Tag Archives: testimony

FAITH IS THE KEY

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FAITH IS THE KEY

“‘I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to finish – the  very works that I am doing – testify that the Father has sent me. And the Father who sent me has Himself testified concerning me. You have never heard His voice nor seen His form, nor does His word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one He sent. You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.'” John 5:36-40 (NIV).

Jesus and the religious leaders stood on opposite sides of an impenetrable wall. The heart of Jesus yearned for them to see the light and recognize that He was speaking the truth when He declared that the works He did and the witness of the Father pointed to one thing – that He was the Son of God. Their desperate efforts to protect their power and influence over the people and their prejudice against Him because they hated His love for all people, blinded their eyes to His identity.

Again and again, they demanded, ‘Who are you?’ but then rejected the evidence before their eyes because they stubbornly refused to believe His word. In the end, it was not about their inability to understand. It was about their refusal to believe because they had another agenda. Had God or an angel personally come to explain the truth to them, they would still have refused to believe.

These men were professional students of the Word. They had memorised and studied the entire Old Testament from childhood and could flawlessly recite any part of it. Tanach was in their heads but not in their hearts because their understanding and interpretation of the Word was fixed by their “yoke”, their way of interpreting and applying the Word. They followed the yoke of their rabbis, Shammai and Hillel, and the ancient rabbis who went before them, the men who determined how the Scriptures were to be understood.

Although the common people recognized the overriding authority of Jesus, the religious leaders did not, and despised them for following and listening to Him. Not even the testimony of the highly revered prophet, John, could convince them that Jesus was the Messiah. They were in bed with the Romans and enjoyed their protection as long as they kept the people under their thumbs. They did not want anyone to rock their boat, especially this “softie” who had the common people eating out of His hand.

The scribes and Pharisees’ study of the Scriptures was purely academic, to reinforce their power over the people, not because they were looking for the truth about the Messiah. The evidence was there before their eyes and available to anyone who had the will to believe, but for these men, the truth was safely hidden until they unlocked it with the key of faith.

It was out of these altercations with the religious leaders that some of the richest revelation of Jesus and His relationship with the Father came. His opponents might not have chosen to believe His word, but for those who do, we have the assurance and the witness that Jesus was no fake but truly the Son of God for, as Nicodemus testified, no one can do these things unless God is with him.

How does Jesus’ testimony sit with us? It actually has more to do with choice than with fact. Like the Pharisees we can choose to reject His word, or we can choose to believe and then have the witness in our spirits that what He said and what He promised is true. The world says, “Seeing is believing,” but that is the way of the sceptic. The Bible says, “Believing is seeing,” and that is the way of the Father.

Faith must take the first step, based on the evidence, and the confirmation will follow. Faith puts into action what we know to be true, and God responds by fulfilling His word. We all fall into one of two categories, those who choose to believe or those who choose not to believe, and the outcome depends on our choice.

Acknowledgement

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

HE KNOWS ALL PEOPLE

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HE KNOWS ALL PEOPLE

“Now while He was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, many people saw the signs He was performing and believed in His name. But Jesus would not entrust Himself to them, for He knew all people. He did not need any testimony about mankind, for He knew what was in each person.” John 2:23-25 (NIV).

One would think that Jesus would have been delighted with the success of His ministry. This was exactly what He wanted, wasn’t it?

But John makes a tongue-in-cheek comment about their response to Him. They trusted Him, but He didn’t trust them! Now there’s a problem! Jesus didn’t not respond to their faith as they expected. Is John saying that there was no work of God’s grace in them? That is drastic! Why not?

Firstly, they had not yet seen and heard enough of Jesus to make that commitment. Like the disciples, the Jews had an expectation of the Messiah that was not in keeping with His true identity and mission. They were expecting Him to get rid of their enemy, the Romans. He came to get rid of their real enemy, the devil, and to deal with sin and alienation from God, their Father and restore fellowship with Him.

Secondly, they were guilty of the most heinous of sins against God — self-seeking self-interest. Is that why John said that Jesus knew what was in man’s heart?

Of course, Jesus knew! From the beginning of human history, when Adam chose to listen to the devil and defy God, man’s nature has been polluted with selfishness. He lost his God-awareness and became self-aware. He became the centre of his world, and everyone and everything else was to serve him, so he thought. He does everything to suit his own ends — hence war, greed, crime, divorce, promiscuity and every other evil you can think of.

The book of Job addresses this absolutely fundamental issue with regard to our relationship with God. Satan challenged the motive for Job’s righteousness. He accused him of being in it for what he could get out of it. ‘Take it all away and he’ll curse you,’ he sneered. ‘Okay,’ said God, ‘you can strip him of everything, but don’t touch his body.’

Satan let rip and in one day Job was stripped of all his possessions and even his family, yet his response was, “I was born naked and I’ll die naked. God gave and God has taken away. I still praise you, God!”

God said to Satan, ‘See, I told you Job is a righteous man.’ But Satan was not satisfied. ‘Just touch his body and see what happens,’ he challenged. ‘Go ahead,’ said God, ‘but don’t take his life.’ This time the devil did the worst he could think of without killing him.

Job put himself on the ash heap where he thought he belonged because of his terrible disease and the stench and disfigurement he suffered, From being a man of standing and influence in his community he had become trash. Because he was not given access to the behind-the-scenes exchange between God and Satan, he had no idea why God was treating him like this.

His so-called friends had the logical answer, ‘You must have sinned.’ Job denied doing wrong and turned to God for answers. God remained silent until Job had exhausted all his arguments, accusations and the defence of his integrity. When he had nothing more to say, God spoke. And did He speak! He gave Job the tongue-lashing of his life for daring to question Him.

However, at the same time, God was pleased with Job. Why? Despite his suffering, he refused to give up on Him. ‘”Though he slay me, yet will I hope in Him.’” Job 13; 15 (NIV). That’s all He needed to hear to confirm that Job’s faith was not in what God could do for him but in God Himself even if the worst happened.

In an environment of “prosperity” teaching, the “name-it-and-claim-it” movement and, even worse, “if things go wrong, you have sinned” philosophy, how many true believers are there in the church, to whom Jesus has entrusted Himself in response to their truly trusting Him even if He slay them? What a terrible insult to God that so many of His people are in it for gain, not for worship.

Are you?

Acknowledgement

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

2 – ENGAGING THE POWERS OF THE KINGDOM – THIS IS IT!

Christian Life, ,

2 – ENGAGING THE POWERS OF THE KINGDOM 

 THIS IS IT!

Finally, my blindfold came off. I read this passage with understanding for the first time yesterday morning. Do you see it, precious people?

The reason I have never understood how God’s power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead applies to me is that I failed to appreciate Jesus’s authority in the world right now.

“I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in this world but also in the world to come. God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself.” Ephesians 1:19-23 NLT

Jesus’ sacrificial death and resurrection qualified Him to be the supreme authority, ruler and head over everyone and everything that goes on in the world, and He rules over every situation and circumstance for the benefit of His body, the church.

During His life on earth, what mystified the religious leaders most was the source of Jesus’ authority. They refused to accept His testimony that He acted under the authority of the Father. They killed Him for claiming to be the Son of God.

By raising Him from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit, the Father not only vindicated Jesus’s claim, but also gave Him the title, position and function of “Lord” – supreme authority over the universe.

This has huge implications for us. If Jesus has authority over everything that happens in the world, (and that does not mean that He causes bad things to happen but that He works all things for our good), then He is actively involved in every detail of our lives both good and bad.

What is He doing? He is training us for life in His kingdom in eternity. This life is an apprenticeship for the life to come. Everything that happens in our lives is a test of our progress in becoming like Him.  It is also an opportunity to engage the powers of the kingdom to overcome the effects of the fall so that we learn to reign over our old sin nature.

“For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.” Romans 5:17 NLT

Since Jesus has the authority to use every circumstance for our good, He has given us the same power that raised Him from the dead to overcome every obstacle to our becoming like Him. His power has many facets, like a diamond, and each situation we face has a facet of that power we are exploring to meet our need.

God’s ultimate design for our lives on this fallen planet is to reproduce Jesus in us so that He can have an eternal family of sons and daughters like His Son.

“God, for whom and through whom everything was made, chose to bring many children into glory. And it was only right that he should make Jesus, through his suffering, a perfect leader, fit to bring them into their salvation. So now Jesus and the ones he makes holy have the same Father. That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them his brothers and sisters.” Hebrews 2:10-11 NLT

So, the whole point of this study is to help us recognise and understand each facet of this power God has given us so that we can use this power to overcome what is in us that contradicts the nature of Jesus.

A Big Man In A Little Book

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A BIG MAN IN A LITTLE BOOK

“Because of this the rumour spread among the believers that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say that he would not die; He only said, ‘If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?’

“This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true.

“Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for all the books that would be written.” John 21:23-25.

What a strange way to end his story! It’s almost as though John could not think of anything more to say, so he ended with a rather weak statement which could possibly fit any other busy and famous person.

First of all, it seems that John had a perfectly good reason for including his bit about the misunderstanding that Jesus’ words had spawned. The story became twisted in the telling, like most stories do, and John needed to correct it because the rumour that had spread that he would remain alive until Jesus returned would set off a chain reaction among believers. They would give up on life and sit around waiting for Jesus to rescue them from the evil world. That was never Jesus’ intention.

What about the final paragraph? Was it just an inane statement to end the book because John didn’t know what else to say? At face value it might seem like that, but let’s look at his declaration.

“Jesus did many other things as well.” John had so much material to work with, written records, perhaps; memories that he treasured from his years in the company of Jesus; little incidents that took on new meaning as he thought about them. He had plenty of time to ponder on the many things he had seen and heard. He must have felt overwhelmed at times as he wrote and wrote about this amazing man.

Without a set purpose for writing, John would have got lost among the mass of material he had to work with. Talk about writer’s block! John surely knew what that was! Fortunately he had worked out a plan before he started so that he would use only that which served his purpose for writing.

As he thought about his life with Jesus, he felt overwhelmed by the enormity of this man. John was utterly convinced that He was the Son of God, and nothing would ever again shake that conviction, especially after what he had seen in the empty tomb. That was his “light-bulb” moment. The burial cloths spoke volumes about the miracle that had just happened. Jesus had left them undisturbed, as though His body had melted right out of them! Only God could do that.

Yes, John realised, as he looked back, that Jesus was a really, really big person, and that everything He said and did had significance. It’s no wonder that he marvelled at Him so that, to do justice to His story would take all the paper, all the ink and all the energy of all the people of the whole world to write it down! And that was impossible. People would have to be content with what he and his fellow authors had written because it was enough to convince their readers that He really was who He was.

John could not help but assure his readers that he was telling the truth because he was an eyewitness of what he had written. For John, this was an important affirmation of the authenticity of his story because, in a Jewish court of law, there were severe penalties for anyone who gave false information.

And so John ends his book, not with a weak statement that makes his story fizzle out, but with a ringing affirmation that he was carefully selective with his facts, that he was a faithful eyewitness and that he was attempting to tell about someone whose life story was too big for this world.

He makes a grand exit with words something like this, “Hey guys, I did my best to squeeze this huge man into the pages of a small book. I know it’s impossible, but what I have told you is enough to show you that Jesus really is the Son of God. If you believe Him, you’ll know what it’s like to live, really live!”

Acknowledgement

THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

 

One Like Us

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ONE LIKE US 

“‘By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just,  for I seek not to please myself but only Him who sent me. If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. There is another who testifies in my favour and I know that His testimony about me is true. You have sent to John and he has testified to the truth. Not that I accept human testimony but I mention it that you may be saved. John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light.'” John 5:30-35 (NIV).

In a single sentence Jesus clears up a misunderstanding that many make about Him. “‘By myself I can do nothing.'” Although He was the Son of God and God in the flesh, He chose to lay aside all the privileges of deity and live on earth as an ordinary man with no power to do anything except through the power of the Holy Spirit. Why did He do that?

He came in the likeness of the first Adam, equipped with the same Holy Spirit who indwelt Adam and with the same potential to fail as Adam had. He faced the same temptations as Adam did and risked the same fate as Adam did, but where Adam sinned by choosing independence from God, Jesus did not.

He chose to live His earthly life in union with the Father and in submission and obedience to Him out of loving reverence for Him. It was not because He was God that He did the things He did; it was because He listened to the Father and did what He was commanded to do. On one occasion He was accused of casting out demons in the name of Beelzebub. His response was “If it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.” Matthew 12:28 (NIV).

His union and fellowship with the Father was so close that the very works He did were a testimony to His origin. He was sent by the Father and it was His purpose to do everything the Father told Him in order to please Him and to fulfil His will.

John bore testimony to Jesus because God revealed to him that the One on whom the Spirit descended was the Messiah. Although his testimony was true and valid, it was the testimony of the Father spoken at His baptism, “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased,”(Mark 1:11b), together with the witness of His works that were the evidence of His true identity as the Son of God.

Truth in a Jewish court of law was established by the evidence of two or three witnesses whose testimony had to agree. Jesus had the undeniable truth from the evidence of the Father’s testimony about Him and the testimony of those who had been healed through His miracles, and yet the religious leaders refused to accept their testimony and believe the truth.

It was not the evidence that was lacking but the prejudice of those who refused to believe the evidence that produced the on-going conflict that eventually led to Jesus’ violent and untimely death. It was not Jesus who was put on trial but His accusers for refusing to weigh up the evidence honestly and arrive at the truth.

He was the Son of God and His power came from God in response to His obedience, which qualified him to be the representative of the human race and to die in the place of those who had failed to live in obedience to the Father. He was the perfect substitute and sacrifice for the whole human race and His death paid the debt we owed the Father for our disobedience and failure to live as sons and daughters of God.

The only way in which we can ever be reconciled to the Father and restored to our place in the family of God is to acknowledge that we owe Him a great debt for our rebellion and to accept the payment of our debt by our elder brother. Jesus took our place so that we can be received back into God’s family as beloved sons and daughters.

Although He paid the debt for the world’s sin, it is only those who respond in faith and obedience who can enjoy all the benefits of being in God’s family.