Testify God

“If you wish to achieve a proper spiritual life and establish a proper relationship with God, you must first give your heart to Him, and quiet your heart before Him.”

I think all of the brothers and sisters in the Lord know that after the Lord Jesus was crucified and then resurrected from death, He appeared to His disciples many times. But have you ever thought about God’s will behind it?

Hello brothers and sisters of Testify God, My name is Feifei. I’ve seen that all of you have some particular insight into the Scripture—this has been so helpful and edifying for me. Today, I’d like to ask everyone about something that’s perplexed me for years. As Christians, many of us have the notion that the Lord Jesus is God’s Son because there are a number of mentions in the Bible of “beloved Son” and “heavenly Father.” Just like it clearly states in Luke 3:22: “And a voice came from heaven, which said, You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.” Plus in the Lord’s Prayer the Lord Jesus called God in heaven “Our Father which are in heaven.” The Lord Jesus Himself said that, and that’s what the Holy Spirit gave testimony to, so nearly everyone who follows the Lord Jesus thinks that He is God’s Son. But I’ve also seen a lot of places in the Bible where it says that God is the only one true God who created the heavens, the earth, and all things, that there is only one God. So then why would there be any mention of a Father and a Son? Isn’t that contradictory? So was the Lord Jesus the Son of God or was He God Himself? I really can’t figure this out, so I wanted to ask you in seeking. Sincerely yours, Feifei Sister Feifei: Before having fellowship on this, we should first understand that everything God does is correct and without error. God’s words cannot contradict each other, and God’s wisdom is unfathomable to us as human beings. So, whenever we’re confused about something we need to seek the truth with a humble heart. The Lord Jesus said, “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled” (Matthew 5:6). If we have a heart of longing for the truth, I believe the Lord will lead us. Something we really need clarity on is whether the Lord Jesus Christ was God Himself or God’s Son. First let’s take a look at the origin of the idea that the Lord Jesus was the Son of God. In Genesis there was no mention of God having a son, and Jehovah God didn’t mention a son during the Age of Law, either. It wasn’t until the Age of Grace, after the Lord Jesus had become flesh and come to the earth to work that we speculated that there is a Father and a Son from some things written in the Bible. No one knew if this was accurate or not, nor did anyone try to seek out the facts to find out what this really was. But in fact, the Lord Jesus had already disclosed this mystery to us, and it’s something we can find out if we just pay a bit of attention. Back in the Age of Grace, Philip didn’t know God at all. He thought that the Lord Jesus had God, His Father, up in heaven, so he asked the Lord to have the Father show Himself to them. And what did the Lord Jesus say? John 14:9–11 says, “Jesus said to him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet have you not known Me, Philip? he that has seen Me has seen the Father; and how say you then, Show us the Father? Believe you not that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? the words that I speak to you I speak not of Myself: but the Father that dwells in Me, He does the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me: or else believe Me for the very works’ sake.” And in the Gospel of John 10:30, the Lord says, “I and My Father are one.” We can clearly know from the Lord Jesus’ words that there is only one God. The Father is the Son, and the Son is the Father. The Father and the Son are one Spirit, which is to say that the Lord Jesus was God Himself and there was no such thing as a separate Father and Son. There will probably be a lot of people who, reading this, may have a number of uncertainties about the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ was God Himself. The key to resolving these confusions is to understand what Christ really is, and then we’ll have clarity on this issue. Let’s take a look at a couple of passages: “The incarnate God is called Christ, and Christ is the flesh donned by the Spirit of God. This flesh is unlike any man that is of the flesh. This difference is because Christ is not of flesh and blood but is the incarnation of the Spirit. He has both a normal humanity and a complete divinity. His divinity is not possessed by any man. His normal humanity sustains all His normal activities in the flesh, while His divinity carries out the work of God Himself. Be it His humanity or divinity, both submit to the will of the heavenly Father. The substance of Christ is the Spirit, that is, the divinity. Therefore, His substance is that of God Himself.” “The incarnate flesh originates in the Spirit: He is the incarnation of the Spirit, that is, the Word become flesh. In other words, God Himself lives within the flesh. … For this reason, even though He is called ‘man,’ He does not belong to the human race, and has no human attributes: This is the man in which God clothes Himself, this is the man that God approves. Within the words is embodied God’s Spirit, and the words of God are directly revealed in the flesh. This makes it all the more clear that God lives in the flesh and is a more practical God, from which it is proven that God exists, thus bringing to an end the age of humanity’s rebellion against God.”…

By Wu Min Midday one day, Xiaomin’s husband had some drinks out after helping someone, and then got in bed for a nap after returning home. Seeing that he looked unwell, Xiaomin poured a glass of water for him. Her husband took a sip and went back to sleep. She felt certain that he had had a lot to drink and figured he’d be fine after sleeping for a little while, so she left to go to work. Xiaomin was scared stiff by the scene before her eyes when she returned home in that afternoon. Her husband, Laowu, was facing up on the bed—his face was purple, he was foaming at the mouth and nostrils, and his head lolled to the side. Utterly horrified, she quickly grabbed a roll of paper towels to clean him up while shouting at him, “Laowu, what’s wrong? Can you hear me? Say something! Laowu! Laowu! …” No matter how she yelled, her husband remained unconscious and unresponsive. It occurred to her that there was a pharmacy close by, so she rushed over to find a doctor. Once she got there and the doctor heard about Laowu’s condition, he immediately went to the house with Xiaomin. Seeing his symptoms, the doctor said, “This isn’t good; get him to the hospital as soon as possible for emergency treatment!” After the ambulance arrived and the doctor had loaded Laowu into the ambulance, Xiaomin thought with a sinking heart: “I don’t know if my husband can get through this. If he doesn’t make it, how can I go on living?” At the hospital, people were rushing to and fro and there was a hubbub of voices. She was extremely nervous and anxious, and could clearly feel that her heart was beating faster. A doctor, sighing over and over, said to Xiaomin, “Your husband’s condition is very serious; we honestly may not be able to save him. You should prepare yourself.” Hearing this left her extremely upset. If her husband were to pass away like that, the entire burden of their home would fall on her alone. How would she be able to bear that? How could she live like that? At this thought, her heart ached tremendously … The number of onlookers grew and grew, and someone said, “It’s gotten this bad already. Even if everything goes well, he’ll still be a vegetable.” These words were like a knife to Xiaomin’s heart. Just as she was experiencing this helplessness and suffering, it occurred to her that she is a person of faith, so she silently prayed to God, “Oh, God! My husband is unconscious right now, and he is very seriously ill. This is a life and death situation. I’m really upset and I don’t know how I should undergo this. May You lead me. Amen!” After praying, a passage of God’s words sprung up in her mind: “Almighty God, the Head of all things, wields His kingly power from His throne. He rules over the universe and all things and He is guiding us on the whole earth. We shall often be close to Him, and come before Him in quietness; never shall we miss a single moment, and there are things to learn at all times. The environment around us as well as the people, matters and objects, all are permitted by His throne. Do not have a complaining heart…. When sickness happens it is due to God’s love, and His good intentions are surely behind it.” From God’s words, Xiaomin realized that God created the world and mankind, and that God is in charge of everything. He rules and arranges the stars in the cosmos; the mountains, rivers, lakes, and oceans; the birds and the beasts; people’s families, marriages, and work as well as their future paths, and life, aging, sickness, and death. He also rules and arranges the good things and the bad things that happen day in and day out. No matter what type of environment God furnishes, His will is within it. We are short-sighted, and we often cannot see into things, but if we only set aside our own perceptions and have no resentment in our hearts, if we stick with it to the end, we will definitely see God’s deeds. We will understand God’s will in setting up that environment, and as a result, we’ll comprehend God’s love. Xiaomin knew that her husband becoming ill contained God’s benevolence within it and that she should rely on God to get through this. At this point, her heart found some peace. After the doctor finished imaging for Laowu, he told Xiaomin, “His lungs are completely obstructed; there is no hope of survival….” Seeing that his lower half was entirely purple, and he went on to say, “You need to be mentally prepared. Your husband could die at any moment.” Hearing this as she stood in the hospital hallway, she slumped weakly against the wall and prayed to God over and over, asking God to give her faith and lead her in the face of these circumstances. She then recalled the story of Job. When Job’s fields of livestock were stolen by robbers, his children were wiped out, and even his own body was covered with sores, Job recognized that his possessions, his children, and his own life had all come from God. Originally, he had nothing at all. Throughout all of that, Job maintained a heart that feared God and shunned evil; he had a true faith in God. He did not blame God, but said the words, “Jehovah gave, and Jehovah has taken away; blessed be the name of Jehovah” (Job 1:21). When this occurred to Xiaomin she felt much calmer. She was willing to fear God and shun evil as Job had and to obey God’s rule no matter what happened next with her husband. She was willing to put her husband’s life and death in God’s hands, and to allow God to arrange everything. After that, the family…

By Xing Jia “Good rain knows its time right; It will fall when comes spring.” (translated by Xu Yuanchong). Unknowingly, drops of spring rain fell on the earth. It was drizzling. Soon, the whole county town was shrouded in a veil of mist and rain. At the moment, in YuCai Experimental Primary School, the students in Class 6, Grade 2 were having an art class. The teacher, Lin Lifang, was giving them classwork on the platform, “OK. So much for the lesson. Now, everybody please imagine the world under the sea and draw your sea world on the paper, OK?” “OK,” the students answered in chorus. Then they bowed their heads to imagine and construct their pictures. Ms. Lin left the platform and walked among the students. Suddenly, she perceived that someone left behind her snuck a peek at her and then bowed his/her head from time to time. So she turned around and found it was Sun Li, a famous troublemaker in the class. Her years of teaching experience said that there was something fishy about him. Pretending nothing had happened, Ms. Lin crept round behind Sun Li without disturbing him. It turned out that Sun Li was busy with a verbal-exercise book, with his left hand holding a piece of white draft paper as a cover. Ms. Lin frowned and thought: How dare he do math homework in my class? He’s challenging my dignity. At this thought, she wrested the paper from Sun Li. Unexpectedly, Sun Li held it so tightly that the paper was torn immediately. Then Sun Li raised his head, frightened. The other students turned to look at them, wondering what had happened. “What are you doing, Sun Li?” asked Ms. Lin seriously. “I’m … uh … not doing anything.” Sun Li began stuttering, his head bent down. “What’s this?” Ms. Lin quickly pulled out his verbal-exercise book. With this evidence, Sun Li had to confess, “I … Last night I … didn’t finish my homework. And the math teacher punished me with 100 verbal exercises. And I must get them done before noon.” “Ms. Lin,” several students around Sun Li interrupted, “he could have done them at break times, but he went to play beanbag instead.” “Yeah, it’s true.” Hearing their words, Ms. Lin was a little angry and said sharply, “Sun Li, is it right to do verbal exercises in art class instead of at break times?” To her surprise, Sun Li didn’t take her words seriously but made a face instead. With her dignity being challenged, Ms. Lin was deeply offended, so she took his exercise book and went back to the platform. When she looked at Sun Li again, she found that he was glaring at her hostilely like “an angry bird.” “Ring …” The bell rang for the end of the lesson. With the exercise book in her hand, Ms. Lin stared at Sun Li and said seriously, “If you want it back, come to my office.” Ms. Lin was walking in the campus. With Sun Li’s hostile expression lingering in her mind, she had an indescribable feeling. So she prayed to God in silence to seek His will, “O God! I feel a little perplexed. Just now, I stopped a student from doing his math homework in my class, but he didn’t apologize. Then my anger was aroused and I took away his book. I know I have overreacted a little and have hurt him, but if I didn’t do that, he would not take me seriously and will not listen to me in future. O God! I want to satisfy Your will in this thing, but I just don’t know how. Please enlighten me and guide me.” At night, sitting in the study room, Ms. Lin thought over and over the thing happened in the morning. Then she opened the book of God’s word and saw the following words: “Regardless of whether one becomes angry in the sight of others or behind their backs, everyone has a different intention and purpose. Perhaps they are building up their prestige, or maybe they are defending their own interests, maintaining their image or keeping face. Some exercise restraint in their anger, while others are more rash and flare up with rage whenever they wish without the least bit of restraint. In short, man’s anger derives from his corrupt disposition. No matter what its purpose, it is of the flesh and of nature; it has nothing to do with justice or injustice because nothing in man’s nature and substance corresponds to the truth.” “Once a man has status, he will often find it difficult to control his mood, and so he will enjoy seizing upon instances to express his dissatisfaction and vent his emotions; he will often flare up into rage for no apparent reason, so as to reveal his ability and let others know that his status and identity are different from those of ordinary people. Of course, corrupt people without any status will also frequently lose control. Their anger is frequently caused by damage to their individual benefits. In order to protect their own status and dignity, corrupt mankind will frequently vent their emotions and reveal their arrogant nature. Man will flare up in anger and vent his emotions in order to defend the existence of sin, and these actions are the ways with which man expresses his dissatisfaction. These actions brim with defilement; they brim with schemes and intrigues; they brim with man’s corruption and evil; more than that, they brim with man’s wild ambitions and desires” (“God Himself, the Unique II”). Recalling her behaviors in the morning in God’s words, Ms. Lin thought: Aren’t my behaviors the same as God says? The reason I became angry was that Sun Li didn’t listen to me. To maintain my “lofty” image as a teacher and keep my face and status, I took away his book, believing that by doing this I could retain my dignity and the students would…

John 20:19 Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the middle, and said to them, Peace be to you. Reflection: Whenever I read this verse, I cannot help but ponder: Though it happened thousand years ago, what was the significance of Jesus’ resurrection? Why did He appear to people after His resurrection? From a spiritual book, I have read one passage: “And when He walked out from the grave, and appeared to the people one by one, the majority of people who had seen Him with their own eyes or heard the news of His resurrection gradually shifted from denial to skepticism. By the time the Lord Jesus had Thomas put his hand into His side, by the time the Lord Jesus broke bread and ate it in front of the crowd after His resurrection, and after that ate broiled fish in front of them, only then did they truly accept the fact that the Lord Jesus is Christ in the flesh. … This brief reunion made the people who saw the Lord Jesus feel as if a lifetime had passed. Their lost, confused, afraid, anxious, yearning and numb hearts found comfort. They were no longer doubtful or disappointed because they felt that now there was hope and something to rely on. The Son of man standing in front of them would be behind them for eternity, He would be their strong tower, their refuge for all time.” God examines the innermost heart of man. Jesus knew that His disciples followed Him, but they didn’t believe that He was the incarnate God, much less the fact of His resurrection. Thomas was the classical example. After he touched Jesus’ wound in His rib and nail marks in His hands, Thomas’ doubt of God disappeared. Hence, Jesus’ appearance to people was to make those who followed Him truly believe that He is the incarnate God and is the Lord who created the heavens and earth and all things. Although He was nailed to the cross, He had the power of resurrection. From these, we can see God’s authority, strengthen our faith, and truly rely on Him on our path of following God.   » Read more in these articles: • 3 Aspects to Unravel Mystery of Incarnation of Jesus • What’s the Significance of the Lord Becoming Man’s Sin Offering? • 3 Truths About the Resurrection of Jesus Christ We Should Know   » Most people also watch: The Lord Jesus’ Words to His Disciples After His Resurrection Peace be with you all! Dear brothers and sisters, if you have any understanding or enlightenment from God, you’re welcome to share with us.1. Via the online chat window at the bottom right corner of the screen.2. Send an email to info@testifygod.org.We sincerely hope we’ll grow spiritually through sharing with each other.