2002-01-01
Good Morning Faithful Readers,
When we are told we should believe something, we need to have a reason to believe it. That means that if we are thoughtful people, we will investigate it, hear the testimony of others about it, and go to God on our knees to ask Him about it. The Jews had a custom of requiring two competent witnesses to testify to the truth of something before it could be believed. This dates back to God’s instructions in DT 17: 6 where He tells how it should be decided if someone should be stoned for breaking his covenant regarding idolatry and/or practicing the occult. “However, he may be put to death only if two or more witnesses testify against him; he is not to be put to death if there is only one witness.” That is why Paul, in RO 4, included the testimony of both Abraham and David when he spoke about justification, being deemed acceptable by God due to the kind of faith one has. It is also why two witnesses will be sent toward the end of the Tribulation in our future to demonstrate the truth to the last few hold-outs who will come to Christ before it is too late [REV 11: 1-14].
Today’s passage, 1JN 5: 6-8, deals with the witness about Jesus Christ. “Jesus Christ is the One Who came with the water of His baptism and the blood of His death. He came not only with the water, but with both the water and the blood. And the Spirit Himself testifies that this is true, because the Spirit is truth. There are three witnesses: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and all three give the same testimony.” Today’s traditional Jews can’t see that Jesus Christ is the Messiah for Whom they have been searching for in the last three thousand years. The pity of that is that a scientist doing a statistical study of the probability of this one Man fulfilling all the OT prophecies about Him would be enough to convince the most exacting of minds of the truth of this fact. We are told that God has put a veil before their eyes for His own purposes, for that is the only logical explanation of why they continue in their stubborn refusal of this truth [see RO 11: 25]. While the name, “Jesus,” isn’t mentioned in the OT, the second person of the Godhead can be found all over it. One need only consider the theophanies (manifestations of God) who visited Abraham and prophesied the birth of Isaac-a child of the promise [GN 18: 2, 10], the man who wrestled with Jacob at Peniel [GN 32: 24], God’s chosen King of PS 2, or the suffering Servant of IS 53 to know this.
There are crucial Scriptural messages about all three witnesses to Christ’s ability to give us eternal life. LV 17: 11 sheds light on the importance of why blood must be shed for their to be forgiveness. “The life of every living thing is in the blood, and that is why the Lord has commanded that all blood be poured out on the altar to take away the people’s sins. Blood, which is life takes away sins.” HE 9: 22 enlarges on this. “Indeed, according to the Law almost everything is purified by blood, and sins are forgiven only if blood is poured out.” The concept of water being connected to life is taken up in Ezekiel’s vision of the millennial Temple in EZK 47: 1, 5-6, 9. “The man led me back to the entrance to the Temple. Water was coming out from under the entrance and flowing east, the direction the Temple faced’’….He measured 560 yards more, and there the stream was so deep I could not wade through it. It was too deep to cross except by swimming. He said to me, ‘Mortal man, note all this carefully’….Whenever the stream flows, there will be all kinds of animals and fish. The stream will make the water of the Dead Sea fresh, and wherever it flows, it will bring life.” John the Baptist in MT 3: 11 explained the importance of baptism. “I baptize you with water to show that you have repented, but the one who will come after me will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. He is much greater than I am; and I am not good enough even to carry his sandals.” With Christ’s baptism, we learn the truth of John the Baptist’s words. MT 3: 16-17, “As soon as Jesus was baptized, He came up out of the water. Then heaven was opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God coming down like a dove and lightning on Him. Then a voice said from heaven, ‘This is My Son in Whom I am pleased.’” If there was ever any question of about the essential nature of water to our spiritual life, it is answered in JN 7: 37-39. “On the last and most important day of the festival Jesus stood up and said in a loud voice, ‘Whoever is thirsty should come to Me and drink. As the Scriptures [EZK 47: 1 & ZECH 14: 8] say, ‘Whoever believe in Me, streams of life-giving water will pour out from his heart. Jesus said this about the Spirit, which those who believed in Him were going to receive. At that time the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not been raised to glory.”
All three witnesses, the blood, the water, and the Spirit are shown to be giving us the same message. It is best summarized in JN 14: 6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one goes to the Father except by Me.” Knowledge of this is brought home by the most famous citation of them all, JN 3: 16. “For God loved the world so much that He gave His only begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not die but have eternal life.” We are a loved people. The citations in this message are ample proof of that. Let me add my own testimony to the truth they convey.
PRAYER: O Lord, everything that is said in the Scriptures has been designed to bring us closer to You. We need to understand that You have inspired the writers in every way possible to convince us of the truth of your love. You have wanted to do this in a way that these truths cannot be refuted. That is why You have provided proof after proof. Yet still, there are some people who choose to reject Your great invitation to eternal life, joy, and fellowship with You. Those of us who have accepted Your invitation have a hard time understanding this rejection, particularly when it occurs in people we love. We humbly approach You today to ask You to lift the veil from the eyes of traditional Jews soon, so that as many as possible of them will share in the knowledge that Christ really is the Messiah and the only way to eternal life. We beseech You to soften the hearts of those non-Jews who have expressed disrespect and rejection of You too. You have asked us to pray for those who persecute us, and we are doing that, Dear Lord. Because You have such remarkable compassion, You deserve our adoration, worship, respect, endurance in faith, praise, loyalty, and trust. We dedicate ourselves to obeying You in the hope that our demonstration of faith will help bring these seemingly lost people into Your fold. In Christ’s holy name, amen.
Tomorrow, we will look at the remaining citations in this important passage about witnesses to Christ’s ability to bring eternal life, 1JN 5: 9-12. Dear Ones, we who believe have been given the powerful tool of prayer. We cannot take the self-centered view that the salvation of others doesn’t matter. It matters to God, and it matters to us. Please join me in prayer for those who have not yet accepted Christ as their personal Savior and the Lord of their lives. Every soul who comes to Christ is greatly blessed and loved, just as we are. Peter and I also send you our love too.
Grace, Peace, and Love in Christ,
Lynn