One Thing I Do Know
The reality for every person, born again of God, is the requirement to bear witness of Jesus Christ. Christian, your neighbors know of your transformation. They are not blind to the fact that you are no longer spiritually blind. They find the new you to be a bit peculiar. They, of course, don’t know why you have changed, or for that matter, who changed you. You must tell them.
The believer in Jesus Christ has the indwelling Holy Spirit in him (Jn 14:17; Rom 8:9, 11; Jas 4:5). Here is the catalyst of change. The Spirit of Christ cannot possibly deny the person of Christ, nor can He deny the works of Christ. Here is the power and the wisdom of the Christian’s witness (Acts 1:8).
The unbeliever does not have the Spirit; therefore, he is the one who denies Jesus Christ. When pressed with the witness of the Spirit, the unbeliever will be agitated to some degree. He does not want to hear about the holy One of God because, simply put, Christ Jesus makes him look bad.
If a Christian were to boast in himself, bragging about some prowess at something, the people of the world would have no qualms because the pride of man is naturally in competition with his neighbor, who he looks down upon for some alternate flaw or deficiency. Men, however, cannot compete with Jesus Christ. He is the perfect God-man (Jn 1:1, 14; Heb 4:15). They may attempt to discredit Jesus as a sinner, but the witness of God is against them.
Everywhere Jesus went and everything Jesus did was good. Our Lord graced the humble with miracles, signs, and wonders that relieved pain and suffering. He told people the truth. When His testimony obviously equated Him with God, the unbelievers vehemently objected.
To this day, unbelievers do everything they can to deny Jesus the glory due His name. When a Christian boasts in the Lord Jesus, the spirit of Antichrist is aroused. The arguments against the Son of God are legion. A Christian’s capacity to engage the naysayers is limited, by what he knows, of the One who came into his life and transformed him.
The task of the saint is to grow in the grace that began its good work in him (Phil 1:6; 2 Pet 3:18), and to advance in the knowledge of Him, who the Father sent into the world. In knowing Christ more and more, there is an enhanced witness. The Christian has an answer for those who inquire about the hope within him.
The world is filled with confusion on just about every subject. The world is holding on, waiting for a hero, which the Antichrist, the false messiah, will someday fulfill. The Bible calls him the man of lawlessness (2 Thess 2:3). He is the very antithesis of the perfectly obedient Son of Man, who fulfilled the Law of God (Mt 5:17).
The fact is that sinful man does not want the righteous One to rule over him (Lk 19:14). He is sure Jesus Christ will withhold some pleasure from him, just as Adam and Eve thought. The sinner is convinced, if he holds back submission to Jesus Christ that he will be in a better position, have more power, and maintain his prestige.
With more light from the Light of the world (Jn 8:12; 9:5; 2 Cor 4:6), the Christian begins to see the vanity and the tomfoolery of humanity. The spirit, at work in the sons of disobedience (Eph 2:2), positions every man as judge of Jesus Christ. The spirit of the age is for every man, to impose his own will upon the will of God, who sits in the heavens and laughs (Ps 2:4).
Nations of men rage against the Lord and His anointed, but the regenerate people of God have this anointing from God (Lev 21:12; 1 Jn 2:27), that is, the Holy Spirit, who guides us into all truth (Jn 16:13). God’s Word is truth (Ps 119:160). The more we know of the truth, as it is in Jesus, the more hostile the world becomes. Conflict with the world is inevitable. The one who does not love the world any longer (1 Jn 2:15–17), whose light shines before men (Mt 5:16), exposes their evil (Eph 5:11).
The world threatens the Christian with denied access to privileges. It is to no avail because the child of God has the power of a new affection within him. He desires the things of God, more than the things of the world. He struggles, as if a civil war raged within him. It does (Rom 7). Still, the Light within is growing brighter, day by day. Soon the world demands a pledge of allegiance. Ironically, so does the Lord God Almighty. The Christian must choose this day…and every day, whom he will serve (Jos 24:15).
When a man was blind to the things of the Spirit, who opened his eyes to see, it is absolutely impossible for the children of light not to shine. They cannot deny the Lord who bought them for a price (1 Cor 6:20; 7:23), off of the slave market of sin (Rom 6:6). Jesus is the One who loved us and gave Himself for us (Jn 10:11, 15; Eph 5:25).
The frenzied fight to cancel the Christian with fiery darts is met with the shield of faith (Eph 6:16). In return, the Christian resists that old dragon, with a simple thrust of the sword of the Spirit, “One thing I do know…I was blind, but now I see.”
Friend, consider your hostility toward Jesus Christ and those who profess their love for Him (1 Jn 4:19). Do you not understand your hatred toward God is the direct result of the fact that you remain blind to the excellencies of Jesus Christ, who dwells in unapproachable light? May He grant you repentance (Acts 5:31). May He give you eyes to see, by His grace, and may your tongue be loosed to proclaim Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of the Father.
David Norczyk
Spokane Valley, Washington
December 24, 2022
