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Don't Let the World Redefine Jesus · In the Stillness Podcast

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  Hey y'all, it's friendsly welcome back to In the
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  Stillness. Thanks for joining me on yet
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  another podcast episode. It is Friday, we made it to the
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  end of another week, and I'm just so, so very grateful to sit
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  down together and to be able to read through the Word of God and
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  go through takeaways that He kinda taught me throughout my
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  quiet time. I am going to be honest that the
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  verses I'm reading through today can feel a little overwhelming
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  and theological at first glance. John starts talking about water
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  and blood and testimony. And if you're reading quickly,
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  you might think, OK, what is going on here?
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  But the more that I sat with this passage and just asked the
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  Holy Spirit to continue teaching me and revealing things in the
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  truth, the more I realized this is actually so foundational.
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  If we misunderstand Jesus, we misunderstand salvation itself.
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  So I just want to slowly break it down together and hopefully a
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  very understandable practical way for y'all while staying
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  deeply rooted in the Scripture. So let's go ahead and read
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  through the passage. It's first John chapter 5,
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  verses 6 to 9. Jesus Christ is the one who was
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  revealed as God's Son by his water baptism and by the blood
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  of his cross, not by water only, but by water and blood.
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  And the Spirit, who is truth, confirms this with His
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  testimony. So we have these three constant
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  witnesses giving their evidence, the Spirit, the water, and the
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  blood. And these three are in
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  agreement. If we accept the testimony of
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  men, how much more should we accept the more authoritative
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  testimony of God that He has testified concerning His Son?
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  OK, there is a lot packed into those few verses, but at the
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  time that John wrote this there were some false teachings
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  circulating and they were basically saying Jesus is just
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  an ordinary human until his baptism.
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  Some believed the Christ or divinity of him came upon him at
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  his baptism, but then it left before he passed away on the
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  cross. And I just want to think about
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  if Jesus was merely a man then it would not have been possible
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  for him to carry the sins of the world.
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  A sinful human cannot absorb the wrath of God deserved for all of
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  humanity. Only a holy imperfect savior
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  could do that. Only a move of God could remove
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  our punishment for sin. So the bottom line is that
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  salvation begins and ends in Jesus.
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  That is why John one verse one says in the beginning was the
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  Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.
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  And then verse 14 says the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.
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  So Jesus did not become divine later in his life.
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  He has always been God, fully God and fully man.
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  And John is defending that truth here.
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  He is saying that the water, the blood, and the Spirit all
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  testify to who Jesus really is. Now I would say most theologians
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  believe the water refers to Jesus's baptism and the blood
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  refers to his crucifixion. That's more of the widespread
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  take on this. At his baptism, heaven testified
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  about Jesus. We see in Matthew 3 verses 16 to
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  17 that after Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, the heavens
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  opened and the Spirit descended like a dove.
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  And we see the Father say, This is my beloved Son, with whom I
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  am well pleased. So God the Father affirmed Jesus
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  publicly. And then the blood of the cross
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  testified too, because Jesus physically suffered and died as
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  the spotless lamb sacrificed for sin.
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  This was not just symbolical or partial, it was quite literal.
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  Hebrews 9 verse 22 says without the shedding of blood there is
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  no forgiveness of sins. And then first Peter one verse
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  18 and 19 tells us that we are redeemed with the precious blood
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  of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.
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  Now there's another layer that some believe John may be
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  pointing to here. The moment after Jesus died,
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  when the soldier pierced his side in John 19 verse 34, it
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  says immediately blood and water came out.
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  Now this is just completely crazy and intentional in God's
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  part. It wrecked me during my quiet
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  time when I realized how beautifully it connects to the
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  bigger story of scripture. So way back in Genesis, the very
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  first book of the Bible, God caused Adam to fall into a deep
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  sleep and when he did so, he opened his side so that he could
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  form his bride, Eve from Adam and then Fast forward to Jesus.
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  He is referred to as the second Adam in the Bible, and Jesus
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  enters the sleep of death. His side is pierced, and then
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  blood and water pours out, as we see in Scripture.
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  So through his sacrifice and through the Spirit, we are then
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  born again. We become the bride of Christ,
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  just as Eve was Adam's bride. And that is such a cool
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  revelation of how interweaved the Bible is from beginning to
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  end. And even though there are
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  differing opinions on some theological details in this
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  passage, the central truth is crystal clear.
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  Jesus is truly the Son of God, and salvation is found in Jesus
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  alone. And I think that's what the Lord
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  kept highlighting to me while reading this.
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  Instead of getting just kind of bogged down by all the
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  theological things, it was reminding me how important it is
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  to actually know what you believe about Jesus and to know
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  why you believe it. It's not based on culture, it's
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  not just on Instagram reels that you see or scroll past, it's not
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  based on what sounds appealing, but it has to be centered and
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  rooted on the Word of God. Y'all, the world will absolutely
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  try to redefine Jesus for you. Some people want Jesus in His
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  comfort without obeying his commands.
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  Some want a version of him that never fully confronts their sin
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  or calls them higher and forces them to confess and repent.
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  But we do not get to create our own version of Jesus.
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  Scripture already reveals who he is.
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  So I think an important question to ask ourselves today is this.
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  Are you following the real Jesus as seen in the Bible or possibly
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  a customized version that feels more comfortable to your flesh?
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  Jesus said in John 14 verse 15, If you love me, keep my
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  commandments. So obedience and submission is
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  significant. And it matters not because God
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  is just trying to control us, but His ways really do lead to
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  life. And this passage also reminded
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  me how important it is to stay anchored in the truth so that we
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  are not easily swayed by deception or confusion in this
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  world. Ephesians 4 talks about not
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  being tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every
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  wind of doctrine or teaching. So that is why we have to
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  examine what we hear through Scripture.
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  Are you passively consuming things online, or are you
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  actively seeking out the truth? When you hear a teaching, are
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  you comparing it and validating it to the Bible?
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  Do you actually spend time in the Word for yourself?
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  Are you allowing Scripture to shape your beliefs or are you
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  choosing only parts of Jesus's teaching that you like?
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  Because the Spirit is one of the witnesses that John mentions to
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  us here. Verse 6 says the Spirit who is
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  truth confirms this with his testimony and Jesus says in John
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  1717, sanctify them in the truth.
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  Your word is truth. The Holy Spirit will never
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  contradict the Word of God. He always leads us deeper into
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  truth, deeper into holiness, deeper into the reality of
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  Jesus. In Galatians 5 says, since we
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  live by the Spirit, may we keep in step with the Spirit.
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  I also love remembering that John writes all of this as an
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  eyewitness. At the very beginning of this
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  letter. He talks about hearing and
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  seeing Jesus, quite literally touching him.
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  John walked with Jesus. He was one of his closest and
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  dearest friends. And honestly, I think John
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  writes a lot of these theological things to silence
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  our doubts. Because think about it, we
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  believe human testimonies all the time.
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  We hear people telling us about their own stories of
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  transformation, freedom, encounters with God.
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  So why would we minimize God's own testimony and truth about
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  his Son? God is perfect, so his testimony
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  is perfect too. Maybe another thing for you guys
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  to reflect on today is this. Is there something that you're
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  struggling to fully believe Jesus for right now?
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  Maybe it's healing, a transformed mind, purity, a
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  breakthrough, possibly a deeper understanding of who he is.
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  Why would we limit him if he truly is the Son of God who came
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  down to save us, restore and make all things new?
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  Guys, there is so much evidence of who Jesus is.
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  The Spirit testifies, the water testifies, the blood testifies,
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  Scripture testifies, and the same Jesus who conquered death
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  is still alive and still moving today.
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  So I think that these verses ultimately call us into a faith
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  that is not shaky, not just built on feelings, not dependent
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  on culture trends, but in a faith that is rooted in the
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  truth of who Jesus is. So let's pray together now.
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  Dear Jesus, thank you for showing us yourself so clearly
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  through your word. Thank you that you really are
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  the Son of God, our Redeemer, our perfect sacrifice, the Lamb
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  of Godfather. Would you anchor us more deeply
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  in truth, protect us from deception and from confusion?
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  Would you help us not to create some version of you that fits
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  our preferences, but instead to fully surrender to who you truly
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  are? Holy Spirit, would you lead us
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  and guide us into your truth, deeper into obedience, into
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  further intimacy with you? Jesus, if there are any areas
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  that we are struggling to believe you more fully, would
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  you strengthen our faith and remind us that absolutely
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  nothing is impossible for you? We love you, Jesus, We thank you
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  for your sacrifice, for everything that you went through
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  on our behalf so that we could be one with you.
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  We ask all these things in your name, Jesus.
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  Amen. OK guys, that's today's podcast
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  episode. Praying for y'all as you head
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  into another weekend. Have a great Friday and I will
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  see y'all on the next episode.