The Agreement

 

DEVOTION

THE 1^ST LETTER OF JOHN

THE AGREEMENT

1 John 5:6-12

6 This is the one who came by water and blood — Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. 7 For there are three that testify: 8 the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. 9 We accept man's testimony, but God's testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son. 10 Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart. Anyone who does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because he has not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. 11 And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.

NIV

A great deal has been written and debated as to what this water and blood means. Some have thought the water refers to the flesh, which he was born of water, such as a natural birth occurs so that it testifies that he was fully man. Then the blood would have been that which he shed for the remission of our sins. The Spirit, whom we know, testifies within our hearts regarding Jesus. Others see the water as that which John the Baptist used to baptize Jesus and at that moment the voice of God and the Spirit together testified that Jesus is the Son of God, the Christ. Then, of course, the blood is still that which he shed. If our great scholars cannot come to a common consensus regarding the meaning of the water and blood, then it is doubtful we might fully understand or get the true meaning. However, it should be plain. All three, the water, the blood, and the Spirit are a testimony of God which he has given about his Son. God said that Jesus came by water and blood. It is not that something happened to him regarding water and blood, such as baptism and the shedding of his blood. However, the Greek word translated as by, has a far more complex meaning than just as by. It could be translated as: because, through, or the result of, with lots of ways in which it could be applied. But the fact is still the same. God has testified that Jesus is his Son and he has given us the Spirit who testifies within us to that truth. What we might see is that before the foundation of the earth the Spirit of God hovered over the waters, and it was Jesus who created all things. So Jesus started with the water, he came from water. We know that is a far-fetched idea, but no one has come up with anything that is in agreement with the others. Nevertheless, we believe in the Son of God because we have a testimony in our hearts. Whatever the truth is about the water and the blood, we know it is true, because the Spirit testifies in agreement, so that all three give true testimony that Jesus is the Son of God and that He has given us eternal life. There is nothing else that counts. This is the most encouraging truth in our lives, that because we believe Jesus is the Son of God, that Jesus is divine, that He is God, as the Father and the Spirit are God, the three in one, water, blood, and Spirit, all three agree that Jesus is the Son of God and as we agree, we also have eternal life. The world cannot offer us eternal life, but only eternal death. So we reject the world and we accept the Son and we have eternal life. All that this life has to offer cannot compare to the life we have in Christ. We were also born of water, as Jesus told Nicodemus. So Jesus was born of water, being fully man. Someday, we will give up the lifeblood that flows in our veins, experiencing the death of this body, as Jesus died on the cross. However, we will also experience the power of the Spirit in being resurrected from the dead, just as Jesus was. So the three are in agreement, in His life and it will be in ours as well. In addition, God made an agreement with us. If we accept His Son, He gives us eternal life. Some would disagree with God, and even the fact that God is. But we agree with God and he agrees with us. We are in agreement.