Who do you believe Jesus is? How has your belief in Jesus shaped how you live out your faith in life?

Our belief about Jesus shapes how we believe in Jesus and how we orchestrate our lives. There is a difference in knowing about God and actually knowing God and living out our faith in the world. If Jesus is who he says he is, this truth changes everything.

In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus asked his disciples to identify who he is. Matthew tells us, “Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is? And they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’” (Matthew 16:13-14, ESV).

Where did all things come from? How do things come to be? What is the purpose of life and what is the end?

Every worldview and religion seeks to answer five essential questions: 1. Where did I come from? 2. Why is there such a mess in the world? 3. Is there any hope? 4. What am I here for? And 5. What happens to me when I die?

The Bible lays out a narrative that comprehensively answers these five questions in four storylines: 1. The creation of God. 2. The fall of humanity. 3. God’s rescue plan of sending Jesus to die and resurrect to overcome and defeat the sin of the world. And 4. God’s restoration of all things through his resurrection and his coming kingdom.

The Apostle Paul wrote a theologically comprehensive statement about God and his redemptive story in his benediction in his letter to the believers in Rome. In chapter eleven, verse thirty-six, Paul wrote, “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.” (Romans 11:36, ESV).

What do you know about God? How much more is there to know about God? Have you thought like God?

The follower of Jesus is called into a deep knowledge and understanding of God. We can know God and have insight into the character of God. At the same time, the knowledge of God is endless.

The Apostle Paul encouraged the believers in Rome, saying, “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! ‘For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?’ ‘Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?’ For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.” (Romans 11:33-36, ESV).

What does it take for us to remain in the love of God? How do we go from unbelieving to believing and remain a part of God’s family tree?

God has shown his kindness to everyone who continues to walk in the kindness of God. Even when we have gone astray, God has grafted us into his family tree—making us his family.

Paul instructed the Roman believers in Jesus, saying, “Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off. And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again.” (Romans 11:22-23, ESV).

Who does God gather to himself? Have you ever been distant and estranged from God. Have you been gathered by God?

God cares for all people all the time. The prerequisite for God gathering us is that we are scattered and astray.

God spoke through the Prophet Isaiah, saying, “The Lord God, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, declares, ‘I will gather yet others to him besides those already gathered.’” (Isaiah 56:8, ESV).

God gathers all his children. God gathers his chosen people and God gathers the outcasts to be his children. God gathers the near and the far away.

What company do you keep? Are you like the people you invest your time with? Are you like the company you keep? Who are you becoming?

We become like those we spend time with, for better or for worse.

The wisdom of the Proverbs teaches us, “Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.” (Proverbs 13:20, ESV).

When we spend time with the wise, we become wise.

Are you connected to God and his family tree? Where are you rooted? How are you rooted? In what way are you connected to the family of God?

As followers of Jesus, we are grafted into the family of God. We should never take our salvation for-granted. Like a wild olive branch that has been grafted into an olive tree, we have been graciously brought into the family of God. We are sustained and given life by God’s provision and nourishment.

The Apostle Paul wrote the believers in Rome, saying, “But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree, do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you. Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” (Romans 11:17-19, ESV).

What barriers are you willing to cross over for others to know and to experience Jesus? Are you willing to cross barriers to reach people you do not like, who are different than you, who do not share your values, or who offend you in some way, so that they can know Jesus and be rescued by him?

Followers of Jesus are to go to great lengths to cross barriers for others to know and experience Jesus’ salvation.

In Matthew’s gospel account Jesus crossed over the Sea of Galilee to reach out to pagan Gentile unbelievers. Jesus crossed over the great divide and the cultural and religious barriers to reach the lost and hurting Gadarenes.

Matthew tells us, “And when they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret. And when the men of that place recognized him, they sent around to all that region and brought to him all who were sick and implored him that they might only touch the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched it were made well.” (Matthew 14:34-36, ESV).

What are you investing your life in? How are you spending your time and resources? Are you spending yourself for the sake of others and the good news of Jesus?

As followers of Jesus, we are called to serve and to give of ourselves for the sake of others. We are to know Jesus, to serve Jesus, and to make Jesus know to others.

The Apostle Paul wrote the church in Corinth from a place of his love for them and out of his desire to visit them and to see their souls saved.

Paul wrote, “Here for the third time I am ready to come to you. And I will not be a burden, for I seek not what is yours but you. For children are not obligated to save up for their parents, but parents for their children. I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls. If I love you more, am I to be loved less?” (2 Corinthians 12:14-15, ESV).

Does your heart break for those who are lost and do not know Jesus? Are you passionate about the salvation of your brothers and sisters who do not know Jesus or have a relationship with him?

As followers of Jesus who are saved by grace through faith, we should have a deep desire and passion for everyone to know the salvation and the love of God that we have through a relationship with Jesus.

The Apostle Paul wanted the believers in Rome to understand his broken heart for the Jewish people who did not accept Jesus as the Messiah. Paul desired the salvation of the Jewish people so greatly that his passion was their salvation, even at the loss of his own. Paul’s passion for the lost was so great, that he was willing to be destroyed, accursed, or cut off from Jesus, so that the Jewish people could be saved.

In Romans chapter nine, Paul wrote, “I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises.” (Romans 9:2-4, ESV).

If you could leave your closest friends with one last experience or word before you went away, what would it be?

Final encounters and speeches are important. What would you want your friends to encounter or to know?

In the encounter with God at the transfiguration of Jesus, Peter, James, and John were taken to a high mountain, they were enveloped by a great cloud of glory, they saw Moses and Elijah, and heard from God the Father concerning listening to Jesus.

Luke’s gospel tells us, “And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, ‘This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!’ And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen.” (Luke 9:35-36, ESV).

Have you ever been asleep and needed to be woken up metaphorically speaking? What is the most wonderful encounter you have ever awoken to? Have you ever woken to discover something you never could have imagined?

Most of us have missed something in life at some point because we have been unaware. Many of us need to become more aware of the glory of God around us. We need to awaken to God’s glory.

At Jesus’ transfiguration, Luke’s gospel account tells us, “Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him.” (Luke 9:33, ESV).

What does it mean to be God’s chosen? If God has chosen his children, who can be against them?

God has chosen and loves his children. If God has chosen us and is for us, then no one can be against us.

God is for us and God has justified us. There is no one who can condemn God’s children.

The Apostle Paul wrote the followers of Jesus in Rome, saying, “Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.” (Romans 8:33-34, ESV).

What has God given us? Has God held anything back from his children? If God is for us, what are we lacking?

God has given us all things. When God gave us his only Son, he gave us every good thing. And if God gave us his Son, he will not withhold anything from us.

The fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and humanity’s first sin began with questioning God’s goodness. Adam and Eve were led to believe that God was withholding something good.

What things are working together for good in your life? Are there aspects of your life that are not so good? Could even the “not so good things” be working together for good?

All things are not good, but all things do work together for good for those who love God and for those who are called according to God’s purposes.

The Apostle Paul wrote this encouragement to the believers in Rome, saying, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28, ESV).

When you are weak, where do you find the help you need? How do you pray in your brokenness and weakness when you do not have the words to say?

We cannot overcome adversity on our own. We need help when we are too weak to go at life on our own. When we are broken and weak and our words fail us, we need God to understand, to hear us, and to intercede on our behalf.

The Apostle Paul wrote the believers in Rome, saying, “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” (Romans 8:26-27, ESV).

How do we have life when we are dead in our sin? How are our bodies made alive in the face of sin and death?

When we have Jesus living in us, we have the life of Jesus living in us. When we have Jesus, we have the Spirit of God. The Spirit is life and gives us life.

The Apostle Paul wrote the believers in Jesus living in Rome, saying, “But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.” (Romans 8:10, ESV).

How do we have access to God? How do we know God hears us when we pray? Do we need a go-between to connect with God?

We have direct access to God through Jesus. The only connection to God we need is Jesus.

The Apostle Paul wrote his disciple Timothy about Jesus’ mediation, saying, “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” (1 Timothy 2:5, ESV).

What is better than goodness and love? How good and how loving is God?

What is better than goodness and love is God’s goodness and enduring love which lasts forever because of his faithfulness for all of time.

The Psalm writes, “For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.” (Psalm 100:5, ESV).

Are we dead or are we living? Is it possible to be dead and alive?

As followers of Jesus, we are dead to our old sinful ways of life and we are alive in Jesus.

The Apostle Paul wrote the church in Rome, saying, “We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.” (Romans 6:6-8, ESV).