Who’s Jesus? (Part I)
Today I start teaching on a topic that is often overlooked in the Church of Jesus Christ. In some churches in my country we often talk about what we are in Jesus, but we rarely hear about what Jesus is. Most young people in my country can spend the entire year talking about their identity and I realized that many of them hardly speak of Jesus' identity.
This teaching will show us that it is rather the identity of Jesus that makes us what we are, and without Him we can do nothing. That is what Jesus Himself said in John 15: 5 where He says "APART FROM ME YOU CAN DO NOTHING." In case you have not noticed, this message is very profound, because if you can cast out demons, pray for the sick, help the poor, excel in your work, preach the gospel ... it is ONLY because you are in Jesus. Let us read John 15: 5: " I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing”. The message of Jesus is very clear because if He is the vine and we are the branches, it is clear that the branch has no life as long as he is not attached to the vine. In fact, it is the vine that is the source of life and strength of the branch. The branch (child of God) gets its life and strength from the vine (Jesus).
Christians today are more interested in the identity of the branch and not the vine but without the vine the branch withers and is thrown out (John 15: 6), but if the branch is connected to the vine, he lives and bears fruits. Jesus said in John 15: 8 " This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples". In other words, the branch carries fruits because of the vine (Jesus) and God the Father is glorified. According to the same verse, if the Father is glorified, the branch (Christian) is in a perfect position to be called "Disciple of Jesus."
If you read the 15th chapter of John, it is the identity of Jesus that counts above all because our identity is totally depending on Him.
One day Jesus was thirsty and asked to drink from a Samaritan woman but the woman underestimated Him by refusing to give Him a drink because she completely ignored Jesus' identity. Here is what Jesus told her in John 4:10: “If you knew the gift of God and WHO IT IS that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water!”
In the second part, we will see that the devil is not afraid of your own identity but it’s the identity of Jesus in you that makes him tremble. If you are the branch (branch) attached to the vine (Jesus), so you have the nature of the vine that repels and shake the enemy. May the Lord help us so that we can know the identity of Jesus and say like Paul “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord” (2 Cor 10:17).
To be continued in Part 2
Chris Ndikumana
