God In the Witness Stand

I have had the opportunity to serve on several juries during my lifetime. One of the things required of a juror is to determine how reliable a witness is. It can be difficult to assess the honesty of a witness in a relatively short time and many things can contribute to the final decision; the appearance of the witness, and their body language; the consistency of their testimony; and whether their testimony is consistent with other demonstratable facts. But the fact is that a juror must make a decision about whether he or she trusts the testimony of the witness.

We actually do this many times a day. People tell us things all the time and if we are wise we will consider whether they can be trusted or not.

But what about when God tells us something. Can we trust him or not. If he tells us that he loves us and has a wonderful plan for our lives, can we really trust him?

The apostle John talks about the testimony of God to us in 1 John 5:9-12, "If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son. Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son does not have life."

God has borne testimony to the fact that Jesus is the Son of God made flesh in the scriptures that were written my men moved by the Spirit to write the very words of God.

In the gospel of Mark, Mark records these words of God about Jesus, "And a voice came from heaven, 'You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased."

And Jesus ministry was consistent with the testimony of God. Jesus did things that only God could do; he performed miracles; he raised people from the dead; he forgave people of their sins; he received worship; he lived a sinless life.

But we don't have to rely solely on the Scriptures for the testimony of God. The apostle John says, "Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself." A person reading Scripture may come to the conclusion that Jesus is the Son of God, that he did, indeed, die for the sins of the world, and he may put his trust in Jesus to save him from his sins. When he does this God sends the Holy Spirit to dwell in him and the Spirit confirms the testimony of God in his heart.

And what is the testimony of God? The testimony of God is that he wants us to have eternal life, his life. He wants us to spend eternity with him in a personal relationship. He offers us this life in his Son.

The testimony of God is not politically correct, but it is true, nevertheless. It is that if you accept Jesus as your savior you have eternal life, and if you reject him you will experience his judgment, separated from him for eternity.

If you are not a Christian, God wants you to know that he loves you and wants to spend eternity with you in intimate fellowship. But he will never force you to accept this. You must accept it because you believe it to be true. He wants you to choose to love him and obey him and accept his offer of salvation. Once you have Jesus, you have eternal life. If you don't have him, your eternal destiny is separation from God.

If you are a Christian, God wants you to know that you have eternal life, and you cannot lose it. He has gone to great pains to secure your eternal destiny with him forever, and he will be sure to "keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy." (Jude 24)

How can we not love and believe such a wonderful God?