Closer Today Than Yesterday: The Testimony of Three

Thursday, August 6, 2009

The Testimony of Three

This morning as I prayed, I thanked God for all the experiences in my life that have led me to this moment. Even as I prayed that I realized that the sum total of those experiences do not define who I am today. That's because God poured his Holy Spirit into me and that is the ingredient that brought forth good from all those past experiences. So I had to thank God for the Holy Spirit and for the work he is doing in me today.

The Word...

1 John 5:7-8 (NIV)

⁷For there are three that testify: ⁸the^a Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.

^a Late manuscripts of the Vulgate testify in heaven: the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one. And there are three that testify on earth: the (not found in any Greek manuscript before the sixteenth century)

The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984

I think the immediate thought concerning this verse is that it validates the Holy Trinity. Were we to consider only this verse, it should be easy to use it to prove the truth of the Triune God. But keeping this verse in context, it is apparent to me that this would be a false interpretation. Please do not misunderstand me, I am not implying that the concept of the Trinity is false but rather that this passage is not about the Trinity and is instead about three significant facts concerning Christ that are presented as proof positive of his divinity. To me, this is a far more important point for our entire belief system would be undermined were Christ not the Son of God. Whereas we can argue, pointlessly, about the Trinity for our salvation does not depend on that. Yet all of eternity rests on Christ.

To that extent then, this verse is about God testifying to us (v10) about his own Son. Jesus, being wholly man, according to the customs and the law as pertaining to righteousness was baptised. I believe this is the water that is referenced in this verse. It was this action that confirmed his humanity and revealed his divinity.

It was at this same baptism that the Spirit descended upon him as a dove. This I believe is the same Spirit referenced in this passage and marked the beginning of Jesus' ministry on this Earth. It established the pattern by which we are cleansed and then filled by the Holy Spirit. In this manner his humanity was confirmed yet again. However, God's voice accompanied the filling by the Spirit and declared that Jesus was the very Son of God.

Lastly, this verse speaks of the testimony of the blood. I believe that if the baptism (water) signified the beginning of Jesus' ministry, then it is the shedding of his blood that marks the completion of his ministry on Earth. By his own declaration "it is finished."

In this way, I see that the three 'elements' in this verse (Spirit, water, blood) are all in agreement that Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah, the Christ, Immanuel. They testify to my heart and soul and mind today that this is a truth that is irrefutable. If I am to accept the testimony of a man who has foresworn "so help me God" how much more do I believe the very word of God! My faith rests on this fact and my salvation depends upon it. My life depends on it.

In His Grip,
Carl

1 comment:

Bill said...: Sometimes your prophetic gifts all but overwhelm me; but at the same time they teach me; and I am satisfied in that process as God is glorfied simultaneously.

Thank you, Carl. The time you invest here edifies and empowers me. And that's only you being used by the very process to which you testify today. ... <'BB><; August 7, 2009 at 6:44 AM

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So I Stand Near The Gate

I read the below poem at a critical point in my life and it's message resonated with me. My ministry, "Near The Gate" was named in homage to this poem. When reading this poem, feel free to substitute the word 'gate' for the word 'door' and you'll have a little glimpse inside my head.

SO I STAY NEAR THE DOOR

By the Reverend Canon Samuel Moor Shoemaker, Jr., D.D., S.T.D.

I stay near the door.
I neither go too far in, nor stay too far out,
The door is the most important door in the world–
It is the door through which men walk when they find God.
There’s no use my going way inside, and staying there,
When so many are still outside, and they, as much as I,
Crave to know where the door is.
And all that so many ever find
Is only the wall where a door ought to be.
They creep along the wall like blind men,
With outstretched, groping hands,
Feeling for a door, knowing there must be a door,
Yet they never find it - - -
So I stay near the door.
The most tremendous thing in the world
Is for men to find that door–the door to God.
The most important thing any man can do
Is to take hold of one of those blind, groping hands,
And put it on the latch–the latch that only clicks
And opens to the man’s own touch.
Men die outside that door, as starving beggars die
On cold nights in cruel cities in the dead of winter–
Die for want of what is within their grasp.
They live, on the other side of it–because they have found it.
Nothing else matters compared to helping them find it,
And open it, and walk in, and find Him - - -
So I stay near the door.
Go in, great saints, go all the way in–
Go way down into the cavernous cellars,
And way up into the spacious attics–
It is a vast, roomy house, this house where God is.
Go into the deepest of hidden casements,
Of withdrawal, of silence, or sainthood.
Some must inhabit those inner rooms,
And know the depths and heights of God,
And call outside to the rest of us how wonderful it is.
Sometimes I take a deeper look in,
Sometimes venture a little farther;
But my place seems closer to the opening - - -
So I stay near the door.
There is another reason why I stay there.
Some people get part way in and become afraid
Lest God and the zeal of His house devour them;
For God is so very great, and asks all of us.
And these people feel a cosmic claustrophobia.
And want to get out. "Let me out!" they cry.
And the people way inside only terrify them more.
Somebody must be by the door to tell them that they are spoiled
For the old life, they have seen too much;
Once taste God, and nothing but God will do any more.
Somebody must be watching for the frightened
Who seek to sneak out just where they came in,
To tell them how much better it is inside.
The people too far in do not see how near these are
To leaving–preoccupied with the wonder of it all.
Somebody must watch for those who have entered the door,
But would like to run away. So for them too,
I stay near the door.
I admire the people who go way in.
But I wish they would not forget how it was
Before they got in. Then they would be able to help
The people who have not yet even found the door,
Or the people who want to run away again from God.
You can go in too deeply, and stay too long,
And forget the people outside the door.
As for me, I shall take my old accustomed place,
Near enough to God to hear Him, and know He is there,
But not so far from men as not to hear them,
And remember they are there, too.
Where? Outside the door–
Thousands of them, millions of them.
But–more important for me–
One of them, two of them, ten of them,
Whose hands I am intended to put on the latch.
For those I shall stay by the door and wait
For those who seek it.
"I had rather be a door-keeper . . . "
So I stay near the door

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Thursday, August 6, 2009

The Testimony of Three

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The Testimony of Three

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