Stephanie Ike Okafor - Jesus: The Image of The Father

It says in the beginning was the Word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. So the word was with God distinction, but the word was God. Onon this welcome to block pod with me Stephanie okafor and this is your invitation to return to what matters the most, and that is your walk with the Lord Jesus. Now in today's episode, we're going to be touching on something so foundational and critical to our faith. You see, for any disciple who is going to raise disciples of Christ, which is the mandate for all believers, right, you, at some point in time, if you're intentional about this, you may encounter the question about the identity of Jesus in the sense that their people normally are challenged with trying to comprehend Jesus the Man and Jesus as God. Right, because he is God, then why was Jesus praying to the Father or you know, there are different things that normally come up concerning recognizing that Jesus is the image of the Father. Right, Jesus is God, the Father is God, Jesus is God, the Holy Spirit is God. And sometimes that could feel so complex to understand. And here is the truth even before we get into this episode. To understand the Trinity in its totality is I would say impossible for the human mind to fully comprehend. Because if I could explain the Trinity to you in a way that you can reason, and you say, while that makes sense, I because it makes sense to me, I believe it. That's not how it happens. It is arrogance to think that a person has the capacity to do that, because if I could explain to you the totality of the Godhead, that would make me god right in my finite nature, in my finite being. It is impossible to comprehend the totality of the one who is infinite right. And so what I'm what I'm doing with this episode today, it is to present a case before you with the scripture. And I have a confidence in this in the teaching about this, because this has also been revealed to my spirit. What you're going to receive is not just something that will oh, that makes sense. It is for the spirit to make life in you, that the Spirit of God begins to minister to your spirit about receiving that this is truth, to receive it as truth. There have been many attempts that people have made to explain the Trinity and all fall short. It is great that we make attempts to do this, but I start this because the topic of the Trinity is one that has to be a approached with all humility, because we are not this is not a thing of like, it's not logical to the human mind. Right, But let's really let's get into this topic about Jesus as the image of the Father. Now, let's start from Matthew sixteen, verse thirteen to seventeen, when Jesus came. And this is really this is so beautiful because what we're going to study, I'm going to actually take it verse by verse, but this is ultimately the moment where Jesus would ask his disciples, you know, the question of Jesus's identity would be engaged with his disciples. And so let's get into this. When Jesus came into the region of Cesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, who do men say that I? And look at this so beautiful? He referred to himself as the son of Man. It's not even like he's trying to give a cheat code. He says, who do men say that I? The son of man Am. Now, one of the things I loved about Jesus is that he was so masterful in communication and in his teachings. When Jesus is engaging in conversation with a person, don't just pay attention to what he's saying, pay attention to the location, pay attention to the things he's using to compare. Because Jesus is coming from a realm that we couldnot fully comprehend, so he would use location, he would use there are several things that are speaking, all at the same time, So the Bible says when Jesus came into the region, So this question was not something he asked in a synagogue, It was not something he asked in the wilderness when he came into the region of Sissy area Philippi. Why is it that Jesus would ask this question there anytime? This is the beauty of what I love about studying the world of God, especially in how Jesus walked and lived and taught, because any time you see Jesus engaging, it's just like, for example, when you see when Jesus engage with the woman by the well, the will was significant to what he was after in the woman. He wanted to dig a well in her. Jesus didn't care about the water. He was not He was not going to the well because he was thirsty. He was going there for a woman. But the well will be significant to the objective because the woman will start by speaking about him like he's just this regular person. But all of a sudden, you see how it progresses and progresses and progresses, Oh, you must be a prophet. And then progresses, and she reckoned that this is the Messiah. What he was doing was digging a well in her. So now Jesus is here, and he is in the region of Cesarea Philippi, and that is where he asked, who do men say the son of man Am? Now check this out? So Sarah Philippi was not just any ordinary place. This was the center of pagan worship. Standing there, there are list of things that had to outline standing. There was a massive rock, a rock cliff that was called the Rock of the Gods. At the base was a temple dedicated to the Greek god of nature that they called Pan. Nearby that region were shrined to multiple Roman gods carved into stone. The entire region was a monument to idolatry. This is the place. Cesarea was a display of the world's spiritual confusion and idols. It was the center of it. It was a place of the counterfeit of gods, and Jesus waits until he gets to the region where their counterfeit of all other gods, and then he asks the question. The intentionality in this blows my mind because it's almost as though Jesus positioned himself. It's like against the world's backdrop of false idols to set the stage of revealing that he is actually God, that all the world worships, all the false gods that are carved into stone the temple. There was actually a place that in that region that they called the gate of the Gates of Hades. He stands there. Oh, I sense the presence of God. This episode might make me emotional because it brings such a deep worship out of me when I think of how Jesus moves. He stands in the place where the world has been deceived. That is a marker. It was symbolic whether it was great deception in the world, all the false idols, and that becomes the backdrop where he's going to be introduced himself. As the one true God. This is outstanding to me. And so then the you know, the disciples begin to respond. They said so. In verse fourteen, it says some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets. And then he said to them, but who do you say that I am so? First of all, when he's asking about what, what are the people saying about me? Some said John the Baptist, which is so hilarious to me. John the Baptist baptized Jesus. How can he be the one who baptized him? This is what this is when you know that people can can create ideas and assumptions without ever seeking to know if it's true. For the people to believe that he is John the Baptist, it tells you that there was an utterance of oh, he must be John the Baptist, and people just began to believe it with ever without ever searching it out. How many things do we see in today's society that people just believe without ever actually doing an inquiry for themselves, because if they were to show out, at the very least, they will not call him John the Baptist, because they would know that John the Baptist ministry was at the same timeline with Jesus Is ministry. He cannot be the one who baptized him. But this is when it revealed to you that they are people whose faith is actually built by opinion. What they know about a person is the opinions others have shared rather than actually searching it out. You know something that is so interesting, even when you talk about the mortal man or woman, because in the absence of revelation, we have to conclude on something. You see, it's always difficult. The reason why sometimes you know, people would say, hey, when someone is speaking, listen before you respond, because there's something in us that is always wired to give an answer, to give a conclusion, to say. You know, it's something that we have to be taught how to just sit with someone in pain. We always want to have an answer, have a response, because when there is the absence of revelation, we have to conclude on something. This is one of the reasons why every major religion acknowledges Jesus. They cannot deny that there was something about this man, but because they did not have revelation about him, they had to conclude. Oh, he was just a prophet, because we don't acknowledge their gods. We don't acknowledge their prophets. You will never see in the Bible, you know, acknowledging Islam or Buddhism. We don't acknowledge, but they acknowledge us. I recognize there was something about this Jesus that was not ordinary. But you see, the things of God is spiritually discerned. It's not something you can use logic and reasoning to comprehend. And so for the carnal man or woman, the ordinary man or woman, when they don't have revelation about something, they conclude, oh he is John the Baptist, he is Jeremiah. Oh he is one of the prophets. He is Elijah. And then Jesus turns it to them and he says, now, what do you say about me? Because you see, you can borrow information, but you can only receive revelation from the spirit. Information can be shared, they can be borrowed. They can oh what do you think about this person? Oh, they're this, and you just continue. It's like a ripple effect. Especially you see why I believe when the Bible talks about in the last days, how many would be deceived and how they would be a great falling away of many from the faith. It's because of this problem, because in the absence of revelation, people will only hold on to information. That's why there are many things you will see on social media, you know, different social media channels. People will create an assumption about a person and everybody starts to believe it to be true. They never even ask the Lord is this really true? Someone just wakes up inspired by demons and calling it the Lord. They start making videos they say, do you know what? God gave me? A dream? And in the absence of discernment, in the absence of being sensitive to the Holy Spirit, people just hear, oh my gosh, this person said they had a dream about so, so and so, And it spreads and people start creating new doctrines. And because you don't read your word and you don't spend time with the Lord, in the absence of revelation, people must conclude on something. And that's when information that came from the womb of the demonic is received. That's truth. Why do you think the scripture talks about doctrines of demons? How can it be that there would be doctrines of demons in the church, and people will not discern it because now their senses have been dulled, and what they can comprehend, they just conclude on something that someone else said is true, not searching it out for themselves. So Jesus first he starts by saying, now, let me know the public opinion, and I want to see what you think about me is shaped by public opinion, or it would be shaped by revelation. So Jesus looks at them and he says, who do you say that I am? Every disciple of Jesus must answer this for themselves. Who do you say that he is? And this is not this goes This has depth to it because in your revelation of Jesus is your revelation of his ways, his standards, his principles, the life he has called us to live and model. After all of that whole is tied in. And if you are not searching it out for yourself, if you don't have a personal relationship that you're cultivating for yourself, you will fall into deception because you will take the information of one who is spewing doctrine of demons and call it truth and begin to live your life according to something that was never in the will of God for your life, something that was never part of the ways of God. You will begin to say that you know what this is, this is me, I'm just you know, this is God knows my heart, when in reality you have your lacking what is only personal to a believer by the Holy Spirit, and that is revelation. It cannot be cornerly discerned. That's why there was an episode we talked about how you know a teachain is not just supposed to make sense. It's great if it makes sense, but it's not. What gives it, what gives it accuracy in the spirit is that it makes life. It produces in you the life of God. If it just made sense, you just go about your day were like, oh wow, that that made Wow. That was so good. You know, we all say it. You hear something, Wow, so good. I say it too. But if you walk away and somebody says, hey, what did you learn? What What did you learn from that teach And from that message you were like, man, it was so good, but what did you learn? You can't really pinpoint it all. You know it was so good, it doesn't transform you. When when something makes life It brings change, It brings transformation. It draws you to be like Christ. The message becomes a mirror that is held before you, showing you who your call to be and what needs to be adjusted. It brings conviction to your life. If it just makes sense, it's like wow, that that was that was good, and you just walk away. You share with someone man that message was so good, and that's it. It ends at good period, but it has to make life. And so now when Jesus now says, who do you say that I am? Look at this Simon Peter in verse sixteen, Simon Peter answered and said, you are the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Now this is so beautiful because Jesus starts by saying, who do men say that I the son of Man am? Right, then Simon Peter now says, you are the Christ, the Son of the Living God. One of the reasons that this confession was so powerful was because, in the Jewish understanding, to receive the title the son of the Living God was actually a claim to being God, because it was not just about one who is created by God, but it was about one who has the same nature as God. That is, one of the reasons why even when you know Jesus would even talk about referring to God as his father, they would want to stone him right, or they wanted to kill him. Rather, in John five point eighteen it says it talks about how they tried all the more to kill him and why because he was calling God his own father, making himself equal with God. So the revelation that someone is the son of God was Peter literally saying you are God. And so when that happens, Jesus answers and says, blessed are you Simon Barjona, For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father, who is in heaven. Only God can reveal God. This was not something that Peter saw. Jesus may have in a miracle, and he was like, wow, Jesus, you must be God. This was weighty. So Jesus affirms that Peter, what you just uttered is something that could only come from the Father, because this is not something that can be naturally discerned. That's why salvation is so spiritual, because you lived your whole life worshiping other gods or doing all kinds of craziness, giving your life, bowing your life to false idols. And then something happens. The Spirit of God makes it known to your spirit that Christ is Lord, Jesus is God. And you respond with your yielding any humility. You said, you know what I want to follow you. I've been walking in the path of death. I want to walk in the path of life. And so when Jesus affirms him, he's revealing that way. This is not just about Jesus a man. This is God in the flesh. Look at the scripture first John five, p. Seven. It says, for there are three that bear witness in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit. And these three are one the mystery of the Trinity. It's so deep because there are three persons, but they are one. They are not gods, there are God. And we're seeing that the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. Now in John one one it reveals even the Son's divinity. Even more. It says, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. So the Word was with God distinction, but the Word was God oneness. How do we understand? How do we comprehend this? You see, the Word is Jesus. Now I'm about to share something, and it is the spirit of God that would really bring this to life in your spirit. Because in the text this, when anyone talks about the word, it's referring to a Greek word we know as lagos. Now lagus has to do with something spoken speech, right, And so the father, it's not even about the father the son about this hierarchy. The father is greater than the son, or the son is lesser than the father. But the father is source, is from that which it comes from. So when the Father speaks, the word is Jesus. But they are distinct, yet they are one. You know, I was talking to my husband about the weight of what of how the Lord was dealing with me on this episode, and you know, I was about to walk into my office, and then he called my name and he called me. You know, I walked back into I walked back towards to where he was and then he asked me, He said, you know what, what what made you come? I said, baby, you called me? And he says, can you imagine? He said, in our earthly ability, when I speak, it's my sound that draws you forward. Right if I tell you come, because I spoke to you. It is that sound that drew you. But when the Father speaks, Jesus is what proceeds. It's that's why even Jesus would say, the words that I speak to you are spirit and their life. I remember I went there was a time when I was in college. I went to this youth camp. Something happened that it had I've never experienced it before or ever since. And it was a prophetic youth camp, and it was a prophet I served under for just a little bit of time before he passed the way. And there was this activity they had us do. They brought like these boards in front of us, and they said, we should speak to the board, you know, instead of you know how there's activities where you have to write about what God is speaking to you about your life. You know, I am called, i am chosen, I'm set apart all these things. So there are times where you write those things down. But this particular activity, they said, speak it to the board, like let it be known, almost like prayer. But speak what you would write into the board. And I almost ran out of that place because as I started speaking, I saw the words spelt out of my mouth and go into the board. I had never I don't even know how to explain this. It freaked me out, but yet I had peace. It was like the Lord was like continue. It was in that moment I was like, wait, words have weights there. When Jesus says the words I speak to you, they are spirit, they are life. The Word of God will say, the power of life and death is in the tongue. So when I'm speaking, it's not just about sound, because in the realm of the spirit, they recognize that even the word is God. The Word is God. So words are not these things that you just play with. They carry weights to them. And so the Father is the source. The word flows from the Father, but the word is also God. That's why when John, and you see, John was a man of intimacy. John was the one who will speak of himself, the one Jesus loves. And a man of intimacy is a man that flows in revelation. That's why John also was. The Book of Revelation was a book that was revealed to John, and then we have the book as his writings of the things that he saw. John has a revelation of Jesus that was so intimate because there was this closeness that he shared with him, that even when Jesus will talk about how you know, during the time when he walked the earth and he shared how there is one who would betray me, Peter will look at John for John to ask Jesus who is who is Rabbi talking about? So when John begins to write, even in the Book of John, and he starts by saying, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. It is it is so powerful right, And so Jesus, even how Jesus would would look at words, he measured it differently, not to say that your words reveal God, but pointing to the fact that the Word is God, the ordorance of the Father is God. They are distinct, but yet they are one. The Spirit is God, the Son is God, the Father is God. And then we have instances even in the scripture, where Jesus is not just waiting on others to have a revelation of him, he reveals it himself in John eight. Again we see this in John aight in the Book of John, John eight, from verse fifty six to fifty eight. So this is what listened to Jesus, your father. Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it and was glad. Then the Jews said to him, you are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham? You see, they were processing this through their carnal mind. He said, how can he talk about how Abraham longed to see his days when he has never even seen Abraham. Jesus said to them most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was I am. You see when he referred to himself as I am. This was Jesus revealing himself by himself as God. Because if you remember I am. You know, if you study Exodus chapter three, this was the word when Moses was asking God. This is old testament. Now, when Moses was asking God, who should I say? Sent me? And God says, I am that I am whom Moses encountered in that moment, it's Jesus, the Father sends word to Moses. That's what the scripture will talk about. He sent his word and healed our diseases. He sent his word and we were healed. But in who do we have healing? Jesus that by his stripes we are healed. So the word that was proceeded was a person, the person Jesus, who is God. Then we will see that. Even in Matthew chapter one, verse twenty three, when the Angel appeared to Joseph in a dream, the Angel said, behold, the Virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel the name. It was not about Emmanuel. It was about the meaning which is translated God with us. You see, if you only see the man Jesus, you will stay in the realm of cardinal arguments, because Jesus was not a man that became God. He is God, uh that became man. One of the questions that people often ask me is, Stephanie, how do I actually study the Bible? When we desire to go deeper, sometimes it can feel a little intimidating. And I'm here to tell you about an amazing Bible study too, And it's called Logos. It's an incredible app that helps you engage with scripture in a more meaningful way. So, for example, you can type in what does the Bible say about holiness and it will give you scripture, scholarly insights, historical background, and so much more. Logos helps you to understand what you're reading and why it matters. So, whether you're new to the faith or you've been following Jesus for some time, this is gonna help you study the world with so much confidence. And we have received such an incredible gift for every plog pod listener. You can use Lagos today for free for the next sixty days. All you have to do is go to Lagos dot com. Backslide Stephanie to get started. Now let's go back into the episode. So when we look at the life of Jesus, it's not that a man became God, but that God became man. This changes everything because the distinction reveals that God becoming man was so that he would now show us not only was he going to reconcile us back to his family, but that he will show us the prototype of the redeemed man, the prototype of the one who has been saved from destruction. You see, when we talked about you know salvation and you know understanding the blood we receive that Jesus was never a sinner, but he took on the nature to destroy it on the cross. But the way Jesus walked in his earthly ministry was that he would reveal to us the prototype he modeled for us what it means to walk in the spirit, not that it took away from his divinity, but he would render his divinity. Why this hits me so much is because when you see it right, it should produce wonder and worship out of you. It should not cause you to start having arguments about how can I worship the one who was calling another one father, because what he was modeling is how we should live. That is why the disciples could ask him teach us how to pray, because they recognize that there is a way that he prays as the man Jesus prays that commands results that if they're gonna walk in that level of authority, if they're gonna walk in that level that expresses the glory of God, they need to learn how to pray the way he prays. So they will come to him and say, teach us how to pray. So when Jesus pray to the Father, it wasn't because Jesus was less God. It was to model relationship with the Father for his disciples. That's why he will call our Father who are in heaven when he's modeling for the disciples that because of what he has come to the earth to do, to reconcound man back to the family of God, that they would have access and intimacy with God as Father. Everything Jesus did was to teach us. You see, it's so profound because even in the moments that would look as though it revealed his divinity, in the moments that will cause him to be separated from we merror models, it was actually an invitation of who we are in him. When Jesus will cast out demons, it wasn't an isolated event because you have to also understand that the first time a demon is cast out ever, was when Jesus is on the same and revealed in his calling. Elijah never cast it out a demon. Moses never cast it out a demon. The greatest prophets that lived before Jesus never cast it out a demon, because that had to do with another kingdom coming to restore man. Another kingdom had to be established with the authority to restore man back to God. So the whole time demon are just having a free for all. But when Jesus comes on the scene and reveals himself, all of a sudden, demons begin to cry out because they knew their time is up. Now, authority and victory has been given to us in him. But this was not isolated. Jesus will share that authority with his disciples, that they should begin to go out and cast out demons too. When Jesus would do supernatural miracles, he would involve his disciples. When Jesus walked on water, you would think that the walking on water is the moment that would say, wow, this really, there is none like this man. It was always an invitation because the walking on water was to prompt something in Peter that if if I can, you can too. Everything Jesus did was to model to us who we ought to be, because we are now being redeemed and reconciled to the Father in him. And that is why Jesus would say when he was returning to the Father, he says, greater works shall you do? Because he's revealing to us that when you see me pray, I'm showing you how to pray. When you see me here, I'm showing you it's possible. When you see me do supernatural acts, I'm showing you what you have access to do because you're in me. All of this was actually what he was modeling for us, Jesus is God, the Father is God, the Spirit is God. You see there moments in scripture that Jesus would even say things like my Father is greater than I. But if you only think about the man Jesus, that's where confusion comes in. Then it's like, well, if he's God, why would he say the Father is greater than him? But Jesus again is modeling reverence, his modeling submission, his modeling obedience. That if you actually take your time to study the fullness of that chapter, you will see that Jesus was showing the people what it means to yield your will to the will of the Father. So when he says, my Father is greater than I, because first of all, he is coming from the Father to fulfill an assignment. And so the will of the Father will always be greater than the will of man. The will of the Father will always be greater than the will of the flesh. Because he's showing up as the man Jesus. He's showing up in the same flesh that you and I have. And remember, in his flesh he had asked and he prayed, if this cup could be taken away from me, let it pass. What is he showing you that the flesh would always be contradictory to the will of the spirit, But the will of the Spirit would always be greater. The will and purpose of the Father will always be greater than whatever it is that your flesh wills to do. That's why the scriptures would always also tell us that desires of the flesh are against the desires of the Spirit. And so when you see that Jesus is not a man who became God, but God who became man, it starts to shift everything that when he would even call his disciples brothers, it's not because we should reduce Jesus to just say, that's just my big brother. Because when you understand the context of the scripture, the first time Jesus ever called his disciples brothers was after his resurrection. Why, because of his resurrection, we are now reconciled back to God, we are now in the family of God, we are now joined airs with him. So the first time he says it is intentional because he has gone down to the grave and to Hades, and he has conquered Hell, and he has the keys. He has gone to the depths of it all, and he has filled everything with himself, that now we can be set free from the bondage of sin and be reconciled back to God. So the first time he says it is in John twenty seventeen. He says, go to my brothers and say to them, I am ascending to my father, and see and your father. All of this was about teaching I am ascending, So now it's not just my father. I've been teaching you. If I could do these things because of my father, what more could you do when you know he is your father. It was what he was modeling for man to understand how to have a relationship with God. So he says, go to my brothers and say to them, I am ascending to my father and your father, and to my God and your God. Jesus was trying to show them I've been trying. Not only am I reconciling you, but I'm renewing your mind because by his power, he has already defeated principalities on the cross. But we need to catch up to what he did mentally. So he says, go and tell my brothers because there are moments. That's why even when Jesus was raising up Lazarus from the dead in the hearing of everyone. He will say, Father, I know that you always hear me. So everything he was doing, the people are watching, and now you're showing us that your father is our father, your God is our God. Not because Jesus was less God. It was what he was modeling for them, know how to have a relationship. Not with a God that feels distant from you, not with a God that you think I have to kill all these animals for, but with a God that you can call your father. And I have shown you what it means to live as one who is dependent on that same God. But it would require revelation like Peter had, to see that the one who is talking to you is God, but as man immanual God with us. Then Jesus calling them brothers. Actually it gives you such a deep reverence, and it will make you think about when David will say things like what is man that you are mindful of him? Or the son of Man that you care for him? Because who must we be that God would choose to become his creation so that he would win them back to himself. The idea of Jesus as God is never the question and the Trinity. Yes, it's complex, because the truth is, no explanation can ever do with justice. But the beauty is that the trinity is almost like a signature of creation. There are many things you will see in creation that has three expressions, but it doesn't do it justice because it's not about expressions, it's about a person. There are many that have tried to explain the trinity in the sense of water. Right, they will say, okay, water can appear as liquid, as ice, as vapor, but it does not do with justice, not even close, because that means, you know, the issue is that it's still one substance water. So when water is liquid, it can be vapor. When water is vapor, it can be ice. It has to be one at a time. Yet God is Father's Son, Holy Spirit, all at the same time, yet still distinct. Then there are people that will try to compare it to our essence, right, that humanity exists as spirit, soul, and body. We see this whole thing of three, but yet it remains one person. Then some will think about the expression of time as past, present, and future. But yet this still falls short because this has to do with a sequence. The past comes the past, then the present then the future comes right. But God is not sequential, he's not bound by time. He is alpha omega, he is in all things. So there is nothing we can say that would give us the full comprehension. It is only an attempt for the human mind to recognize that the Trinity functions as one. Yet they're persons. Yet they're all God. Yet it's not God's it's one, but three persons. It's so captivating, and that is why you see creation. Creation can only whisper It can only tell stories of the God who made it. But creation was never designed to explain its creator. And why this is so critical, it's because there are some and by the spirit of God, you were led to watch this. And what has kept you from submitting and giving your life to the Lord is that you want You're trying to explain your creator. The moment we try to explain God, we're going to fall into error. The moment it has to make logical sense to you, you will fall into error. That is why these things are received by faith. The spirit of God, which is the spirit of truth, ministers to your spirit. You know it to be true, but you receive it by faith. It's not something that is logical to the mortal man or woman. And you have to be okay with that because the outcome of when we start to think of ourselves too smart that we can explain God, then the enemy. What you think is strength the enemy, even the enemy knows its foolishness, because that's what gives him an invitation. And that's why religions are being created every day. Does it make sense to you that there are people that worship cows, They are people that worship bats, they are people that worship creation. Because we never need to explain a thing. It's in our we are wired to need to explain something. There are people that will say their religion is love because it makes sense to them love, and they define love according to their own terms. They have a need to explain it. And this is the problem with man. When we start to consider ourselves too smart, we fall into the hands of Satan. Because that is also how he fell. He began to think, I understand I have a hold on who this God is. Now I can be greater than him. Do you realize that the moment you feel as though you can wrap your mind around who God is, you actually set yourself above him, and that is where many people fall, and that is why demons begin to create new religions every other day, and people are following it. The things people follow it, really, I can't even begin to comprehend. There are places that people worship snakes because the moment you feel as though. That's the issue that sometimes people have when it comes to Christianity, because the first thing, the moment you are, the arrogance begins to come out that well, why would they be only one way? And that question is coming from arrogance. Questions are good, but let it come with humility. You did not create yourself. That alone should humble you. When we approach spiritual things with arrogance, the enemy sees weakness. It's the same way he fell. He said to himself that he could actually rise above the throne of God. Do you know what that means? That he actually believed that because of what maybe was proximity, he understood the totality of God and he would think he could rise above him. That's where men fall every single day. This is not something that in one setting would make sense to you. It is something that you begin to pray and say, Holy Spirit, if this is you, if this is true, speak to me, Lord Lord, if this is true, and it must come from a place of humility, regardless of who the world knows you to be, regardless of how many accolades you have or whatever it means nothing. Guess what, No matter what you call, whatever people applaud about you, someone it greater, or someone will, and soon whatever you did will be forgotten. So humble yourself and come before the Lord and ask him show me. Because if you if your faith is not built on truth, then the enemy will corrupt your life and actually have authority over the outcome of your life, because you will be scattered. You're you're you will start believing in all manners of rubbish because you're trying to get a hold on God. Jesus is God. The scriptures call him the express image of the Father. That the totality of the Godhead dwells in him, is revealed through him. And when we see that right, then our reverence for the Lord it naturally begins to grow. But when we start thinking that this was just a man, there are many things you can receive from God because your ability to receive is in him. It's in the right revelation of who Jesus is it's coming before the Father in him. And we're gonna continue to unpack this even more. But why you know, in our next episode, we're gonna go into Jesus as the name above every other name. When you see him right, you begin to understand that when you call on him, the power of even saying his name with the right revelation, because demons are not going to answer to whatever you might call outside of Jesus Christ. But it's not just in you saying Jesus, it's in the right revelation of him that just at the mention of his name, demons begin to tremble, Not because of how his name is spelled, not because of the way you spoke it, because there are many people that actually in the Spanish community that have that name. But it's the revelation of the name that changes stands. And when I call on Jesus, I'm calling on my Savior, I'm calling on my Lord, I'm calling on God. And when I see him right, I begin to see how loved I am in him. You see, you know, in an episode we talked about how perfect love cast out fear. There is a revelation of Jesus. You begin to have that it begins to cast out fear out of you. Because Lord, if you would go through all this to reconcile me, if you will go through all this to tea teach me, if you will go through all this to show me how I ought to live. You are mindful of me, You watch over me, you care for me. There are things about your revelation of his identity that will begin to anchor who you are, that will begin to give you a boldness about life and not make you timid. Seeing him properly also reveals the truth of who you are in Him, And so I pray that this blesses you. I pray that even for those who you know identify I say, they're Christians, but are not living it out, because I kid you that I've met many people who call themselves Christians and this is no you know, shame or anything, because we're all growing. But they will call themselves Christians, but they cannot wrap their mind around the fact that Jesus is God. And it's confusing to me because I'm like, then, you know, if you don't have the revelation yet, then what anchors you in your confidence that you're a Christian? And again, It goes back to Jesus saying, who do men say that I am? Have you built your faith on opinion? Have you built your faith on the world's view of Christ? Or do you have a personal conviction that Jesus is God? And again, all of this ties into if you have been following this podcast, There's no shortcuts around intimacy. There's no shortcut about being intentional about cultivating intimacy with the Lord. There's no shortcut about going before the Lord for yourself to inquire to seek things out. If you are if your walk with God is dependent on others, you are signing up for deception no matter. Look, even it should not even be dependent on this podcast, because that you're signing up for deception. In a world with AI and all these things, people would write me all the time and say, Wow, I heard you teach about something that is not biblically aligned, And I'm like, I would never teach that. What are you talking about? AI? Take your sound? Take your voice. They would imitate your voice. Not too long ago, a past a friend of mine, they actually even created an AI image of him. You see, relying on people. It's not just a problem because of maybe oh, if they fall, then your world is shaken up. But in the world we even living today. If the person you believe is the voice of God to you and you see an AI version of them saying things that they never said, are you not gonna have any discernment to deceive it. When people would literally write me and they're like, oh man, this message really touched me, I said, I do not know what you're talking about. That was Ai. That was a voice on a random video, no image, nothing, just they will try to mimic your voice. But imagine when the enemy begins to use this intentionally that the people you listen to, all of a sudden you start seeing things popping up about them saying things that are just unbiblical, and you would receive it as truth because you're not doing the personal work, not just personal work, work and walk with the Lord. I don't care how much you love a minister. You have to learn how to also weigh things in the spirit for yourself, because if not, you would be like the people who believe Jesus was John the Baptist. Perhaps because one person said it and it began to spread, no one did their homework. They just said, oh yeah, oh, John the Baptist. That was a popular thing for the disciples to say, this is who people say you are. It was not just said by one person. It was a popular saying that Jesus was John the Baptist. And if you check the source, it would shock the people that way. So majority of the people who believe this actually never searched it out for themselves. Test the word, Test the spirit that is speaking to you. Test what they're saying. Is it in accordance to the Word of God. And you will not know this if you don't do this in your own time. If you do not give yourself to the study of the world, and if you do not give yourself to prayer, you will not grow in the things of God. You will remain a babe when the Lord is asking you to become a mature believer. And so until next episode, if you have not given your life to the Lord Jesus, and perhaps there's something happening in your life right now, the spirit of the Lord is staring you. I want you to just hold on for a few minutes because I want to pray with you. If you're watching this, then I believe that there is a hunger in your heart. There is something that has moved you with a desire to want to make Jesus Christ your Lord and savior. Now this is not just a decision that we make out of being convinced by something, but there is a conviction of the Holy Spirit that ministers to us that I need to be saved from this path of destruction that my life has been on. I need to be saved from this sinful nature to come into life, to receive the life of God. Salvation is about an exchange that the Lord has put that sinful nature on the cross. When we believe what Jesus did, when we believe that he died and he was raised up with all victory and all power. You see on the cross, Jesus took captivity, captive. That's what the Word of God says. And what is that captivity Everything that has tried to keep you bound, including that sinful nature that we have received as from the fallen man. You see, when man fell, he took on the nature of sin. And that is the image that every other man has been born into. But in Jesus you have righteousness. You can be made righteous in Christ. And salvation is to be saved from death. Into life, to come out of bondage into freedom. And so I want to pray with you, but I want you to know that as you say yes to the Lord, you are saying yes to his life. You are saying yes to the ways of Jesus. You are saying yes for Jesus to live in and through you. Your body, your life becomes a home for the Holy Spirit, and he wants to express the nature of Jesus through your life. And so just join with me in prayer because this will be the start. But salvation is a journey and we're going to have There's gonna be a link in the description, especially if you are listening to this or you're watching this from YouTube. You're going to see this in the description, and I want you to click on that because it's going to help guide you into things about what comes next, how to study the Bible, just little things that are going to be very beneficial to your walk with the Lord. And so I just want you to pray with me, Lord Jesus, and just repeat after me. And when I say repeat after me, it's not just for you to just use words and they're empty. Before you, after this prayer, meditate on those words, and just really ope, have a moment of personal prayer with the Lord, and let the Holy Spirit minister to you beyond what I could do. And so just repeat after me, Lord Jesus, I confess with my mouth as I have believed in my heart in this moment, that indeed you are the son of God, that when you came to the earth and you were crucified on the cross, that you put to death my sinful nature. And as I receive you, I receive your life. I receive the righteousness, the righteous nature that you have brought to give me. I exchange the sinful nature for the righteous nature. And so Lord, come into my life and make my life your home. Have your way in and through me. Whatever is in me that is not pleasing to you. Convict me of these things. Lord, that I will not identify with the way of the flesh, but I will come in agreement with the way of life. I choose life. I choose you in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen,