The Apostolic Witness

Ikthus Dumaguete

Ikthus Daily Word | November 22, 2023 | Wednesday

1 John 4:14-16 “And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.”

The apostolic witness is most important. What is it? John, in effect is putting it like this: “The important thing is to know God. But how can I know God? ‘No man hath seen God at any time.’ But we have seen and do testify that Jesus is the Son of God.” That is the statement.

Notice how he puts it. He had not had a vision. What then? Thank God, “we have seen.” He said it all in his introduction: “That which . . . we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life . . . That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you,” said John. No man has seen God, but we have seen Jesus, and Jesus said, “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father” (See John 14:9).

In other words, the apostolic vision on which my faith is grounded is this: It is a belief in that which the apostles tell us they saw, and the explanation of their understanding of what they saw is found in the four Gospels. The statements in the Gospels are not simply objective statements; they are statements plus interpretation, and at long last modern man has come back to see that. They used to contrast John with Matthew, Mark, and Luke. They said that John preached, but that Matthew, Mark, and Luke just gave the facts. But they now have to admit that what all four wrote was facts plus interpretation. Like John, the men who wrote the first three Gospels believed and understood that Jesus is the Son of God and the Savior of the world. They saw and testified; in other words, they saw, and they expounded.

A Thought to Ponder: The explanation of the apostles’ understanding of what they saw is found in the four Gospels.

Devotional Source: Walking with God Day By Day

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