See & Testify

Is Jesus on your mind and the Gospel coming out of your mouth?

See & Testify

"By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world."

(1 John 4:13-14)

In 1 John 4:13-14, John teaches about the triune nature of God as Father, Son, and Spirit. John says we have seen and testify. John and the other Apostles had seen Jesus. He was an eyewitness to the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. "Seen" is a perfect middle indicative verb in Greek. The Apostles had seen Jesus themselves, and seeing Jesus changed their lives forever. They also "testify" which is in the present tense. They continually tell others the good news. The word translated "testify" is martureo, from which we get our English word martyr.

This is why it is so important for us as Christians each day, without exception, to see Jesus in the Word of God. After we see Him and encounter Him afresh in our devotional time with Him, then we are ready to testify about Him. The reason many do not testify about Jesus is because they spend little time with Jesus. As Chuck Kelly, former president of the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, would say, "When Jesus is on your mind, He will come out of your mouth."

Notice specifically what the Apostles testified and what we today as followers of Christ are to testify: the Father has sent the Son. This one phrase speaks of the deity and preexistence of the Son. Notice that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world.

God did not send a reformer because we need much more than reformation. God did not send a doctor because our need is not physical. God did not send a philosopher because we need more than correct thinking and reasoning. God did not send a religious leader because we do not need more religion. God sent His precious Son to die on the cross because our need is spiritual. We are sinners, and we need One who is Holy to deliver us from our sin. So God sent Jesus! (Source: l got the thrust of this idea from Brian Harbour's message on this biblical text, p. 7.)

Jesus is the Savior for the whole cosmos. This includes the rich and the poor, the educated and the uneducated, the Americans and the Afghans, the Cubans and the Chinese—the whole wide world! John 4:42 states, "Then they said to the woman, 'Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world."

Is Jesus on your mind and the Gospel coming out of your mouth?