Blog In Audio:
Greetings,
Well, it appears that Summer has finally arrived in the Northwest. What a great weekend we have had here! The sun is shining, the garden is growing, and the sound of life is everywhere. I hope you have had a great weekend as well.
We have a great hope in Christ. Jesus is the name that is above all other names and Holy Spirit has come in the name of Jesus into our lives. The testimony of Jesus in the flesh, is not just the testimony of Jesus as a man for the salvation of mankind. It is the testimony of His resurrection from the dead. That testimony is manifested as Christ in our flesh. There are three that bear witness in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Spirit. There are three that bear witness in the earth – the Spirit, the water, and the blood.
1 John 5:6 This is He who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth. 7 For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one. 8 And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one.
Our relationship is with God in His plurality. He is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. He is fully in heaven, but He has also given us access to Him as believers in Jesus and members of the body of Christ. The blood testifies that we are believers in Christ. The water testifies that we are members of the body of Christ. The Spirit is the empowerment of our lives as believers and members of the body of Christ.
Hebrews 9:13 For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, 14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
Hebrews 10:19 Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, 21 and having a High Priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
Our bodies washed with pure water is the work of God’s Spirit and Word in our lives. This sanctification in Christ is the true testimony of the water containing the ashes of the Red Heifer. The shed blood of Jesus gives us access to the blood of the New Covenant – the empowering grace of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We sprinkle the water by holding fast the confession of our hope without wavering. We must encourage one another for this cause in the testimony of Christ. We can only hold fast to our confession by depending upon the faithfulness of God. It is the faithfulness of God in one another that encourages and empowers one another to remain strong in Christ. We are washed with the pure water when we seek to stimulate one another with love and to love. Our love towards one another is evidence of being part of the body of Christ. We do not judge one another according to the flesh, but according to who we are in Christ. The life that we live is a life of faith towards God in Christ. We must seek to stimulate one another with and for good works. Those works are the external testimony of our faith towards God and towards one another. We experience the washing of pure water when we come together. We must make seeking to come together as of the most importance in our lives. We cannot experience the washing of pure water by isolating from one another. We must come together as often as we can to encourage one another as members of the body of Christ. We do this especially as we see the day approaching. The approaching day is the seventh day, the perfection of our lives. It is the day of the full harvest of our destiny. It is not merely an event in the future, but a testimony of the increasing perfection of Christ in our lives. Surely the enemy will seek to distract us from these things in our lives. If the enemy can distract us we will be altered from the course of our full destiny in Christ. We must stay the course and be true to who we really are. We are members of the body of Christ and members of one another in Christ.
God’s grace is the manifest presence of His Holy Spirit working in our lives. This is Christ in us, the hope of glory. The testimony of the Spirit of God to us, is the life of God’s Spirit within us. God’s mercy justifies us all to live, but it is the testimony of His grace that empowers us to live. The apostle John wrote to the church in His day reminding them that the test of a true voice of God was the witness within them.
1 John 4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.
It is the Spirit that confesses Jesus Christ has come into your flesh, that is of God. This is the internal witness of life, and this is what separates us from the world. Everyone in the world is welcome to come, but each one must come to God in Christ. Only Christ in you is the greater power. It is the power of the resurrection life of God working within. It is not merely the spirit that says Jesus came in the form of flesh two thousand years ago, but the spirit that acknowledges Christ in humanity. Christ in humanity is the testimony of Jesus, the Lord, coming into our own personal lives. Any voice of God to us will be witnessed by the life-giving Spirit of Christ within us. We must willingly receive Him to be internally empowered to confess our believing Him. The internal motivator is the Holy Spirit who has been sent in Jesus’ name to bear witness to the One whose name is above all other names in every age.
Blessings,
Ted J. Hanson
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House of Bread Ministry
3210 Meridian St.
Bellingham, WA 98225-1728
