The Evidence of John
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Harry Truman, the 33rd President of the United States, received much criticism during his tenure as president. Newspapers daily criticized him for being incompetent, and politicians attacked him for being wrong. But he was not swayed by people's criticism. He had a firm identity and fulfilled his mission. Later historians regarded him as a great figure.
If you are not confident, you will be shaken. If it shakes, it collapses. If you lose direction, you will hit a reef. A strong conviction is the hallmark of success. John knew who he was. I believed that God sent me. He knew why he was sent and threw himself for his mission.
To testify to Jesus, that was his mission. “The Witness of John” This is today's topic. I hope you will believe more about the Messiah that he testifies.
?? the first one
John was born six months before Jesus. However, John says that Jesus is “prior to him”. “Because I said before me, there is a man coming after me, and he precedes me, because he precedes them” (verse 30).
First, “first” means “first”, either in time or status. “He who comes after me precedes me, because he precedes me” (verse 15). This is the “pre-existence theory”. He came after in the flesh, but He existed before all things existed.
What do you do first? Is God First? Substance first? Worship comes first? Alumni reunion first?
What comes first is important. Sunday is the first day after the Sabbath. The day that Jesus was resurrected is called Sunday. It means the day of the Lord. “This day is ordained by the Lord; in it we will rejoice and be glad” (Psalm 118:24).
It is important to worship and donate, but the first thing to do is reconciliation. “Therefore, if you are going to offer your gift at the altar, and there remember your brother has something against you, leave your gift at the altar, and go first and be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift” (Matthew 5:23:24).
We can get a glimpse of Jesus first faith in John. Exalt Jesus and bring him to the front. that he is the best. “I am not worthy to untie his shoelaces” (Acts 13:25). I am not first. Jesus always comes first. He falls on his face and becomes the path that Jesus will tread on.
“Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). “The kingdom” has the highest value. That the country gets it all. The kingdom of God refers to “the absolute rule of God.” When God reigns, everything adds up.
There was a successful man who made a lot of money in America by making shoes. The pastor asked what the secret was. “The secret to my success comes from priorities. In everything, the first was God, the second was the family, and the third was the shoes.” I want you to live by faith in Jesus first.
?? one who takes away the sins of the world
“The next day John saw Jesus coming to him and said, Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (verse 29). It is to take away sins.
Leviticus 16:10 says, “The goat on which the lot has been cast for Azazel shall be put alive before the Lord, and he shall make atonement with it, and shall send it for Azazel into the wilderness.” Azazel here is a combination of the words “goat” and “disappearing”, meaning “goat that disappears”.
The high priest cast lots for two goats brought by the people on the Day of Atonement, one “for the Lord” and the other “for Azazel.” A goat for the Lord is killed as a sin offering and its blood is sprinkled on the Most Holy. The priest lays his hand on the goat's head for Azazel and imputes all the sins of the people. The goats are driven into the wilderness, bearing all the sins of the people.
The death of the goat Azazel, who went out carrying the sins, is accepted as having their sins paid off. They sing and dance. “He has removed our sins as far as the east is from the west.”
To believe that my evil has been taken away and that my sins have been forgiven. “He was pierced for my transgressions, and he was bruised for my iniquities.” Jesus made the ransom. You paid the price for me.
It was during the Passover period that Jesus was crucified. “...Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed” (1 Corinthians 5:7).
Jesus died during the Passover period. The Passover is a festival to commemorate the day when the Israelites were liberated from bondage in Egypt. The firstborn were sacrificed to liberate Israel. The blood of a lamb was sprinkled on the doorposts. A house with sheep's blood has passed the plague of death. The Lamb bore the sins of the people of Israel. Jesus, the Passover Lamb, was sacrificed in my place.
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:1-2). leads to The law of life leads to life. God does not condemn me. Jesus does not condemn me. “I, even I, am the one who blots out your transgressions for my sake, and I will not remember your sins” (Isaiah 43:25) Let us also not remember all the sins of the past.
?? the giver of the Holy Spirit
Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit. The angel Gabriel came to Mary who lived in the town of Nazareth in Galilee and said, "Peace be with you, you who have found favor, the Lord is with you, you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive and give birth to a son, and you shall call his name Jesus." He asked, “How could such a thing be, since you do not know a man?”
The angel answered, The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. God's power is not impossible. It is done” and the angel left (Luke 1:26-38).
As soon as Jesus was baptized, he came up from the water and saw the heavens opened and the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. I heard a voice from heaven saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:16-17). After Jesus was baptized with water, God baptized with the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit showed that Jesus was the Messiah and gave him power.
“The Holy Spirit immediately drove Jesus out into the wilderness, and he stayed forty days in the wilderness, being tempted by Satan, and was with the beasts of the field, and angels ministered to him…” (Mark 1:12-13)
When the Holy Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness, it was done by force. This means that Jesus did not go out into the wilderness by himself, but by the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus begins with the Spirit and proceeds with the Spirit.
John says he didn't know much about Jesus at first.
“I saw that it came down from heaven like a dove of the Holy Spirit and rested upon him.
I did not know him, but the man who said to send me baptize with water said to me, "When you see the Holy Spirit come down and remain on anyone, know that he is the one baptizing with the Holy Spirit." So I saw him and testified that he was the Son of God. did” (verses 32-34).
At first, John did not know that Jesus was the Son of God, but he knew that he saw the coming of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit and the Son of God are inextricably linked. Without the Holy Spirit, we are not children of God. If Jesus, the real Son of God, is like that, there is no need to worry about us who are adopted. “If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ” (Romans 8:9). Jesus told his disciples, “It is to your advantage that I go away; I will not go away, and the Counselor will not come from you. He will send you” (John 16:7), which means that He will die to send the Holy Spirit. When Jesus died, He said that He would send the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit came to those who waited according to the word.
Jesus came to the disciples on the evening of the day of his resurrection.
“Peace be with you! Breathe on them and receive the Holy Spirit! (John 20:22)
The evidence of John is to reveal who Jesus is. I am baptizing to reveal the Messiah to Israel, Jesus is the Messiah! “I have seen and testified that he is the Son of God” (verse 34).
John said that Jesus was before me. Jesus first faith, consider the Lord's Day as your first day Please set aside that day to worship. Chicken first? Egg first? You must not know the precedent. God first, first Sunday.
John said that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (verse 29). Look to Jesus who takes away my sins.
John said that Jesus received the Holy Spirit and was the giver of the Holy Spirit. Jesus showed that the Holy Spirit had come. “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” (Acts 19:2) If asked, what would you answer? Let us all be filled with the Holy Spirit, become God's beloved, and live doing what pleases God.