Reflections
And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father who is in heaven. (Mat 16:16-17)
Peter saw and confessed that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the Living God – not because of brain power, emotions, or study. He saw it because God the Father had personally revealed to him this Truth. And the fact of the matter is, each of us have to receive the Truth about Christ in the same way. We cannot base our faith or knowledge of Christ upon what other people say about Him. We cannot base it upon any, “flesh and blood,” source. It must be revealed to us by the Father from heaven.
You cannot be saved, or come to know Christ, because you have been raised in a Christian family. Neither can it happen because you attend a good church. Those things can rightly point us to Christ, but none of them can gender life in us. The source of new life is ABOVE – we must be born from above. God must initiate our calling to Christ. (John 6:44) But then we must decide whether to hear and believe.
Christianity is CHRIST IN YOU – it is Christ in the individual. This is the basis of not only Christianity, but even of the Body of Christ. We are in the Body only because we are first in Christ individually. Any teaching that undermines our personal access to God through Christ as our personal and only Mediator is a lie. Peter saw the Truth because God revealed it to him personally. God wants to do the same for us all.