Testimony 1

God has been speaking to me over a long period of time about the importance of a testimony in a believer’s life. It has really become stronger of late and the timing of this seems right.

Jesus the Son of God, God in the flesh, came to be a living testimony of God and glorify God. He is God, John 1:1-4 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.  All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” John 1:14 “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:18 “No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.” & “No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is himself God, is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us.” Unique - Being the only one of its kind: Without an equal or equivalent; unparalleled. Unusual; extraordinary: I don’t know if this is the right word to use but I think Jesus is too awesome to put into words. We have the Word of God to describe Him and His living work in people lives, living testimonies. Jesus testified about God and glorified God in ways we don’t fully understand yet. His creations, birth, baptism, death, resurrection, starting the church, what He done in peoples lives miracles etc.

Jesus is a living testimony to God and is still living today in many different ways. One way is through is continued work in peoples lives. Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

Jesus cousin John the Baptist came to be a living testimony to tell everyone of Jesus and glorify God. John 1:6-7 “God sent a man, John the Baptist, to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony.” John the Baptist also baptized Jesus and saw the heavens open and the Holy Spirit settle upon Jesus. Jesus picked 12 men, disciples who followed Jesus started the church and was a living testimony. Each of them was martyred because they followed Jesus and their testimony. The apostle John was the only one that lived to an older age but was exiled to an island called Patmos. Revelation 1:9  ^“I, John, am your brother and your partner in suffering and in God’s Kingdom and in the patient endurance to which Jesus calls us. I was exiled to the island of Patmos for preaching the word of God and for my testimony about Jesus.” The 12 disciples walked close with Jesus 2 Peter 1:16-18 ^“For we were not making up clever stories when we told you about the powerful coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We saw his majestic splendor with our own eyes  when he received honor and glory from God the Father. The voice from the majestic glory of God said to him, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.” We ourselves heard that voice from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain.” 1 John 1:1-3 “We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is the Word of life. This one who is life itself was revealed to us, and we have seen him. And now we testify and proclaim to you that he is the one who is eternal life. He was with the Father, and then he was revealed to us. We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.

 

Jesus came to save and take away the sins of the world by His death on a cross and His blood. Revelation 12:11 ^“And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony. And they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die.” 1 John 5:6-12 ^“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, who is truth, confirms it with his testimony.  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 greater testimony that comes from God. And God has testified about his Son. All who believe in the Son of God know in their hearts that this testimony is true. Those who don’t believe this are actually calling God a liar because they don’t believe what God has testified about his Son. And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life.”

 

What’s interesting is right in the temple where God’s own chosen people worshiped God and taught God’s word and law. The experts and teachers where Jesus, God Himself would go sometimes to teach and preach.  They at the time and some never did accept Jesus the living testimony and sacrifice that was sent to save them. They were teaching others about God and He was right there walking with them but would not accept Him. It says in John 1:11 “He came to his own people, and even they rejected him.” They refused Jesus their Lord and savior, Jesus death on a cross, accepting Jesus and carrying their own cross Jesus intended for them to carry to die to their self and be a living testimony to glorify God, and they didn’t accept being reborn and the Holy Spirit. In John 3:1-21 Jesus is having a conversation with Nicodemus, one of the Jewish religious telling him he must be reborn and in verse 3:10-11 “Jesus replied, “You are a respected Jewish teacher, and yet you don’t understand these things?  I assure you, we tell you what we know and have seen, and yet you won’t believe our testimony.” These guys done everything in their power to cover the testimony and glory of God not to be seen. This is a stunt they pulled after Jesus was seen after His resurrection Matthew 28:11-15 “As the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and told the leading priests what had happened.  A meeting with the elders was called, and they decided to give the soldiers a large bribe.  They told the soldiers, “You must say, ‘Jesus’ disciples came during the night while we were sleeping, and they stole his body.’  If the governor hears about it, we’ll stand up for you so you won’t get in trouble.”  So the guards accepted the bribe and said what they were told to say. Their story spread widely among the Jews, and they still tell it today.”

 

This is really a reminder to me how we can read God’s word and become more knowledgeable which is a great thing but at the same time may not be aware of the supernatural work of God in so many peoples lives. A living testimony to glorify Him, that may be strange or unexplainable or may not fit into our system, box or way of thinking. Just a reminder!

 

So God went outside of their system, pride, power, knowledge, riches, and hard hearted selfishness. He chose 12 common men, fishermen and a despised tax collector. Men that were probably told by the experts of God’s laws, that they weren’t good enough. Then he poured His Holy Spirit and love and created in them a powerful living testimony to glorify God.

 

The converts in the early Church changed the world they lived in because of what they saw and heard. It was the power of the gospel that changed lives, not what they learned from mere teaching. This power drew people to Christ. Things happened that could not be explained as anything other than the activity of God. Os Hillman.

 

 

2 Corinthians 3:3-6 "Clearly, you are a letter from Christ showing the result of our ministry among you. This “letter” is written not with pen and ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. It is carved not on tablets of stone, but on human hearts. We are confident of all this because of our great trust in God through Christ.  It is not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own. Our qualification comes from God.  He has enabled us to be ministers of his new covenant. This is a covenant not of written laws, but of the Spirit. The old written covenant ends in death; but under the new covenant, the Spirit gives life."