God's Own Testimony to Christ #1

Welcome to the Truth Pulpit with Don Green, founding pastor of Truth Community Church in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Hello, I'm Bill Wright. Thanks for joining us as we continue teaching God's people God's Word. Don begins a new message today, so without further delay, let's join him right now in the Truth Pulpit. It's no surprise to you when I say that we live in a postmodern world that, among other things, demands tolerance for all religions. You've seen the bumper stickers that say, coexist, which seek to blur distinctions between Christianity and other religions, putting Islam and Judaism and other Eastern religions all on the same plane, calling us to coexist as if those distinctions were not important. To say, as we do as believers, that we have the truth and other people do not.

That we have the light and that other people are in darkness is denounced as being arrogant and unkind. Well, today's passage gives us clarity in an age of false tolerance. It gives us clarity to understand in depth why our assurance is real, and it also gives us confidence to proclaim the gospel in an age that is hostile to claims of absolute truth.

We are clear, we are definitive, we believe the truth, not out of our own merit, but because this is what God Himself has testified to. And this is the subject of our passage this morning, 1 John chapter 5 verse 6. I am praying desperately that I will get through this entire passage here this morning, 6 through 12. And let me read the passage to get us started and set it in our minds here this morning. It's a very great passage, a very encouraging passage, a very definitive passage about the exclusivity of Christianity, 1 John chapter 5 verse 6. This is the one who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ.

Not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood. It is the Spirit who testifies because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify, the Spirit and the water and the blood, and the three are in agreement. If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater. For the testimony of God is this, that He has testified concerning His Son. The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. The one who does not believe God has made him a liar because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning His Son. And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life and this life is in His Son.

He who has the Son has the life. He who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. A black and white passage so characteristic of the Apostle John. Let me set the context for you for this passage in just reminding you that John was writing to defend his readers against a particular form of false teaching that had arisen in the late first century. These false teachers that John was combating had a bizarre notion that the humanity of Jesus of Nazareth was simply an illusion that was used by a spiritual messenger who had come to enlighten men. This Christ Spirit, they said, that came upon the man Jesus, came upon Him at His baptism and left before He was crucified.

That's really crucial, as you'll see later. This Christ Spirit supposedly left before He was crucified. And so there was not a true incarnation of God, according to these teachers. There was not a true incarnation of God at Bethlehem and at the cross.

There was just a little parenthesis of time in this man Jesus' life where a spirit descended upon Him, used His human faculties for a period of time and then departed, simply in an idea of bringing light to men. That is the general context of what John was refuting when he wrote this book. That attack on truth back then was different than the attack on truth that we face now in our postmodern times. But what I want you to see, what I want you to understand by way of introduction, is that the response is the same. The response is the same.

The upholding of truth is the same regardless of the manifestation of the attack on truth that any particular age brings to bear. The response is to go back to the testimony of God about His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the testimony that we point to. There is no higher authority that we could appeal to than the authority of God, the testimony of God, and that is what the Apostle John does in this letter. Now, reminding you of the very opening verse, chapter 1, verse 1, turn there if you will, if you haven't already.

John opens this entire letter by refuting that false view on the humanity of Christ. He says, What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands concerning the word of life, and the life was manifested. And we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us. He's stating that we are apostolic witnesses of the reality of the incarnation of Christ, God in human flesh. We saw him with our eyes, we heard his voice with our ears, we handled his flesh with our own hands.

What we saw was real, it was not an illusion. That's the opening salvo in this entire letter. And so he strikes a blow right from the beginning of it. Now, you're familiar with the book of 1 John, we've been going through it forever it seems like. In the chapters that follow, chapters 2, 3, 4 and up through chapter 5, John kind of pivots away from talking about the incarnation specifically and he describes what true believers are marked by. He helps us identify who a true Christian is, who a true believer in Christ is.

A true Christian is marked by obedience to God, love for God and love for the brethren, and a belief, they are marked by a doctrinal belief in the true Christ and in true salvation. We've covered that at length because John covered it at length. Now, however, as we come back to chapter 5, as we come into chapter 5, John is going to circle back to where he started at the very beginning of the letter to talk about the person of Christ himself.

And this is what I want you to see. Now that he is described, he's exhausted his discussion of the marks of true Christians, and he says there in chapter 5 verse 5, turn back there with me now as we get back to our text. He says, "'Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?'" He's wrapped up, he's concluded his discussion about who true Christians are.

They overcome the world. Now, understand what's happening here. He is now going to pivot away from discussing the marks of true believers to talk about the object of their faith, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is going to discuss Christ now and he is going to verify Christ. He is going to show forth the credentials of the man Jesus of Nazareth as being the true incarnate Son of God.

And I want you to notice the method that he uses. He appeals to the testimony of God himself. What we see in this passage, verses 6 through 12, is we see God's own testimony to Jesus Christ. God has testified to his Son. He has testified repeatedly. He has testified in the past. He testifies now.

He has testified in a variety of ways. God has spoken. God has affirmed Christ to humanity. And it is a sin of unspeakable proportions to reject Christ, to question even the concept of truth. These things ought not to be questioned. These things ought to be embraced because the highest authority in the universe, the Lord God himself has spoken and said, This is my Son.

This is the truth. This is what you must believe to be saved. And those who reject that message understand they are not men to be pitied. They are men under condemnation because they have the audacity and the arrogance to declare God's testimony as unbelievable and untrue.

That is a most serious sin for them to commit. For those of us that believe in Christ, what this passage tells us is, is that our faith in Christ, our confidence of salvation rests on the very authority, the very authenticity, the veracity of God Himself. Our faith is grounded on the most reliable testimony that there is. It's not in evidential apologetics that make a probability case in favor of Christ, in favor of the existence of God.

No, our testimony is based on certainty, the certainty that comes from the testimony of God Himself. And that is what this passage is saying, and that is what we're going to see here this morning. There's two main parts to what I want to show you as we consider God's own testimony to Christ.

There's two parts. The first part we're going to title the content of God's testimony to Christ, and there will be three sub-points to that that we'll get through. And then secondly, the consequences of God's testimony to Christ. The content and the consequences of God's testimony to Christ are the two main points for here this morning. But let's look at this first part this morning, the content of God's testimony to Christ.

That's your first point if you're taking notes here this morning. And this is just a wonderful passage, even though initially it seems obscure when maybe you read it for the first time. The content of God's testimony to Christ.

Here's the summary point. God has testified to humanity that the man Jesus of Nazareth who walked in the land of Israel 2,000 years ago is the true Son of God. He is the Christ.

He is the exclusive Savior of mankind. God has testified to that in a way that cannot be contradicted. That is the content of the testimony that we're looking at here. And what you must understand, especially in this post-modern world that we live in, is the fact that the majority of men reject that testimony, that the majority of men will not hear that testimony, does not diminish the truthfulness or the certainty of what God has said. We do not evaluate the testimony by the extent to which men receive it.

We don't subject the truth of God to a majority opinion poll. God's own testimony is verified by God Himself. And that's what you must see in this passage here this morning. So we're going to look at chapter 5, verse 6 here as we dive into the text. The Apostle John says, This is the one who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ, not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood. It is the Spirit who testifies because the Spirit is the truth. And then as you go on through verse 12, when you count them up, you'll see that there are ten different times, at least in the Greek text, ten different times where the word testimony is used. God's testimony to Christ is the central theme of this passage. Now notice, as we get into it here, that this testimony is all pointing to the one that John is emphasizing at the start of verse 6. He says, This is the one who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ. The center of our thinking as we go through this passage should be Jesus Christ.

This is the one who came by water and blood, John says. And then he goes on and he says the Spirit testifies, verse 6. Verse 7, There are three that testify. Verse 9, The testimony of God. Verse 10, The testimony that God has given concerning His Son. Verse 11, The testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life. Testimony, testimony, testimony, all undergirding the central dominating authority, the central dominating person of Jesus Christ. And so undergirding the proclamation of Christ in the gospel is the testimony of God that says, I affirm this.

This is true and I have testified to this in the past and I testify to it now. And that's what this passage is teaching us to understand. John is explaining how God has certified Jesus during Jesus' earthly ministry in order to give us who are Christians certainty in our faith, to drive away doubt, to drive away questions so that we might live in a confidence of faith that says, I know and I have believed truth and a man who has that is the cornerstone of his approach to life.

The cornerstone of his heart convictions is a man who is prepared to live and glorify Christ until God calls him home. Notice what John says now as we get into it in verse 6. He says, this is the one, this pointing to Jesus Christ, pointing forward to the one that he's been discussing. He ended verse 5 by saying, Jesus is the Son of God.

In verse 6 he names him specifically Jesus Christ. In the middle he says, this is the one who came by water and blood. Somehow, God's testimony to Christ is centered on water and blood.

Now what does that mean? That sounds kind of obscure and it is a little bit obscure as you read it, but when you think through the whole New Testament, you realize that this is very obvious what he's talking about. Somehow, through water and blood, Jesus was manifested as being the true Christ, the only Christ, the exclusive Christ.

What does it mean? Well first of all, let's clarify briefly what it does not mean because there have been different views of this throughout church history. Some have said in the past that when John refers to water and blood here, he's referring to the moment at the crucifixion when the soldier pierced Jesus' side and water and blood flowed out from his side.

But that's not what that's talking about here. Jesus did not come to us. He did not come to mankind at that moment. He was already here and John is referring to a past time. This is the one who came by water and blood.

So while there's a verbal parallel, this really doesn't fit. That's not how Jesus came to us. He was already here. Water and blood came out of him at that moment.

He wasn't manifested to us at that point. So that's not what John's talking about here. It's true that water and blood came out.

That's just not his point right now. Others have said that water refers to baptism and blood refers to communion. They say it's a reference to the church ordinances. Well those ordinances are symbolic testimonies to him that the church has followed throughout the centuries.

But again, look at the verse here, verse 6, this is the one who came by water and blood. It's referring to a past act, a past time as John was writing in about A.D. 90. It's referring to a past time when Jesus came. It's not referring to an ongoing ministry of the church.

And so those are not what John is referring to here. So okay, he said what it doesn't mean. What does it mean? What do water and blood mean? In the context, remember, of God's affirming testimony to the reality of Jesus Christ, to the truthfulness of His. The water and the blood have to be tied to some kind of testimony that God has given to His own Son.

Well here's what it means in general and then we'll get into the detail of it. God, the Father, affirmed God the Son, Jesus Christ, at defining moments in Jesus' earthly ministry. God made known publicly in unmistakable ways to the people that were there at that time that this was His true Son that they should listen to.

And we're going to see that. God affirmed Christ at those defining moments in His earthly career and this passage goes on to say that God is testifying to Christ even now, even today, even as I speak and proclaim the Word of God to you, He is testifying to Christ even now. That's what this passage is saying to us in an overview manner.

Now I want to take you into the details of it. What is the content of God's testimony to His own Son? John gives us three aspects of the content of that testimony.

So this next line is the first sub-point here. What we're going to see is, is that God testified to Christ, we're going to see God's testimony at Jesus' baptism...Jesus' baptism...God's testimony at Jesus' baptism. And here's what He's saying, Jesus came to us by water in the sense that God affirmed Jesus publicly at His baptism with a resounding voice from heaven. God affirmed Jesus at His baptism with a resounding voice from heaven. Turn back to Matthew chapter 3. Matthew chapter 3, I want you to see the narrative portion of this. Matthew chapter 3 verses 13 through 17, the account of Jesus' baptism, Jesus arrived from Galilee at the Jordan coming to John, referring to John the Baptist, in order to be baptized by Him. But John tried to prevent Him saying, I have need to be baptized by you and do you come to me? But Jesus answering said to Him, permit it at this time for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.

Then He permitted Him. So John the Baptist baptized the Son of God in public view. Verse 16 now, after being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water...there's the water...and notice what happens.

This was miraculous. This was God's testimony that we're about to read. Behold, the heavens were opened and He saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him. So the Spirit of God came down upon Christ as a public affirmation of Him. And verse 17, and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. God at that defining, opening, public moment of Jesus' ministry sent the Spirit down upon Christ and said with His own voice from heaven, this is my beloved Son. The ministry of John the Baptist had drawn attention to John and then he draws attention to Christ.

The Spirit came down on Christ. God speaks from heaven and as it were points down and says, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. God has testified at Jesus' baptism that that man Jesus of Nazareth was His own Son in whom He was well pleased.

Now be prepared to just write down a couple of Scripture references. We're not going to take the time to turn there here, but that baptism fulfilled prophecy about the Messiah. It fulfilled Old Testament Scriptures that were pointing to who the true Messiah would be. In Psalm 2 verse 7, Psalm 2 verse 7, the psalmist said, I will surely declare of the decree of the Lord, He said to me, you are my Son, today I have begotten you. The Messiah would be marked by God saying, you are my Son.

Isaiah chapter 42 verse 1, Isaiah 42 verse 1, behold, my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom my soul delights, I have put my Spirit upon Him, He will bring forth justice to the nations. The Messiah would be marked by God declaring Him to be the Son in whom He was well pleased. The Messiah would be marked by the placing of the Spirit upon Him.

God did that at Jesus' baptism. And so when Jesus was baptized in water, God manifested Him to the public. God manifested Him and said, this is my Son, see my Spirit upon Him.

Listen to Him, as it were. This is the one to whom we listen. The water that marked Jesus' entry into His public ministry, the baptism says, Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus is the one in whom God is well pleased. Look over at the gospel of John chapter 1, John 1, beginning in verse 29 where John the Baptist saw Jesus coming to him in verse 29 and he said, behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Verse 31, I did not recognize Him but so that He might be manifested to Israel, I came baptizing in water. John testified saying, I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven and He remained upon Him. I did not recognize Him but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, God's testimony here, He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the one who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.

I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God. There was more than Jesus going into the water that happened at His baptism. God was saying, this is My beloved Son, this is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. God testified to Christ at His baptism.

That's part of the content of God's testimony to Him. God made Him known, God with His own voice acknowledged, authenticated, and certified Jesus to a watching world. Now secondly, that's the meaning of the water. Jesus came by water in the sense that God manifested Him to us in water. But now notice what it says, going back to chapter 5 verse 6 now in 1 John, 1 John chapter 5 verse 6, this is the one who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ, not with the water only but with the water and with the blood.

Why does He say it that way? Well, remember the false teaching that I referenced at the very beginning. They said the Christ Spirit left before Jesus was crucified. Everyone here is refuting that with the second aspect of the content of God's testimony. What we're about to see is God's testimony at Jesus' crucifixion. So we have God's testimony at Jesus' baptism, this is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Secondly, we have God's testimony at Jesus' crucifixion. Now let me just pause here and say this, this is God's testimony, it belongs to Him, it is what He has said. And what I want you to understand is this, is that we are talking about a testimony that is completely independent of you.

It has nothing to do with you. This was God's testimony before you were born, it's God's testimony that will exist after you are dead, this is God's testimony that is true whether you ever existed or not. We are looking into the heart, the mind, the actions, the character, the work of God here. This is what God has done for His Son. And we, as it were, are witnesses to this as we see this explained in the Scripture. This is not about your subjective belief, this is not about your faith, this is about God's testimony to His own Son.

This is very holy ground. God gave testimony at Jesus' baptism, now we're going to see that God gave testimony at Jesus' crucifixion. Now listen, this is crucial because the false teachers said that the Christ Spirit departed before the crucifixion. What does that mean?

What's the significance of that? What it means is, if what they were saying was true, it meant that Jesus died as a mere man, that there wasn't anything unique about His death, there was nothing unique about His person at the crucifixion, He simply died as an ordinary man. If what they said was true, and that would have a completely destructive impact on all of Christianity, because that would mean that Jesus was not a divine Savior, He was only a man. It would mean that Jesus did not really atone for our sins because there was no divine element to His death to give capacity to it. It would contradict all of Christianity. While it might sound esoterically appealing to those who are drawn to such things, the truth of the matter is, is that what they were teaching at that time would undermine and negate your salvation. And so John writes a very extended epistle explaining why that's not true, and showing the marks of true Christians.

And here, what he does is he appeals beyond the testimony of man, and he appeals to the testimony of God. What I want you to see is that what is at stake here is no innocent difference. There was no innocent difference between these false teachers and what true apostolic teaching was. Just as there is no innocent difference between Islam and Judaism and Catholicism and true Christianity, these are not innocent differences. These are not matters of opinion. These are matters that go to the very truth of God. This is God's truth.

This belongs to Him. We are not at liberty as men to contradict it. My friend, there is no substitute for reading the Word of God for yourself and spending the time day by day going through the Bible in a systematic way so that you have a full exposure to everything that the Word of God says. It's remarkable the way the Spirit of God works through the Word to minister to our hearts in that way. And to help you do that, we have a couple of different Bible reading plans available on our website, thetruthpulpit.com. If you would go to thetruthpulpit.com, click on the link that says About, you'll find a sublink there that takes you to two different Bible reading plans that you can choose from.

It's free. It's there available to help you in your reading of God's Word. And I know that the Spirit of God will use that in your life if you're not used to reading God's Word on a regular, systematic basis. Make this the day that you start something new and move in that direction, and join us again next time here on The Truth Pulpit as we continue teaching God's people God's Word. That's Don Green, founding pastor of Truth Community Church in Cincinnati, Ohio. Thank you so much for listening to The Truth Pulpit. Join us next time for more as we continue teaching God's people God's Word.