The Making of a Disciple
When Jesus walked the
Earth and began His earthly ministry, His mission consisted of so much more
than miracles, signs, and wonders. At
the very core of His ministry was the mission of making disciples, not only of
His own generation, but He was also setting the stage and building a firm
foundation for the making of many disciples throughout the remaining generations
that would still come. Truly, Jesus is
still making disciples to this day. For
the heart of the Gospel message is the making of disciples for Christ in
preparation for His second coming and the establishment of His Kingdom
throughout the Earth.
The discipleship
process involves the prophetic art of our becoming all that God has created,
called, and ordained us to be in Him.
Furthermore, the discipleship process involves the apostolic process,
which God has revealed to me as Biblical discipleship through the unique separation,
preparation, revelation, and reformation of each disciple, bringing forth the
fullness of the ministry to which we have all been called, the ministry of
reconciliation. Holy Spirit has
ministered to me that this very process is the Biblical apostolic and prophetic
model of education through which we must grow to intimately know: God, who we
are in Christ, and our assignment. He
has instructed me to ask His disciples three questions: 1. Do you know Him? 2.
Do you know who you are in Christ? and 3. Do you know your assignment? The purpose of this study is to grow in the
knowledge of these Truths. For according
to God’s perspective, without the knowledge of these three Truths, we know
nothing. Finally, it is through the intimate
knowledge of these three Truths that God’s purpose and will is fulfilled in and
through our lives, which is the making of disciples.
Recently, Holy Spirit
instructed me to begin to study the identity of Christ and our resulting
identity in Him. He spoke into my spirit
this Truth: “I AM Therefore, I am.” As I searched out Jesus’ own profession of
who He was through His famous seven I AM statements in the book of John, Holy
Spirit opened my eyes to a fresh revelation of the making of one of Jesus’
closest disciples, Peter. Yes, we know
Peter as the apostle who led one of the greatest evangelical revivals of all
time through which many Jews acknowledged Jesus as the promised Messiah and the
Gospel message was birthed and spread throughout the world. Yet, as we look closely at Peter’s own
discipleship process, we see that the making of this particular disciple was a
turbulent journey that but for the grace of God could have led to shipwreck
rather than ultimate success. Let us
take a closer look and see what we can glean from Peter’s journey.
Peter’s Profession
of Faith
First of all,
Peter was known as one of Jesus’ closest disciples. He was a part of Jesus’ inner circle, as one
might say. Throughout the Gospels, we
see Jesus grooming Peter for leadership.
In fact, when Jesus called Peter to follow Him as a disciple, Jesus
changed His name to Peter, meaning, “Rock”.
One of Peter’s proudest moments was when He openly professed that Jesus
was the Messiah, the Son of the living God for the first time. It seems as though the other disciples were
stumped by Jesus question, “Who do you say that I am?” Yet, without fear, doubt, or hesitation,
Peter boldly proclaimed Jesus to be exactly who He was… the promised Messiah
King of Israel and the Son of the Living God!
It seems as though Peter had passed the first test of true discipleship,
which was to know the identity of His Master, Jesus. After all, how can one follow and imitate one
whom he does not know? Immediately,
Jesus even commended Peter, letting Him know that his profession of faith
revealed that he had received special revelation from the Father, because one
could only know Jesus’ identity as the Messiah and Son of God by divine
revelation. Truly, this is also true
today. Our knowledge of God and His Son
Jesus Christ is through grace alone, because it is not a mere fact to which we
assent or agree. Rather, it is a Truth
that God Himself has revealed to us. It
is the rock and foundation upon which our faith stands.
Jesus’ Prediction
of Peter’s Denial
Although
I wish I could say that Peter’s discipleship process was free sailing from
there, we all know that it was anything but that. In fact, it wasn’t long after Peter’s
breakthrough confession that Peter spoke out against Jesus’ prediction of His
own impending suffering, and Jesus rebuked Satan from speaking through
Peter. Isn’t this so common to our own
experience, as well? It seems like after
our greatest spiritual breakthrough moments, we often falter in weakness in one
way or another. Yet, we must stay the
course and know that the making of a disciple is a journey through which God’s
purpose and will must be accomplished.
It is also a reminder of our complete dependency upon the grace and
mercy of God.
As
surprising as Peter’s deter was after his famous profession of faith, Jesus’
prediction that he would deny Him three times before the rooster crowed was an even
greater devastating surprise. After all,
Peter had walked with Jesus for a greater length of time by then, and He had
witnessed and even experienced the power of God flowing miraculously through
his own being as a result of his identity as a disciple of Jesus. Denial of his Lord and Master seemed to be
the furthest thing from possible at this point, because a fiery passion burned
deep within Peter’s heart. So great was
this passion for the Truth and for His Master, that he was willing to lay down
his life fighting that Jesus might rightfully be crowned King of Israel. In fact, he even acted upon this passion when
a band of soldiers came to arrest Jesus, to which he drew his sword and chopped
a man’s ear off! How in the world would
he or could he ever deny the very One to whom he had committed his life, even
unto the fight of death? Yet, as always,
Jesus’ words would come to pass, in a most peculiar way. Before we examine the fulfillment of Jesus’
prediction, let us look closely at His words to Peter. For within them, there is a message relevant
to the making of every disciple of Christ.
Luke 22:31-32 – “And the Lord said, ‘Simon, Simon!
Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. 32 But I have prayed for
you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren’” (NKJV).
Recently, Holy Spirit ministered to
me that this is a season of sifting for God’s people. Immediately, this Scripture came into my
thoughts and I began to enquire of God regarding the sifting process. Holy Spirit is revealing that Satan desires
to sift every disciple of Christ for the purpose of total destruction, just as
he desired to do with Peter. Yet, there
is another kind of sifting that takes place in the life of every disciple of
Christ at the hand of the Master Himself.
This sifting is not unto destruction, but rather it is likened unto the
sifting of wheat in order to remove the chaff from the grain for the purpose of
discarding the chaff and keeping the good wheat for harvest. Likewise, sifting by the hand of the Master
is likened unto the purging and pruning process that is necessary to produce
progress within and through the life of every disciple of Christ.
Just as the Scripture says, the
enemy of our souls seeks to steal, kill, and destroy; yet Jesus has come to
give us abundant life. He has come into
the life of every disciple in order to turn what the enemy meant for evil into
goodness and righteousness. In fact, He
will even take the destructive purpose of the enemy in our lives, such as his
desire to sift us unto destruction, and use it to purge and prune us, in order
to produce spiritual progress through the making of a strong, firm, and
steadfast disciple. For truly, it is
time for the making of such a disciple of Christ!
Therefore, Jesus is saying to us
even as He stated to Peter, “Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail;
and when you have returned to Me,
strengthen your brethren” (NKJV, Luke 22:31-32). Of course, like
Peter we have reservations, because we cannot see how we would fall so low to
deny our Master Yeshua (Jesus). We
profess our praise, love, and worship through prayer and song. We sing wholeheartedly, “I surrender all!” Like Peter, our heart declares, “Lord, I am ready to go with You, both to prison and to
death.” We too feel Peter’s shock as a
result of Jesus’ response to him, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster shall not
crow this day before you will deny three times that you know Me.”
Peter’s Denial of
Christ: “I AM” Versus “I am Not”
Yet,
the greatest shock for me was when Holy Spirit revealed to me a fresh
perspective and understanding of how Peter denied Christ, and the implications
of this denial for the making of every disciple of Christ. Remember, Satan desired to sift Peter by
tempting him to deny Christ unto utter self - destruction through an act of
spiritual suicide. Yet, we know that the
grace of God sustained Peter bringing him to repentance unto restoration. Likewise, Jesus sits on the right hand of the
Father interceding for us, “that (our) faith
should not fail” and that we should return to Him, be restored and strengthen
one another in a spirit of humility and love.
Throughout the synoptic gospels,
Matthew, Mark, and Luke recorded that Peter denied Christ by stating that he
did not know Him, whereas, John’s gospel reveals a unique portrayal of Peter’s
denial. In contrast to John’s record of
Jesus seven “I AM” statements, through which Jesus boldly proclaims His true
identity as the promised Messiah King of Israel and Son of God, John recorded that
Peter denied Christ three times by stating, “I am not.” Now
get this! Peter did not deny Christ by
denying that Jesus was the Messiah or the Son of God. In other words, he never took back his
profession of faith, yet he still denied Christ in an unexpected way. You see, Peter denied the essence of who he
(Peter) was as a disciple of Jesus Christ.
I had never seen this aspect of Peter’s denial until Holy Spirit opened
my eyes and revealed it to me in such an amazing way. Suddenly, Holy Spirit began to teach and
reveal to me that we also deny Christ every time we deny who we are in Christ,
particularly like Peter, as a disciple of His.
As Heaven’s Apostle, Jesus proclaimed boldly who He was to
the world. He refused to deny who He was
because it was the essence of His apostolic calling and mission. In fact, Jesus’ proclamation and
demonstration of His Sonship to Abba Father was the crux of the thorn in the
religious leaders’ sides that stirred them to seek to kill Him in the first
place. Likewise, it is our proclamation
and demonstration of our discipleship to Christ and Sonship to Abba Father that
causes the enemy of our souls to rise up, seeking to sift us like wheat unto
destruction. Yet, through the making
process of discipleship, we too like Peter shall overcome every obstacle and
barrier to our becoming all that God has created, called, and ordained us to be
in Christ. Truly, this is the purpose of
this scribal assignment… the making of many disciples who shall grow in the
intimate knowledge of God, who they are in Christ, and their assignment as
disciples of the Master who has and continues to pray for them. Like Peter, it is time for every disciple of
Christ to rise from the ashes of mistaken identity and destructive denial of
Christ through the denial of their own identity, in order to be raised to new
life through a revelation of God’ identity, their own identity, and the
identity of their apostolic assignment.
It is time for every disciple of Christ to boldly proclaim, “I AM; therefore,
I am!”
Peter’s
Restoration
I thank God that Peter’s discipleship journey did
not end at the point of his denial and resulting grief and sorrow. Rather, Peter’s restoration gives every
disciple of Christ hope in knowing that Christ has prayed for us and He has come
to restore us through the making of another strong, firm, and steadfast
disciple. Like Peter, we need not stay
down, but we can get back up again through the tremendous gift of repentance
unto restoration. It is not by chance or
accident that after Peter denied Christ three times, Jesus restored Peter
through a three-fold profession and command.
Each time someone confronted Peter with the accusation that he was one
of Jesus’ disciples, Peter denied Christ by saying, “I am not.” Likewise, Jesus confronted Peter three times
by asking him if he loved Him, and Peter responded by stating, “You know that I
love you.” Each time Jesus responded to
Peter’s profession of love with a command, “Feed My sheep.” Jesus was reaffirming Peter’s faith and
acknowledgement not only in who Jesus was, but also who Peter was as His
disciple and His assignment as His apostle sent to feed His sheep unto the
making of many disciples.
It
is time for the making of a disciple!
Let us grow together in the revelation knowledge of who God is, who we
are in Christ, and our apostolic assignment through the study of God’s Word! Let us boldly proclaim, “I AM; therefore, I
am!”
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