“The Witness of the Spirit”
John 1:19-51
“Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.” [John 1:33b]
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…” [Jn 1:14]. This describes the great transition. Jesus, the Word, at the right hand of the Father, “in the beginning” [John 1:1], “became flesh and dwelt among us.” And this word “became,” is an important one to note, because it identifies this transition, a great changeover, a move from one to another.
Revealed in John 1:14 is the changeover from the Old Covenant to the New; it highlights the move from the Law of Moses to the Life of Grace. And that all happened when the Word became flesh and dwelt among us a little over two thousand years ago.
This morning, we are going to pick up our reading at John 1:19 and continue to the end of the chapter. This section describes the ministry of John the Baptist and the calling of our Lord’s first disciples. These underscore a transition. John the Baptist was the last of the Old Testament prophets and Jesus’ disciples were the first of the New Testament saints. At the center of the two is the Person of Jesus Christ! Jesus is the transition between the two, He is the move from the Old to the New.
What is particularly interesting in this transition is the work of the Holy Spirit. “John bore witness, saying, ‘I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He [the Spirit] remained upon Him [Jesus]” [Jn 1:32]. John went on to say that upon the one Whom the Spirit remains is the One “who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.” [Jn 1:33]
Baptize means immersed. John came to immerse in water; Jesus came to immerse in the Spirit. Immersion in the Spirit is the wonderful work that Jesus came to do. And it is the work that we must receive to live a new Spirit-filled life in this life!
Jesus said, “In this world there will be tribulation, but take heed, I have overcome the world.” The way we overcome is by drawing near to Jesus and being immersed in His Spirit.
Because it is “Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of hosts” [Zech. 4:6], a tried-and-true principle identified in the whole of Scripture.
