. Here in the presence of a man who wanted to be a god, who was just a man like all other men, and a false god made by the hands of man, which in essence is just a statute and no god at all, Peter understands that Jehovah is a living God. Jesus affirms what Peter answered by telling him that his answer was not from some invention of man, but was revealed to him by Jesus’s heavenly Father, the living God. This is the only way we too can know that God is the one and only living God. It is revealed to us through the power of the Spirit. We also know that Peter declared that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, known as the Father, and who sent the Spirit to dwell in Jesus. Of course, we believe and know that God is all three, He is three in one. However, even if some think this to be a mystery, God has three persons that he manifests himself through, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. It is not essential that we understand or comprehend everything about God for what created man could fully understand the creator God. Yet, we know enough to realize God always was and is and always will forever be. This was not revealed to us by man, but by the Spirit, and as with Peter, we declare Jesus is the Son of the living God, and that He is our Savior, our Lord and because of Him, we have eternal life. It is also interesting that as much effort some men can put into building a following, or gathering of people, a church, they can only build an earthy organization. Jesus is the one who will build His church, it is by His power that the church exists, and it is not a building, the church is the people who have been compelled by the Spirit to come together to worship the living God. Satan cannot keep us apart, he cannot destroy us, for he has no power against Jesus. Let us rejoice that we are kept by the power of God, and the gates of hell cannot prevail against us. We are children of the living God, redeemed by the Son of the living God, and filled by the Spirit of the living God.