Rev. Ron Hanko
Towards the end of His earthly ministry, Jesus asked this question of those who did not believe in Him: “What think ye of Christ?” (Matthew 22:42). These people had heard His teaching and seen His miracles, but still did not believe that He was the Son of God, the promised Messiah, the Saviour. Now they had to answer the question Jesus asked and would be judged by their answer.
That they would be condemned for unbelief is clear from the chapter that follows this question. There Jesus says to them and to all who do not believe, “Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord” (Matthew 23:38-39).
What an important question this is, then! Eventually everyone will have to answer it and will be judged by their answer. Listen to John 3:18: “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
What do YOU think of Christ? Even if you do not want to answer this question or think it unimportant, you will nevertheless have to answer someday. In fact, you are really answering it every day by the way you live and speak, and by what you do with your life. You are answering it by what you think about Christ’s Word (the Bible), about His church, about His teaching, about His miracles and about His sacrifice for sin on the cross. That is why Jesus says, “He that believeth not is condemned already!”
Notice, however, that Jesus does not just want you to give an opinion about the work He has done, about His miracles and His preaching. He does not just ask you to decide whether His teaching is true and His miracles real. He wants you to face the question whether His preaching and His miracles prove Him to be the Son of God as He claims. “Whose son is he?” Jesus says (Matthew 22:42). “Am I the Son of God? What do you think?” He asks YOU this question.
It is the most important question you will ever answer. The Bible tells us why in I John 2:23: “Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: but he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.” Without Him, we are children of Satan (John 8:44) and as such we will perish everlastingly.
Remember too that answering this question is a matter of faith or unbelief. To deny that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God is to reject Him. To reject Him is to perish everlastingly. To say that He is God’s Son, equal to the Father in all things, who became man and died for our sins, is to trust in Him for all your salvation. What do you say? What do YOU think of Christ?
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