Thursday: Our Witness of Jesus
Daily Lesson for Thursday 14th of November 2024
Again and again, as John presents witnesses to Jesus, his point is to bring us to a sweeping conclusion: “And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:30-31, NKJV).
Imagine having been there, in person, in the flesh, and having seen Jesus do many of these miracles. We’d certainly believe, wouldn’t we? We’d like to think so; but, in some ways, we have even more reasons to believe in Jesus than did those who actually saw the miracles.
Why?
What are some of the things that we have today that those living at the time of Jesus didn’t have that should help us believe? (See, for example, Matthew 24:2, Matthew 24:14, Matthew 24:6-8.)
Image © Review and Herald Publishing Assn. Goodsalt,com
And that’s because we have not only the powerful accounts in John’s Gospel, but also the great advantage of seeing so much of what Jesus and other Bible writers predicted would come true, such as the destruction of the temple (Matthew 24:2), the spread of the gospel around the world (Matthew 24:14), the great falling away (2 Thessalonians 2:3), and the world continuing to be a fallen and evil place (Matthew 24:6-8). All during the life and ministry of Jesus, His following remained a small and harassed group of men and women who, by all human standards, should have vanished from history a long time ago. How could they have known, as we do, that all these things would come to pass? And they have. In fact, our own faith itself exists as a fulfillment of Jesus’ own prophecy that the gospel would go to all the world.
And, today, about two thousand years later, as followers of Jesus, we also have the privilege of bearing witness to Jesus and to what He has done for us. It is not by the reasoning of Nathanael, Nicodemus, the woman of Samaria, or the teachings of the Pharisees that we can know Jesus as the Messiah for ourselves. It is by the reading of the Scriptures under the convicting power of the Holy Spirit that we accept Jesus as the Savior of the world.
And then, each one of us, in our way, and out of our own relationship with God, can have a story to tell. Our story may not be as dramatic as seeing the dead raised or someone blind from birth healed, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is that we know Jesus for ourselves, and in our own way bear witness to Him, as did those in John’s Gospel.
(17)
There is a very real danger that we seek to prove God's existence by finding evidence of the supernatural. We want to see miracles because there is no natural explanation therefore they must come from a supernatural God.
C A Coulson in his book "Science and Christian Belief" reminds us that God is not just supernatural, he is also the creator of the natural world and this implies that the evidence for Jesus should be found in the natural world as well. He asserts that it is wrong to think of God just in terms of supernatural unexplainable events.
He gives a beautiful illustration about an underground physics laboratory he was responsible for having built at Kings College, London University. During the construction process nobody could see the building - all they had to work with was a set of plans and elevations that described parts of the building. Some of the drawings had nothing in common, while others showed the detail of intersections such as walls and floors.
He likened the finished building to the invisible God, and the drawings to the natural world and disciplines that describe parts of God in terms we can understand. His main idea is that the evidence for God must extend beyond the supernatural into the natural world as well. In particular, he does not want to confine God to the unexplainable. (sometimes known as the "God of the Gaps")
With this thought in mind, Jesus is the important link between the supernatural and the natural world. He gives us a picture (plan in Coulson's illustration) of God in terms we can understand. The extension of this idea is that we too, by God's grace and through the Holy Spirit, also provide an understandable picture of God to others in our natural world.
The more I behold the natural world the more supernatural it appears.
So very true Michael! Something can't possibly be created out of nothing through randomness. Order does not come out of chaos (unless I clean my desk 😆). There has to be a Divine Designer and Creator. Indeed nature testifies of One.
Thank you Maurice for your comment, it is perfect timing for a situation my husband and I are praying about right now. I think God just gave me the answer I was searching for.
I just spoke to someone who I did not know of her religious affiliation, about the supposed haunted school in our small town. I was pleased with her answer, “it’s only haunted if I was into that kind of thing, I am not, so it does not pretain to me.” You see God has his people in other churches. I never forgot Roger Coon said, “if you don’t play with Satans boards or go where people are communicating with Satan, you are safe.” I walk by the same school not out of curiosity, but for my two mile walk, yes I do believe walking with the armor of the Lord on always is our protection. I have gone to a community gathering in the same school and never once saw any allusions of the devil. I do believe we have Jesus within us, the evil one stays away. So yes I don’t look for miracles that smell foul. I really appreciate Olanda’s testimony as I am sure you do. If I were giving a grade to the testimonies today they all have an A, each in their own way.
The witness of Jesus is why the 4 gospels are sometimes called the Gospels of Christ. By my reading I have witnessed Christ stilling the waters, proof to me that He is our Protector. Raising the widows son from the dead was none other than miraculous. Raising Lazarus from the dead is evidence He is our Restorer, of soul and body. He restores us spiritually when we connect with Him on a routine basis. We witness Jesus feeding the 5 thousand, He is our Sustainer. Similar to ADRA helping thousands in disaster relief, providing for those they are able to help after the hurricanes, typhoons, earthquakes, floods, and the like. Where am I going with this? He has overwhelmed us with His witnesses in the 4 Gospels.
I have witnessed God's love in my life. Heard him calling me out of darkness, from the age of 17 l was buying Spirit of Prophecy books though l would not really understand the things l read. My life oscillated between right and wrong but truly speaking l never found peace and satisfaction in worldly living. But He continued to call me to himself and l always thought it was me who longed for God but after studying the Bible l understood that it has been Him all the time. And after choosing to become a Christian full time ( l was born in an Adventist family) .l have had a lot of falls and have reached points where l decided to give up. l thought Christianity was too complex and the standards too high for me to reach. l tried everything within my power to become a child of God but all my efforts led to frustration. But He kept encouraging me until l accepted him as my Saviour and decided to commit my whole life to Him and only then have l found peace and satisfaction.
God is patient with us and is all in in our Salvation every step of the way.
Olanda - how encouraging to read your testimony about your journey to 'find' God, only to realize that He went out to find you! I am happy that you have reunited with each other! 🙂 Yes, remain faithful - keep your eyes of faith on Jesus knowing He redeemes the faithful who love Him and want to be our heavenly Father's children.
I was born and raised in a Seventh-day Adventist home and was baptized in my early teens. As far back as I can remember, I always believed in God's existence and knew I needed to believe in Jesus to have my sins forgiven. However, it wasn't until my forties, when my understanding of righteousness by faith deepened, that my relationship with God reached a more profound level. We each must taste and see that the Lord is good and behold Him for ourselves. Without this personal encounter, our spiritual experience can become merely an exercise in head knowledge, rituals, and formalities.
Thank you Beverley for sharing your testimony of how learning about righteousness by faith transformed your faith. It has done likewise for myself. I nearly gave up on Adventism because my initial conversion was Old Covenant legalism, "all these things we will do". It became a burden and a duty, I nearly burned out trying. Whereas an understanding of righteousness by faith freed me from the bondage of trying to earn my salvation, to appreciating the salvation granted to me through Christ's merits and Righteousness. Obedience became a delight when the law of God was written on my heart and empowered by the Holy Spirit out of a heart appreciation of such amazing love bestowed upon me. It was no longer a hope of reward, or fear of hell fire, type of relationship with God, but one of love.
One of the SDA hymnal songs that I love is .." ....you ask me how I know he lives,he lives within my heart"
To say the least,Christ Jesus lives in my heart.I'm a witness to his deeds .It's now upon me to spread this gospel ..that indeed he lives.
Yes, Tim - Our God is a very compassionate, understanding, longsuffering heavenly Father. I am happy you did not give up your love for Him. He is faithful to take each one of His faithful children on their individual, personal road to receiving His revelations through His Spirit of Truth; it is truly an awesome journey - praise God!
God’s Word reminds us that He did not intent to have His human creature live in a world torn apart by warring factions. He worked and still works diligently to provide peace to our heart and mind. Until the new world comes, this is what I believe to be God’s greatest gift to mankind.
With the understanding that humanity has a Creator Father with clear authority to govern the affairs of man, one can rest one’s struggles in the assurance that all will work out well - even if this does not always appear so in this physical world.
Though this world has been taken over by greed and strife, we rest assured in our belief that this is not the world our heavenly Father intended for mankind to live in. We live in this world according to His Word revealed to us by His Spirit, given to us by His Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, in the hope for the new Jerusalem to come down from heaven for us to inhabit forever.
I thank God each day for His assurance that He is faithful to fulfill His promises. My heart and mind is focused on Christ Jesus as my Hope, the first-fruit of many more to come, and my spirit is at peace because I trust in Their never ending Love for Their creation. Isaiah 30:15
Knowing prophecy and seeing it fulfilled has its purpose, but does it actually give us a reason to truly believe in Jesus? I'm not sure it automatically produces faith - there are many people who are passionate about prophecy and don't seem to know a lot about a life with Jesus. John's gospel really focused very little on prophecy. I know as Adventists we tend to try to make our distinctive teachings on prophecy fit with every Bible passage, but I'm not sure it really fits with what John is telling us here.
Christina, prophecy has an important role in the life of a Christian. It gives us knowledge about God and affirms His existence, helping to strengthen our faith and guard us against deception. However, it cannot make us fall in love with Jesus. It is by gazing upon Jesus on the cross and meditating on His law and teachings that we truly come to love Him and the rest of the Godhead.