Believing That Jesus Christ Is The Son Of God - Test #2 Series

Here’s one for you to think about. There was a preacher who worked hard on his sermon all week and then typed it up on Saturday night. During the night, his dog got into his office and, wouldn’t you know it, chewed his sermon up. He didn’t notice it until it was time to go to church. When he got in the pulpit, he said, “I had a nice sermon prepared for you this morning, but my dog chewed it up. So I’m going to have to rely on the inspiration of the Lord today, but I promise to do better next Sunday.” (Think about that)

The Lord is my inspiration and I know that he is yours as well. Isn’t it wonderful what happens when we allow the Lord to work through us instead of us trying to get the Lord to follow our plans?

Today we are going to take a test that proves that we really believe in God. Our Scripture passage comes from 1 John 5: 6-8. This morning’s message is actually part I of believing the testimony of Jesus Christ: that He is the Son of God. This message actually comes from our Sunday night Bible study that we have been in for the last three years. Tonight, we will pick up from where this leaves off.

So I need you to ask yourself right now: Is Jesus the Christ, the true Messiah, the promised Messiah of the Old Testament? Is Jesus Christ really the Savior of men, the one sent by God to save us and to give us life?

If a person believes these witnesses, then he believes in God. God has given us witness after witness that He sent His Son into this world to save us. So we are without excuse if we reject the witnesses of Jesus Christ. Our task is to receive the testimony of Jesus and to believe it. So today we look at three things:

1. There is the mission of Jesus Christ.

2. There is the testimony of the Holy Spirit.

3. There is the testimony of heaven.

First, let’s see if we can take a closer look at verse six. This verse can be confusing at first glance. READ verse 6. This may seem like a strange way to express the mission of Jesus Christ. He came by water [His baptism], and blood [His death].

Let’s look at His baptism first. The baptism of Jesus is a great witness that shows us that He was the Son of God. It launched His mission upon earth. There were two things that happened at Jesus’ baptism that were most unusual.

1. The Spirit of God came upon Christ in the form of dove. Remember that the Bible tells us that John the Baptist was to be the forerunner of the Messiah. In order to point to the Messiah, John had to know who the Messiah was and to know beyond any question. Therefore, God told John that He would give him a sign, the sign of a dove. God would come upon His Son in the form of a dove. By this sign, John would know the Messiah.

Turn back to the Gospel of John 1: 32-34. READ. Notice how emphatic John is. He says, “I have seen and I can testify that this is the Son of God.” It was at Jesus’ baptism that the Spirit of God descended upon Jesus in the form of a dove and a voice from heaven was heard saying, “This is my Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

2. So not only was Jesus’ baptism a great witness, but the voice of God proclaimed Jesus to be the Son of God. Matthew testifies that God’s voice called Jesus Christ His Son. (Matt. 3:17) Mark testifies that God’s voice called Jesus Christ His Son. (Mrk 1:11) And Luke testifies that God’s voice called Jesus Christ His Son. (Luke 3:22)

Not only does the baptism of Jesus declare Him to be the Son of God, but the blood of Jesus Christ, His death on the cross, declares Him to be the Son of God. Only the Son of God could do what Jesus did when He died for man’s sins. He bore our sins upon that cross. He took our judgment and suffered the punishment for us. And through His death we are able to stand before God being free of sin. And we see this witness time and again throughout Scripture.

And it saddens me that there are still so many people in this world who refuse to even listen to the Gospel story. So many still refuse to read the account of what Jesus did for them.

Elizabeth Barrett married the famous poet Robert Browning. When she did, her parents disowned her. She did all she could do to reconcile but her parents still disowned her. She and her husband settled far from home in Florence, Italy. Elizabeth loved her mother and father and still she tried to reconcile.