DO YOU HAVE TRUE LIFE?

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

And Jesus Christ was revealed as God's Son by His baptism in water and by shedding His blood on the cross - not by water only but by water and blood. And the Spirit also gives us the testimony that it is true.

So we have these three witnesses - the Spirit, the water, and the blood - and all three agree. Since we believe human testimony, surely we can believe the testimony that comes from God.

Whoever believes in the Son of God accepts this testimony. Whoever does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because they have not believed the testimony God has given about his Son.

And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life and this life is in His Son. So whoever has God's Son has life; whoever does not have His Son does not have life.

1 John 5:6-12

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

In Old Testament times, there was a biblical principle applied to determine truth when making a case.

One witness is not enough to convict anyone accused of any crime or offense they may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. Deuteronomy 19:15

In the days of Jesus, the One we affirmed is the way to victory in yesterday’s message, there were many who refused to believe Him as being who He proclaimed Himself to be, the promised Messiah and very Son of the Lord God Most High. In fact, the Jewish religious authorities of that time accused Jesus of the crime of blasphemy and lying. What was interesting is that the Sanhedrin found itself in a challenging position when they brought Jesus before them for trial. This is because they had problems with finding more than one witness who could truthfully confirm the charges at hand. And so ultimately, these alleged men of God decided to execute Jesus based on truths they couldn’t accept, the very kind of injustice the Law intended to prevent.

It’s into this space that we find John writing into as we continue to look at the last chapter of his first letter, a passage that uses the concept of three witnesses to validate that Jesus was indeed the Way and the Truth and the Life, the only true Life. Look again at those verses here:

And Jesus Christ was revealed as God's Son by His baptism in water and by shedding His blood on the cross - not by water only but by water and blood. And the Spirit also gives us the testimony that it is true.

So we have these three witnesses - the Spirit, the water, and the blood - and all three agree. Since we believe human testimony, surely we can believe the testimony that comes from God.

And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life and this life is in His Son. So whoever has God's Son has life; whoever does not have His Son does not have life. Vv. 6-9, 11-12

Here, we find three witnesses but they symbolic elements, not people. Let’s look at these three elements, baptism and water, the crucifixion cross and Jesus’ shed blood, and the Holy Spirit, individually.

First, baptism and water.

In Matthew Chapter 3, we read the account of Jesus' baptism. You may recall that John the Baptist (not to be confused with the writer of this letter) had been predicting this event to those who came to hear him speak and be baptized in the Jordan River. He would proclaim that One more powerful than him would be coming, One who would baptize, not with water, but with the Holy Spirit.

“I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes One who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” Matthew 3:11

Here we find an immediate connection established here between Jesus and the imparting of the Holy Spirit. And just in case there was any doubt amongst those who first heard John and then were able to witness Jesus' baptism, it was removed as He emerged from the water. For the scriptures tell us that “at that moment, Heaven was opened” and “the Spirit of God” descended on and then rested upon Him as God spoke the following words:

"This is My Son who I love. With Him, I am well pleased." (Matthew 3:16-17)

Water and baptism set the stage for Jesus receiving the Holy Spirit and now He was prepared for the amazing ministry that was to follow. There was visual testimony in the Spirit's descending and audible testimony from the very voice of God Himself.

How could one not believe after witnessing that?

Next, we look at the cross and Jesus’ shed blood there.

The people of Israel were under Roman rule and every day was laden with severe oppression. They longed for the day to be liberated and set free, a day that had been prophesized over and over again by the prophets of the Old Testament scriptures.

For God would send a Messiah Savior to set His people free from their bondage but the people misinterpreted the kind of deliverance they would receive. They expected a powerful warrior who would come to vanquish their enemies but what they received in Jesus ran counter to those expectations. For Jesus, who came into the lives of the people of Israel and proclaimed Himself as their Messiah, did not go about His business with hatred, brutality, and bloodshed. Instead, He did everything out of love whether it was teaching, healing, resurrecting, or leading.

Unfortunately, the Israelites quickly forgot the Jordan baptism where God validated the legitimacy of His Son. Instead, they took issue with Him because He didn’t meet their preconceived ideas, giving them what they wanted.

So they willingly chose to reject Him and then orchestrated His crucifixion on Calvary’s cross, openly endorsing the shedding of His blood. Little did they know that by their very actions, they were setting in motion God’s plan for the salvation of all mankind, salvation that would be not only for the Jews but the Gentiles as well.

Indeed, the selfish yearnings of the Jewish people, spurred on by their religious leadership, prevented them from seeing that Jesus had actually come to liberate them spiritually, to offer them freedom from the death penalty of sin and a life eternal well beyond the worldly lives they were currently living. Before this liberation and ushering into everlasting life could happen, Jesus had to die and shed His blood to atone for the sins of the world before He could be raised from death by His Father loved Him and was still well pleased with Him.

We need to see today that this love of God extended deeper than just for His Son. For His love, displayed on the cross in and through Jesus, would be extended to anyone who would place their belief in Jesus as Savior. It was a love that was willing to sacrifice His only Son so that multitudes could be spared from the eternal damnation of Hell. The needs of the many ended up outweighing the needs of the few. Indeed, the cross and the shed blood of Jesus are reminders of God's affection for us, a love that would not allow us to perish but have the opportunity to live in the Kingdom of Heaven forever.

Finally, let’s revisit the work of the Holy Spirit for He not only showed up at Jesus’ baptism, empowering the Savior of the world and validating Him as God's Son but the same Spirit is imparted on all Christ believers today so to continue to validating Jesus.

If you don't believe that, simply clear your mind for a moment and pray unto God the Father. Ask Him to open your heart and mind to gain understanding of the Word He has given, a Word that will lead you to truth. Then, ask Him if Jesus Christ, His Only Son truly came and died to pay the price for your sins, bringing you salvation and the true promise of life eternal after death.

When you do this, be prepared for the Holy Spirit to rush into your open heart and mind, flooding it with perfect truth as He always will do when you seek it. He will always help to separate the truth from a lie, the will of God from the deception of Satan.

In the end translation, when we God's testimony about His Son, revealed through the water and baptism, the cross of crucifixion with Jesus’ shed blood, and the help of the Holy Spirit, we will always find ourselves to "true life", the life only found when someone believes in Jesus for salvation, the One who is the Way and the Truth and the Life (John 14:6).

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.