The Blessing of Knowing Christ

1 The Blessing of Confession

Those who truly confess that Jesus is God, which is to confess Him as Lord and Savior (1 John 4:14–15), are divinely and eternally blessed. They are “blessed . . . with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,” chosen “in Him before the foundation of the world . . . [to] be holy and blameless before Him,” and “in love [are] . . . predestined . . . to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself” (Ephesians 1:3–5). God pours out all His divine favor on those who come to Him through faith in His Son, because through Him they become God’s own children.

Emphasizing Peter’s human inadequacy, Jesus called him by his original family name, Simon Barjona, the second part of the name being an Aramaic term that meant “son of Jonah (or John).” This underscored the fact that his confession was not a result of his own human ingenuity.

Jesus then gave the reason Peter was blessed: “because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 16:17).

The disciples were not finally convinced of Jesus’ messiahship and divinity because of His teaching or His miracles, amazing as those were. Those things alone were not sufficient to convince the twelve, just as they were not sufficient to convince the thousands of other people who heard the same truth and witnessed the same miracles but failed to accept and follow the one who taught and performed them.

Man’s human capabilities, here represented by the words “flesh and blood,” cannot bring understanding of the things of God (cf. 1 Corinthians 2:14). The Father Himself must reveal them and bring understanding of His Son to human minds.

From the gospel accounts it seems clear that the Father disclosed the Son primarily through the Son Himself. There is no record or intimation that any divine revelation was given to the twelve during Jesus’ earthly ministry other than that given through Jesus Himself. As the light of Jesus’ teaching and the significance of His miraculous power began to dawn on them, the Spirit opened their minds to see Him as the Messiah, the Son of the living God.

2 The Real Reason for Unbelief

Jesus had made many astounding claims about Himself. He declared that He had come to fulfill the law and the prophets (Matthew 5:17) and that in the last days many people will address Him as Lord (Matthew 7:22). He said, “I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever” (John 6:51), and, “I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved” (John 10:9; cf. 14:6). He even claimed to be Lord of the Sabbath (Matthew 12:8), a claim that for a Jew of His day could only have been interpreted as presumption of deity.

Jesus had also performed astounding miracles. He had turned ordinary water into the highest quality wine (John 2:6–11), healed multiple hundreds of every sort of disease (see, e.g., Matthew 4:24; 8:16; 9:35), and even quieted a raging storm with a word (Matthew 8:26).

Yet most people did not make the same confession as Peter—they did not believe in Christ. Why? “All things have been handed over to Me by My Father,” Jesus had explained on an earlier occasion, “and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him” (Matthew 11:27).

The difference between Peter and those who never believed was that God revealed it to him. Peter was blessed. He was graced to have been given from heaven the knowledge of Christ. That’s why 1 Corinthians 12:3 says, “No one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit.” It is a divine work.

I frequently return to John 3 to explain this truth. Jesus had told Nicodemus that he must be born again to enter the kingdom of God, and the bewildered Nicodemus asked what that could mean. Jesus stated again, “Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit” (John 3:7–8). That answer is strange to us. Jesus didn’t say, “Pray a prayer,” or, “Repeat these words.” Instead he tells Nicodemus that the new birth is a spiritual work—a work of heaven.

3 It is God’s prerogative

It is God’s prerogative to reveal His Son to His people, and it is a blessing without comparison. Peter’s confession proved that God had opened his understanding to comprehend the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ.

As with the disciples, when people today confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and fellowship with Him through His Word, we know that the Spirit has opened their minds and hearts to His truth and power.

Sadly, many today confess Jesus in name only—just like they did when He walked the earth. Especially around Christmas, people are seduced into believing that they know who Jesus is even though the Father has never revealed Him to them. So we all must answer the question that Jesus posed to His disciples: Who do you say that He is?

If you have never seriously considered the purpose of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection, consider listening to this sermon titled Fifteen Words of Hope, and discover the real reason that the Son of God chose to become a baby in a manger.