REMEMBERING HIS DEATH, EXPECTING HIS SECOND COMING

Ps Seth Asare Ofei Badu

Remembering His Death, Expecting His Second Coming
Pt. 1: Three Bear Testimony

1 John 5:8 – 10, Luke 12:35 – 48

INTRODUCTION:

Water, Blood, Spirit as Witnesses on Earth

John, the evangelist writes in his first letter that three things bear testimony to the identity of Jesus on earth: the water, the blood and the Spirit. Curiously, he did not restrict the testimony function of the three witnesses to Christ. Indeed the New Testament clearly teaches that these three also bear testimony to the identity of the believer. The testimony, in the case of the believer, progresses from the Blood to the Spirit. If anybody will be a true living testimony of Christ, and His worthy ambassador, he must cast himself on the agreement of the testimony of the blood, the water and the Spirit

THE TESTIMONY OF THE WITNESSES

Testimony of the Water – Water baptism signifies the death and burial of a person’s old self, and his resurrection unto a new life at the pleasure of his new master. John the Baptist baptised people who were turning from their sins in anticipation of their participation in the Kingdom of God. It therefore surprised him that Jesus, the Lord of the Kingdom, would himself ask to be baptized by water. Jesus indeed was not repenting from any sin, but was signifying that He was not here to do His own will, but rather the will of the father who sent Him. His baptism was therefore testimony to the surrender (or burial) of His immense glory and majesty until He had fully accomplished His mission of suffering and dying for sinners on earth.  Our own water baptism testifies to our identification with Jesus in His suffering and death; dying to our old self-centred life of sin and rising to a Christ-centred life of righteousness.  John explained even to those who came to him that by their baptism they were under obligation to let their conduct reflect their pledge of change. For us, this is our second testimony. (See Romans 6: 3, 11)

Testimony of the Blood – Blood sacrifices in the Bible involve the death of the victim and the application of the blood (life) to the beneficiary, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood” (Lev. 17:11). The beneficiary is therefore considered to have died for (atoned) his sin, and is thereby given another chance at life. Christ died for sinners once and for all (See Heb. 9:12), and whoever in faith casts his sin on Him receives His life.  His death bought our and drew the eternal line between us and all of sin’s liability. By His vicarious death, Christ received the testimony of being the Saviour of the world. By our faith in Him, we receive the testimony of being pardoned. Indeed the testimony of the blood is at the core of the Good News of Jesus Christ, and without it, there is no gospel.

Testimony of the Spirit –After His water baptism, there was a visible descent of the Holy Spirit like a dove on Jesus. The Spirit led Him to fast and pray after which He immediately routed Satan’s three key means of temptation, namely, lust of the flesh (hunger), lust of the eyes (scenery of the kingdoms of the earth) and pride of life (demonstrating power without direction). Throughout His ministry He demonstrated that His extraordinary ability came through the Power of the His Holy Spirit which filled Him through His regular communion with the Father. On commissioning His disciples, He instructed them to wait for the baptism of the Holy Spirit before they ventured out. The presence and activity of Holy Spirit thus testify that Jesus is indeed the Saviour of the World.  In the same way we are marked out as His disciples when Holy Spirit is manifest in us through excellence of character and extraordinary ability to serve God with the numerous gifts He gives us. The Holy Spirit is the Agent of our regeneration (John 3:5), our Foretaste of the power of the world to come and our Seal for the day of redemption (Eph. 1:14-15; 4:30, Heb. 6:4-5).

LEVEL OF COMPLETENESS OF YOUR TESTIMONY

What is your level of confidence in expecting His Second Coming?

1.       Those standing on the testimony of the blood alone assert that they are saved and entitled to forgiveness. However, people whose commitment to the Lord end at this level  tend to live on the line, always struggling with sin and are in danger of falling away, or crucifying Jesus once more (Hebrews 6: 1 – 8). These are the people who are never sure whether the Lord’s coming will find them in right standing or in sin. They must move on to a life of surrender.

2.       Those standing on up to the testimony of the water know that they are saved and they belong to the Lord. However, they are always merely expecting His goodness. Like the idle servant (Luke 19:20-26) and the indulgent housekeepers (Luke 12:35-48) in two of Jesus’ parables they maintain His ownership of them, assert their place in the house (i.e. membership of the church), but do little more in the Lord’s service. These also secretly dread the Lord’s second coming, for they have no good account to render to Him. They must move on to Spirit-filled life and Spirit-led service to the Lord.

3.       Those standing on up to the testimony of the Spirit are those who expect a His 2^nd coming with confidence because they are busy putting gifts to work. Maintaining a Spirit-filled ministry involves the baptism of the Holy Spirit, which makes you aware of His supernatural presence in you, and makes available to you gifts for service in the Body of Christ (the Church). These gifts range from services to operations and are given by the Holy Spirit to each member of the Church as He pleases (You may read more on these from Joel 2:28-29, Romans 12: 1-11, 1 Corinthians 12:1-11 and Ephesians 4:4-13).

Consider therefore how important the following injunctions were to the Lord, concerning us:

1.       Commemorate my death ( Luke 22:19, 20)

2.       Be baptised and be saved (Mark 16:16, Matthew 18:19)

3.       Tarry for the Spirit (Luke 24:49)

CONCLUSION

Walking in the Spirit completes your preparation for His 2^nd Coming.

The Messiah is marked out by the water (His submission), the blood (His death) and the Spirit (His holiness and power even in the flesh). We also need the testimonies of the three to fully manifest Christ. it is precarious to rely on the testimonies of only the water and the blood as many commonly do), since until there is a walk in the Spirit, there is always the danger of falling away or being cut off (See Gal. 5:16, 25 and John 15:2). The mother of all the proclamations is that Christ died for sinners. It is therefore absolutely important that a person casts himself on the vicarious death of Christ to be absolved of sin and given the status of being a child of God. The proclamation however does not end at this. In accordance with our water baptism that follows our belief (See Mark 16:16), we must walk in the awareness that we who have been bought by the death of Jesus are no longer our own. And our being His does not end with the opportunity to depend on Him. We must also seek to serve Him in the power the Holy Spirit that lives in us and causes us to hunger for His second coming (See Rev. 22:17). As the ultimate of the proclamations is His death for us, so is the presence and activity of the Holy Spirit the crown of our testimony as being sons of God (See Rom. 8:9 and 1 John 4:13). In other words, you are both confident and believable as a Christian when you are bearing the fruit of the Holy Spirit and exercising His gifts.