“Who Art Thou, Lord?”

“And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus : and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: ⁴ And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? ⁵ And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.”

God had a question for Adam. “Where art thou?”
Saul of Tarsus had a question for God. “Who art thou?”
The answers to both questions made the respondent vulnerable and open.
When Adam revealed where he was, he gave God access to his existence.
When Jesus revealed who he was, he gave Saul access to the essence of his life.

Steve Pavlina, Personal Development guru, says:
“Weak questions are disempowering. They keep your focused on your own ego, your problems, and your shortcomings. Weak questions keep you focused on what’s wrong… on what isn’t working. That might seem like a good idea, but all it does is further reinforce the situation you’d like to change. Weak questions will lead your brain to come up with answers that are useless, circular, or even destructive. Mediocre results largely come about from asking mediocre questions. Great results come from asking great questions. If you don’t like the results you’re getting, try asking completely different questions from the ones you’re used to asking.”

There are three New Testament questions you need to ask for yourself.

• “Who art thou, Lord?” Asked by Saul of Tarsus .
• “What shall we do?” Asked by the crowd on the Day of Pentecost.
• “What wilt thou have me to do?” Asked by Saul of Tarsus .

Who art thou, Lord?

Jesus boldly declared the He was God.

He said, “I and my Father are one” (John 10:30 ). He was of the same essence as the Father (deity).
The Jews’ took up stones to stone Him ( 10:31 ). They believed that Jesus, who was a man, had made Himself God ( 10:33 ).
This was blasphemy to the Jews and was deserving of the death penalty.
They understood perfectly that Jesus was claiming to be the Father Himself. If Jesus was not declaring equality with the Father, it would have been the perfect opportunity to explain what He really meant. Instead He continued to back up His claim ( 10:34 -38).

Jesus told the Jews, “He that seeth me seeth him that sent me.” (John 12:45).
Jesus declared to Thomas, “If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him and have seen him.” John 14:5-9. (v. 7).
Philip could not understand this statement, so he asked Jesus to show the Father to all the disciples, and then they would be satisfied. Jesus responded, “Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?” (v. 9). According to Jesus’ own testimony, to see Him was to see the Father (God). One can not get a much clearer statement than this as to who Jesus claimed to be.

In addition to what he said, Jesus acted like he was God.

If Jesus was not God, indeed his statements would have been blasphemous.
For example, Jesus forgave sins.
He said to the paralytic who was lowered through the roof, “Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.” (Mark 2:15 ). The scribes present in the room thought Jesus’ statement blasphemous saying “who can forgive sin but God alone?” (v. 7).

If Jesus truly did not have the power to forgive, He had the perfect opportunity to clear up the matter when the Jews inquired of His words.
Instead of pointing out the scribes misunderstanding of His words, Jesus said, “Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house.” (vs. 9-11).

Jesus claimed authority with respect to the Law of God.

One such example is the law of the Sabbath.
God established the Sabbath for Israel as one of the 613 commandments of the Law of Moses they had to obey.
Because God had made the Law, He alone had the power to alter it. We see Jesus, however, claiming the authority to alter the Sabbath when His disciples were questioned by the Pharisees for picking grain heads on the Sabbath.
Jesus’ response was to remind them of the time that David ate of the shewbread (vs. 25-26). The shewbread was strictly for the priests. For anyone else to eat it was a violation of the Law of Moses, but God never punished David. In conclusion Jesus said, “the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath: Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath.” (vs. 27-28)..
Jesus clearly claimed the right to redefine the Sabbath.

Jesus claimed to have the power of life.

He said to Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.” (John 11:25).
The Old Testament declares that only God has this power: “See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.” Deuteronomy 32:39

What did the Jewish leaders think of Jesus?

After Jesus told the Jews, “My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.” (John 5:17 ), the Jews sought to kill Him.
Why did they want to kill him? “Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the Sabbath, but said also that God was his father, making himself equal with God.” (v. 18).
The Jews understood that Jesus was claiming to be God Himself. The Greek word isos is translated here as “equal.” It means to be “the same as” something. Jesus put Himself on the same plane, or grounds of deity as the Father.
When Jesus claimed that He and His Father were one (John 10:30 ), again the Jews took up stones to stone Him (v. 31).
When Jesus asked them for what good work they desired to kill Him, they responded, “For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.” (v. 33).
The Jews did not understand Jesus’ reference to God as His “Father” to mean that Jesus was less than God, or some sort of a second-rate god. Rather they understood His claim to be that of Yahweh God Himself.

What did the apostles think of Jesus?

Thomas said to Jesus, “My Lord and my God.” (John 20:28).
The Greek word kurios, translated “Lord,” is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew adonai; and the Greek theos translated “God” is the Greek counterpart to the Hebrew elohim.
So, for Thomas to call Jesus his Lord and God, knowing that the only Lord God was Yahweh (Deuteronomy 6:4), would have been blasphemy if Thomas had not believed that Jesus was Yahweh Himself in flesh.
Peter’s bold declaration to Jesus, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:16 ), showed Peter’s belief in His deity.
Jesus told Peter that flesh and blood had not revealed this truth to him, but the Father which was in heaven (v. 17).
If “Son of God” here only refers to Jesus’ humanity, no revelation from the Father would have been necessary.
Paul, who wrote the most concerning Christ’s person, said that Jesus “is the image of the invisible God.” (Colossians 1:15; See also II Corinthians 4:4).
What did Paul mean when He declared Jesus to be God’s image?
We know it was not physical likeness because God is a Spirit and cannot have a physical body.1
The Greek word translated “image” in the King James Version is eikon. Its root is eiko, meaning likeness, resemblance, or representation.
Eikon denotes both the representation and manifestation of a substance.
Notice that Paul contrasted Jesus’ image to that of the invisible God. The point Paul was trying to get across to his readers was that Jesus is the visible representation of God to man. That is why Jesus could say, “he that hath seen Me hath seen the Father.” (John 14:9; also 12:45).

Jesus is the “express image of his [God’s] person” (Hebrews 1:3).

“Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.”
The English phrase translated “express image” is from the Greek word charakter. It is this word from which we get our English word “character.”
This is the only occurrence of the word in the New Testament. It means “to impress upon, or stamp.” It denotes an engravement from a tool, which impresses an image into that which is being engraved.4
This impression, then, is a characteristic of the instrument used to produce it. The end result corresponds precisely with the instrument.

Jesus does not just represent God. He is the very visible impression of God’s invisible substance and essence.

He is God’s very nature expressed in humanity as the Son of God.
He is the corresponding engravement of God in human form. He is the adequate imprint of God. 6
At Bethlehem , God unrolled a blank sheet of humanity over the invisible essence of divinity and mapped a visible image that we could see. When Mary held up the baby, we could trace all the divine attributes of God through the transference of his image into the flesh of Jesus.

Jesus is everything about God permanently settled in the body of Jesus.

“For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.” (Colossians 2:9) The NIV says “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form.”7
In the Greek, Paul said that the fullness of the divine essence has permanently settled in Jesus’ body.
Jesus did not merely possess some divine attributes, but rather He possessed every aspect of deity.

What Shall We Do?

³⁷ Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? ³⁸ Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. ³⁹ For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. ^[1]

Every person has two clear-cut choices before him or her. You can refuse to ask the question, thinking that if you don’t ask, then you will not be held responsible for what happens. Not asking the question leaves the answer to chance, and you’ll take your chances.

You can ask the question and get the answer. Getting the answer then makes you responsible for acting out the instructions. Some people are so paranoid of the answer that they won’t ask the question. But, do you want to know whether or not the house is on fire? Do you want to know whether or not the car has enough gas in the tank to get you to your destination? Do you want to know whether you need an operation to repair your heart or remove a tumor?

This crowd heard a stirring message on the Day of Pentecost.
They asked what they should do.
Here is the answer:

Repent.

• Admit that you are a sinner.
• Turn away from your sins.
• Repentance is a major Bible doctrine.

Baptism.

• A command.
• In water.
• Immersion.
• In Jesus name.
• Acts 8:16 ; 10:44 -48; 19:1-7; 22:16 ; Romans 6:3

Holy Ghost.

• A promise.
• A necessity to identify with Jesus. “But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by^d his Spirit that dwelleth in you.” Romans 8:11.

What Wilt Thou Have Me To Do?

The answers to your questions hold important implications for your life.
You are called to life a life separated unto Christ.
¹⁴ Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? ¹⁵ And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? ¹⁶ And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. ¹⁷ Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, ¹⁸ And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

You are called to give praise and glory to God.

But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar^b people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:”

One final question: What could possibly be more important than making sure your heart is right with God? Each of us will stand before God in judgment. What will be the most important thing in your life then ?

Bro. Orlin Ray Fauss was given his son’s bible. Daryl Fauss had been killed one year prior.

Three questions.

• Who art thou?
• What shall we do?
• What wilt thou have me to do?

How will you answer?

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^[1] The Holy Bible : King James Version. 1995 (electronic ed. of the 1769 edition of the 1611 Authorized Version.) (Ac 2:37). Bellingham WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

^d by: or, because of

^b peculiar: or, purchased