It is impossible to overstate the importance of knowing Jesus. On the Day of Pentecost Peter stressed this in his sermon preserved in the second chapter of the Book of Acts. Allow me to point out three aspects of this great Christ-centered message.

First, we see Jesus, the Sent One (Acts 2:22-24). This speaks of the incarnation of Jesus as the Lamb. When John saw Jesus he exclaimed, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29). 1 Peter 1:18-21 reads, "knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God." Jesus was "delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God" (Acts 2:23).

Second, we see Jesus, the Sovereign One (Acts 2:32-36). This speaks of the exaltation of Jesus as the Lord. Peter boldly proclaims, "God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ" (Acts 2:36). Jesus warns in Matthew 7:21-23, "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'"

Third, we see Jesus, the Saving One (Acts 2:37-41). This speaks of the salvation of Jesus as the Life. John 11:25 reads, "Jesus said to [Martha], 'I am the resurrection and the life.'" John 14:6 reads, "Jesus said to [Thomas], 'I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.'" Acts 2:40-41 reads, "And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, 'Be saved from this perverse generation.' Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them." Later, Peter declares, "Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). The danger is that you might only know about Jesus intellectually in your head without knowing Jesus personally in your heart. We are instructed in Romans 10:9-10, "that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."

Dr. Franklin L. Kirksey, of Robertsdale, is the author of "Don't Miss the Revival! Messages for Revival and Spiritual Awakening from Isaiah.