Friday, November 19, 2004

The Testimony of Jesus—Where We Go From Here

And they overcame him [the accuser of the brethren] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. (Revelation 12:11)
Isn’t it good to be an overcomer? Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered. We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us so, and this is the victory that overcomes the world — our faith. Yes, it is good to overcome.

In this verse, we see three things by which we overcome, and they are all about Jesus:
  • The blood of the Lamb
  • The word of our testimony — Jesus in us
  • We love Jesus more than our own lives.
The truth is simple: When we are centered and focused on Jesus, we overcome.

But now, let’s take a closer look at the word of our testimony. This is not about what we were before Christ. As Graham Cooke says, that’s our history. Our testimony is the life of Jesus at work in us now. Not just what He has done, but what He is doing in us. Our testimony is not static. It is dynamic and alive, advancing us in the things of God.
For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. (Revelation 19:10)
The testimony of Jesus is what He is doing in us and through us. It is not oriented toward the past, but toward the future. It goes forward. That is why it is called the spirit of prophecy. Prophecy is all about Jesus, what He is doing in us, and where this is all heading.

Let Jesus have His way in you. Let the Spirit of God bring forth the life, power and passion of Christ in your life. Let the word of your testimony, the testimony of Jesus in you, be fresh and vibrant. Its all headed in a very good direction (Revelation 21-22).

2 comments:

  1. Anonymous1:19 PM

    I appreciate your kind thoughts on your blog. What do you think about the recent story about it on the
    The Swift Report and Christian video games... I feel a bit concerned about The Passion of the Christ on video games for kids...would they be able to understand the violence?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yes, I have a hard time imagining The Passion of the Christ as a video game. The culture of video gaming often seems to promote violence as a meaningless pasttime. In such a context, I think the violence of the Cross would be seen more as an entertainment than as the redemptive suffering that it is and having the eternal effects that it does.

    I'm all for engaging the culture and making use of the various technologies and mediums of communication to bring out the message of the Gospel. But converting The Passion of the Christ to video game would have to be very uniquely done to have the proper impact. I'm not saying it can't be done, and certainly the Lord Jesus Christ is bigger than any blunder or excess we might fall into in such a venture. But I think we need to be walk very circumspectly.

    The question I would ask is, Is this an idea that came up out of prayer? Jesus said, "I do only what I see my Father doing." Is this an idea that came out of watching the Father?

    Thanks for posting.

    ReplyDelete