Jesus Required Witnesses

What Did Jesus Do?

He (John) was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.
John 1.8

We have noted that Jesus inspired witness (See WDJD 1/4/11); in truth the inspiration was in order to fulfill the Father's will—it was required that men and women be inspired. Question One of the Westminster Catechism asks what is our “chief end” (The primary mission, or purpose, of men and women)? The two-part answer is that we are to, 1) “glorify God,” and 2) “enjoy God forever.” The glory of God may be declared by the very heavens and by heavenly hosts (See Psalm 19 and Luke 2.13-14), but what the Father desires more than anything is that the creatures he created in his own image (That would be us) should commit their lives to his glory.

Now, the only way we can truly glorify the Father is through the Son (In John 1.1-16 the “Word” and the “light”). Everything else? Well, it pretty much all adds up to nothing more than vanity (See the book of Ecclesiastes, which concludes [Eccl 12.13] that the reverent fear of God and the obeying of his Word is the whole of our duty—our chief end, if you will). Some may be asking, “I thought Jesus came to save us from our sins. Are you saying that the chief reason for the Incarnation was for the Son to inspire the required witnesses for the Father?” Actually, it was Jesus himself who declared that his Incarnation, the coming of the “true light” into the world, was about witnessing, and the commissioning of witnesses. You will recall these words of Christ when he was on trial before Pontius Pilate:

“For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have
come into the world—to bear witness to the truth.”
John 18.37

Jesus, the “light,” came chiefly to witness, and, furthermore, the very last thing he did before being lifted back into heaven forty days after the Resurrection, in order to fulfill the requirement of the Father that there would forever be men and women to glorify him through the Son, was to commission witnesses, whom he called the “light of the world” (Matthew 5.14). (See Matthew 28.18-20 and Acts 1.8) Think about it. Without the inspired witness of the required witnesses, would any of us know the Truth (Which is nothing less than the revelation of the Father in and through the Son)? Yes, the heavens declare the glory of God, and all creation points to him (See Romans 1.19-20), but this general revelation is only sufficient for us to know about God. But without the “light” where would we be—in darkness. To know God, to have an intimate personal relationship with him, and thus be able to both glorify him and enjoy him forever, requires a special revelation—the witness of the Son, and our witness in and through the Son—the witness of the “light”, and our witness about the “light.” There is no getting around this, it is our “chief end.”

Lest any of us complain that this requirement of God is a burden, we must remember that the Father has given us all that is necessary for us to fulfill it in and through Jesus Christ. The inspired witness of the required witnesses to the “light” is recorded in the twenty-seven books of the New Testament, continued throughout the history of the Church through two millennia, and is perpetuated by the witness of the saints today through the work of the Holy Spirit.

It may sound cliché when a preacher asks, “Can I get a witness,” but it is the one essential question the Church must answer. The Body of Christ is not the “light,” but its purpose is to bear witness about Jesus Christ, the “true light.” In this, and this alone, is God glorified. The Son did what the Father required, as have the inspired witnesses who have gone before us and who now surround us. Will we be the witness he requires today?

S.D.G.

Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4