Undeniable Testimony

Intro:

When we think of testimonies today, we often think of a person sitting beside the judge’s bench and answering questions from attorneys. A person although swearing w/ hand on a Bible to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth will still often be deceptive and untruthful. Truthfully, a testimony is only as good and valid as the person who gives it. However, there are certain testimonies that are undeniable and unquestionable, and that is the foundation of this sermon this morning. The purpose of a testimony is to get to the bottom of a mystery; it is to reveal a truth that is currently hidden. One definition Webster’s gives for testimony is firsthand authentication of a fact: evidence.

firsthand authentication of a fact: evidence

Inc Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. (Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, Inc., 2003).

Message:

3 Testimonies to the Lordship of Christ:

Water -- Jesus was baptized in the Jordan by John even though He did not need to be baptized 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.

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

There are no scriptural references to baptism in the OT. Baptism was rabbinic tradition whereby a Gentile proselyte to Judaism was circumcised, baptized, offered a sacrifice, and then adhered to the law. This baptism had to be witnessed b/c baptism (like circumcision, though not as concealed) is an act of identification.

Jesus’ baptism by John was not keeping an OT requirement; it was an act of identifying w/ the people of God.

Jesus’ baptism by John was not keeping an OT requirement; it was an act of identifying w/ the people of God.

His baptism was for the purpose of identifying w/ the plight of man. As the son of man, He would be in a place whereby he could die as man’s substitute. Water represents the repentance of man from his former life to a new.

His baptism was for the purpose of identifying w/ the plight of man. As the son of man, He would be in a place whereby he could die as man’s substitute. Water represents the repentance of man from his former life to a new.

Blood -- Once we repent, we need something to turn to b/c repentance is the changing of the mind, the turning from one direction to another--that direction is the life giving blood of Jesus.

The blood testifies two ways:

One he shares in our humanity, for he took on himself our flesh.

Two he died and shed his innocent blood for us. To be man’s substitute he had to become man, and he had to identify w/ the condition of man, although he himself never sinned.

The Spirit -- The Holy Spirit testifies to us that we are born again, he testifies w/ the water and blood to the world that Jesus is the way, truth and life by the change in us.

Τhe Spirit of God testifies to our spirits that we are born of God, and He testifies to the world through us that we are God’s children, and what God is like.

This is why if the world hates us, it hates us b/c of who we belong to; it ultimately hates God and rejects any testimony of Him.

Jesus is the grounds or reason for everything:

This is what the water, blood, and the Spirit are all testifying to.

The Father sent His only begotten Son into the world to show the world what He (the Father) was like and who He really is.

Colossians 1:15 NASB95

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

Col 1

2 Corinthians 4:4 NASB95

in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

Hebrews 1:3 NASB95

And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

All these scriptures declare that Jesus is the image of God b/c He was begotten of God.

Jesus was the only begotten of the Father.

Begotten (Gr. γενναω) means to be born or to father.

You can only beget what you are.

When we are “born again” we are begotten of the Father, or to say it another way, we are Fathered by God.

This means we take on His nature, and so that through us He continues to testify to the world who the He is.

In v. 10 John said we have the testimony inside of us; so the testimony of all Jesus is and has done lives inside of us.

First of all by the testimony of our death to the old man and his ways, secondly by the testimony of our new life in which we obey God and walk in His ways, and thirdly by the power of the Holy Spirit in us.

Romans 8:16 NASB95

The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,

Look again at vv. 4-5 of . We are overcomers b/c by believing on the Lordship of Christ we are born of God and empowered by His Spirit.

We are not obligated to the flesh.

V. 16 — Grammatically speaking this more accurately should be translated “The Spirit Himself testifies TO our spirit that we are children of God.”

In v. 15 Paul talks about adoption. How can we be both born of God and adopted by Him?

Adoption is only used 5 times in the NT, and all by Paul. He draws on the Greco-Roman practice of adoption and not the Hebrew one, for it is more powerful in meaning and he used when writing to gentile churches—Romans, Galatians, Ephesians.

The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament 5206. υἱοθεσία huiothesía

Adoption, when thus legally performed, put a man in every respect in the position of a son by birth to him who had adopted him, so that he possessed the same rights and owed the same obligations. Being a huiós, a son, involves the conformity of the child that has the life of God in him to the image, purposes, and interests of God and that spiritual family into which he is born. In eternity there will be a revelation by God which will indicate the measure of this conformity to God (Rom. 8:19).

I leave you this morning w/ one final thought.

In v. 18 of this , John says “no one who is born of God sins.”

In he says the same thing adding that no one born of God practices sin.

The word practice (Gr. ποιεω) means to carry out an obligation of a moral or social nature, do, keep, carry out, practice, commit.

We all may make mistakes at times, some more or bigger than others, but we have been freed from the obligation to sin!

So what is the evidence we can conclude from the testimonies we have examined this morning?

Jesus is the grounds for everything, we have been fathered by God and taken on His nature, and thus like Christ, we are overcomers.

Romans 8:37–39 NASB95

But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

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