Sermon Central
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Believing The Witness About Christ Series
Contributed by Charles Worth on Sep 11, 2009 (message contributor)
Summary: Looking at the witnesses of Christ, in Heaven and upon the earth.
Do You Believe? (part 2)
Believing the Witness About Christ
I started last week by asking a couple of questions: How do you know that you really believe in God? How can we look at others and see if they truly believe? We are continuing in our series entitled “Do You Believe.” I explained that in chapter 5 of 1 John there were four tests to see if you truly believe in God. Last week we looked and found the first test to be “Are you Born Again” and we found out how to tell if you are born again. Today we are going to look at Test # 2, which is found in vv. 6-8; Believing the Witness about Christ and we again find out if we do believe by looking at 3 points.
1. The mission of Jesus Christ (v.6a) This is He who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood.
a. This may seem like a strange way to state the mission of Christ. That He came by the water, His baptism, and by the blood, His death on the cross; but to understand we need to go back to last week for a second and look at verse 5. (v.5) Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? Here in verse 6 John is declaring that Jesus is the Christ beyond any shadow of a doubt.
b. Both acts; His baptism and His death declare Him to be the Son of God and are extremely important.
i. His baptism is a great witness to His to this claim. It also was the beginning of His ministry upon the earth. The spirit of God alighted upon Jesus as a dove. Remember that John was to be the forerunner of the messiah, in order to point to the messiah John had to be sure of who he was. So God told John that he would give him a sign. Let’s go back to scripture for a moment. John 1:32-34: And John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.”
ii. The Voice of God declared Him to be the Son of God at His baptism. Matthew, Mark and Luke all testify that the voice of Gad called Jesus “His Son.”
1. Matthew 3:17: And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
2. Mark 1:11: Then a voice came from heaven, “You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
3. Luke 3:22: And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.”
iii. The blood of Jesus, His death upon the Cross, also declares him to be the son of God. It is by His death that the cost of ours sins have been paid for.
1. Romans 6:23: For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Since Jesus took our sins upon Himself and died to pay the price for them, sin has been removed from us. Only the Son of God could do this. Only the Son of God could die for our sin. Why? Because only God is perfect; and he can only accept perfection. He could only accept a spotless and an acceptable sacrifice. That is the whole reason why Jesus had to come to the earth. A sinful man, no matter how righteous wouldn’t do. The point is that His blood; his death upon the cross declares Him to be the Son of God. This is what witness after witness in scripture declares:
2. Matthew 26:28: For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
3. Acts 20:28: Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.
4. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!
5. Hebrews 9:14: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
