According to the Jewish law, the testimony of one person is not a valid witness. Truth or validity has to be established by two or three witnesses (Deuteronomy 17:6; 19:15). Since people believe human testimony when validated by two or three witnesses, John explained that surely they could believe the testimony that comes from God.The Gospels twice record God’s clear declaration that Jesus is God’s Son—at Jesus’ baptism (Matthew 3:16-17) and at his transfiguration (Matthew 17:5). John said that if they believe testimony from people, then they can surely rely on the threefold witness of God.
When people believe in the Son of God, they know that everything the apostles taught about him is true. They know without any doubt because the Spirit who regenerated them gives them an inner witness to that reality (Romans 8:16; Galatians 4:6). God’s Spirit, alive in their spirit, witnesses to the fact that everything Jesus said and did was true. In fact, that is the primary function of the Spirit—to testify and reveal Jesus to every believer.
Those who don’t believe the testimony that God has given concerning his Son should realize that by rejecting what God has so plainly said, they are calling God a liar. John was blasting the false teachers who claimed to know God but did not believe what God himself had said concerning his Son. This was logically impossible and amounted to calling God a liar.
This is what God has testified and what the false teachers refused to believe: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. The divine, eternal life resides in Christ, who makes it available to all who believe in him. That Jesus is indeed God’s Son has been established by testimony from God himself. Believers have eternal life in relationship to and in union with Jesus Christ, who is himself “life” (John 1:4; 14:6), and they have eternal life because of him.
Human beings do not have life in themselves; they receive life from God. Through faith, believers have Christ within, so whoever has God’s Son has life—eternal life—now. They possess a new nature and enjoy fellowship with God. Believers can be certain that they have eternal life. Because they have received life through the Son, they can be assured of having everlasting life in the future. For those who do not believe, however, the opposite is also true: whoever does not have his Son does not have life.
SO WHAT? (what will I do with what I have read today?)
I think in all the years I've been a pastor the number one question people ask me is, "Why is it that I can't change? I want to change but I don't know how or I don't have the power to change."
We go to seminars, conferences, looking for the painless cure that's going to zap our life and change us instantly and give us self discipline. Or we go on diets. I once went on a diet for an entire afternoon. Or we join a health club and our enthusiasm goes great for about two weeks and then it kind of wanes and we go back into the same old rut and we don't change. We read self‑ help books.
The problem with self help books is they tell you what to do but they don't give you the power. They says things like, "Get rid of all your bad habits.... Be positive, don't be negative..." How? Where do I get the power to change? That's the basic problem -- a lack of power in our lives. How do I get my life off dead center? How do I get out of the rut? How do I break out of the mold I'm in? Where do I get the power to change??
Philippians 3:10 says, "All I want to know is Christ and experience the power of His resurrection." Ephesians 1:20 says, "I pray that you will begin to understand how incredibly great His power is to help those who believe Him, the same mighty power who raised Christ from the dead."
The word "power" is used 57 times in the New Testament. The Bible is a book of power and Easter is the most powerful event that ever happened. All of history was split by this one powerful event. It separates A.D. and B.C. What is that power? It's the power to change your life.
This morning, we're going to be talking about power. [I think of the new chaplain at the prison. He was nervous. He was assigned death row. He was trying to be positive when he went in to counsel the guy that was going to be executed the next day. He said, "I've really been praying for you." The guy said, "But you don't realize. Tomorrow I'm going to the electric chair." The chaplain, trying to think of something clever to say said - "Well... more power to you."] HA HA!
POWER! Paul said, I want to know the power of the resurrection. The Greek word for power is the word dunamis -- dynamite. God says, I want to give you dynamite power in your life! The same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead 2000 years ago is available for your life right now to change your life today!
What is resurrection power?
1. IT'S THE POWER TO CANCEL YOUR PAST.
All of your failures, your mistakes, your sins, your regrets. Cancelled! Have you ever been half way through a project and wished you could start over? Like painting the living room? A lot of people feel that way about life. "I wish I could just start over. I've made so many mistakes. I wish I could wipe them out. Failures, problems, bad decisions."
Colossians 3:14 says "He has forgiven all our sins and canceled every record of the debt we had to pay." Christ has done away with it by nailing it to the cross.
God says it's like the Etch-A-Sketch. You make a mess, you flip it over and wipe the slate clean. The Bible says that's what God does to all the mistakes I've made in my life when I come to Him. He wipes it clean.
Some of you if you would say today, "Christ Jesus, I want You to forgive me of all the things I've ever done wrong. I want to give my life to You. I want to make that commitment today."
What is the basis for forgiveness? Romans 8:1 "There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." When Jesus Christ died on the cross one of His last words from the cross were, "It is finished." In the Greek that's one word. It literally means "Paid in full." Canceled. It was what they would stamp on bills when they had been paid. It was stamped on prison sentences when they had been commuted. Paid in full.
God says, "That's what I did on the cross. I paid for every mistake you've ever made." So, Jesus was crucified on the cross so you can stop crucifying yourself. He was hung for your hang ups. That's Good News! That’s real power!
What else does resurrection power mean?
2. IT'S THE POWER TO CONQUER YOUR PROBLEMS.
The fact is everybody's got problems. You've got them. I've got them. It's a part of life. If you don't have any problems, check your pulse.
Our real problem is what we do with our problem. We try to solve them on our own power and our own strength. I have met thousands of people who feel like their lives are out of control. "I am a victim of my circumstance! What can I do? I'm powerless.
The fact is we can't control our circumstances, but we can control how we respond to them. Would you like to have that kind of power? The power to not be a victim of whatever life throws at you from this point forward?
Would you like power to conquer your problems? The bible says "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ. Shall trouble or hardship or danger? No, in all of these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loves us." Don’t you like that verse? In the Greek it says, "We are super conquerors" Pretty cool huh? Underline the word "conquerors". Man, I dig that. Most people think of Christians as wimps and patsies, but this verse says we are more that conquerors.
Folks, I want to tell you this morning - If you put your life in God's hands and you rely on the power of the resurrection, nothing can devastate your life, nothing can swallow you up, nothing can destroy you. That's the message of Easter. No matter how dark the situation is, God can turn it around. No situation is hopeless. God loves to turn crucifixions into resurrections. The same power that enabled Jesus Christ to rise from the dead, will allow you to rise over your problems.
It's the power to cancel your past. It's the power to conquer your problems.
3. IT'S THE POWER TO CHANGE YOUR PERSONALITY
What would you like to change about you? What would your spouse like to change about you? Maybe that would be a little more accurate. One wife said, "My husband is so temperamental -- 90% temper, 10% mental!" A Husband went in for marriage counseling one day and said, "I want a divorce right now." The pastor said, "But you said, you promised before God to take her for better or for worse." The man said, "Yeah, but she's a lot worse than I took her for!"
Or maybe you’ve heard this one. An older couple is on vacation in the Holy land – when all of a sudden the wife dies. The mortician in Jerusalem says to the husband – you have two choices; 1) pay $5000 to have your wife’s body shipped home, or pay $250 and have your wife buried here.
Conscious of where he was, he told the mortician to have his wife’s body shipped home – he would glady pay the $5000. The mortician was mortified – and asked why would you pay all that extra money when you could just have her buried hear? The husband responded - well didn’t that Jesus guys get buried here a couple thousand years ago? The mortician said well, yes. And after three days, didn’t he rise from the dead? Again, the mortician said yes. Well, I’m not taking the chance – we’re shipping her home.
The power to change your personality. Complete this sentence: "It's just like me to be_________________. Always late, ... worry, ... never stay on a diet, ... always put my foot in my mouth, ... always blow up, ... always be depressed, ... always get angry... whatever."
Folks, when God wants to change us, He uses a two step process. STEP #1: COMMIT YOUR LIFE TO JESUS CHRIST. When we commit our lives to Christ, that's the initial turning point. The Bible says when someone becomes a Christian, he becomes a new person inside. He's not the same anymore. A new life has begun." What happens? God says, I wipe out your past. All of it's gone. It's like starting over. That's why the Bible calls it being born again. Born again doesn't mean reincarnation, it just means you get another chance. Start over, new life! But then it's followed by a lifetime process.
STEP #2: CHANGE WHO YOU LIVE FOR. Romans 12:2 says "Don't let the world squeeze you into it's mold but let God remake you so that your whole attitude of mind is changed." I’s so easy to just go with the flow and do what everybody else is doing. It’s so easy to just sat that’s the way I am – I’ve always been like that and I always will. It’s so easy to be selfish and be consumed with living for me. Would you take a step of faith today and ask God to make - remake you - into the person He created you to be?
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