TAKING A LOOK AT 1 JOHN

“And Jesus Christ was revealed as God’s Son by his baptism in the water and by shedding his blood on the cross – not by water only but by water and blood. And the Spirit, who is truth, confirms it with his testimony. So we have these three witnesses – the Spirit, the water and the blood – and all three agree.”–1 John 5:6-8New Living Translation

            “At this time, there was a false teaching in circulation that said Jesus was ‘the Christ’ only between his baptism and his death – that is, he was merely human until he was baptized, at which time ‘the Christ’ then descended upon him but then later left him before his death on the cross. But if Jesus died only as a man, he could not have taken upon himself the sins of the world and Christianity would be an empty religion. Only an act of God could take away the punishment that we deserve for our sin.”¹

            Water is a symbol of salvation. Blood was necessary for the atonement of one’s sins and was a symbol of ‘life’. In other words we cannot live without blood coursing thru our veins. The shedding of blood has been required from the very beginning. In the OT God required the blood of goats, lambs and bulls to atone for the sins of the Jewish people. The NT was the unveiling of God’s plan to cleanse all men and sent his only Son to accomplish this. Blood is essential for forgiveness and the changed life that follows.

            What is so special about the name of Jesus? Some say he is just a good man. Some say he was nothing more than a prophet or teacher. Scripture declares that Jesus was the Christ, the long awaited Messiah. If you take the Bible in its entirety it becomes clear that only Jesus, was the Christ. Was it a coincidence that the Temple veil that was 60 feet tall, 4 inches thick and made of woven material was torn from top to bottom when Jesus died? According to my research it supposedly took 300 priests to maneuver one of these veils. It seems pretty clear that the tearing of the veil, 1– could only have been torn supernaturally, hence the logical one responsible was Almighty God and 2 – it represented God provided open access to him from then on. Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing!

Resource: The Life Application Study Bible 

¹ ScriptureNote from The Life Application Study Bible, p. 2818.

*Verses confirming Jesus as being the Son of God: Matthew 3:16-17, Matthew 17:5.