Revelation 1:5 and 3:14 show us that Christ is the testimony, that is, the testimony of God. Christ is the testimony of God because He is the Word of the living God. Whereas the Bible is the written word of God, Christ is the living word of God. John 1:1 says that in the beginning was the Word and that the Word was God. One day the Word became flesh and tabernacled among men so that men were able to behold the glory of God. This Word is Christ, who is the declaration of God, the expression of God. Therefore, Christ is the testimony of God.
We have already spoken in the previous chapter concerning how Christ expresses God. All the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Christ bodily. When Christ lived on the earth, He lived out God. Hence, Christ is the living testimony of God. Apart from Christ, man can neither know God nor find God. God is in Christ, and Christ is the embodiment of God, the testimony of God.
John 14:6-11 shows us this matter. Philip said to the Lord Jesus, “Lord, show us the Father and it is sufficient for us.” The Lord was surprised and said to Philip, “Have I been so long a time with you, and you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (vv. 8-9). In other words, the Lord was saying, “When I live before you, God is living before you; I am the living out of God.” In verse 6 He said, “No one comes to the Father except through Me.” It is difficult to translate this sentence. This could be translated as, “No one can reach the Father except through Me.” This means that no one can contact God or touch God except through Him. In order for man to contact God, to touch God, and to reach God, he needs to do it through Christ and in Christ, because Christ is the embodiment of God, the testimony of God expressed.
The Holy Spirit is also the testimony of Christ.
John 16:5-7 and 14:16-18 show us that after the Lord Jesus passed through death, resurrection, and ascension into the heavens, He would descend as the Spirit. Just as He is the incarnation of God, the Spirit is the transfiguration of Christ. God is in Christ, and Christ is in the Spirit. After His ascension, He came as the Spirit with all His elements. These elements include all that He is, all that He has, all that He has accomplished, and all that He has experienced; all of these elements are in the Spirit. Therefore, John 16:13-15 tells us that when the Spirit comes, He will declare Christ to us and glorify Christ. Furthermore, John 15:26 also says that when the Spirit comes, He will testify concerning Christ.
Let me give an illustration, even though it is not completely adequate. Sulfur is often present in the waters of a hot spring. The water is like the Spirit, and the sulfur in the water is like Christ in the Spirit. Before the sulfur was present in the water, there was no element of sulfur in it. But when sulfur is added to the spring water, the water has an element of sulfur in it. Thus, wherever the water flows, sulfur also flows. In like manner, the Spirit now contains all the elements of Christ. The various elements of Christ—all that He is, all that He has, all that He has accomplished, and all that He has experienced—are contained in the Spirit. For example, because He is God, He has the element of divinity; because He became a man, He has the element of humanity; because He passed through incarnation, He has the element of incarnation; and because He passed through death, He has the element of death; He resurrected and thus has the element of resurrection; He ascended and was exalted, so He also has the elements of ascension and exaltation. All of His elements are in the Spirit. When the Spirit with all these elements comes into us, the element of God comes, the element of uplifted humanity comes, and the elements of incarnation, death, resurrection, ascension, and exaltation all come into us. Therefore, we are united with God, and we have died, resurrected, ascended, and been exalted with Christ. This is similar to drinking a glass of grape juice. When we drink the juice, all of the elements of the juice come into us. It contains the element of grapes, the element of sugar, and various other elements. Once the juice comes into us, all of the elements in the juice come into us. In like manner, because the Spirit has all the elements of Christ, when the Spirit comes into us, He brings all the elements of Christ into us and testifies concerning Christ within us, letting us know the kind of person Christ is. When the Spirit comes into us and touches us within, we “taste” Christ. If there is sugar in water, we will taste the sweetness of sugar when our tongue touches the sugar in the water. In like manner, when the Spirit enters into us and touches us within, we feel glorious, holy, bright, and transcendent. What are these elements? They are Christ, because Christ is glorious, holy, bright, and transcendent. People may ask us, “What kind of person is Christ?” We can say, “Although I cannot explain, I have tasted Him within me.” People may ask, “Where is Christ?” We can say, “Although I cannot show you, there is a taste within me. I have definitely touched Christ. But I do not need to go to heaven to touch Him; He came down from heaven and He touched me within in the Spirit.” The Spirit, as Christ’s transfiguration, reveals Him within us. Therefore, as the testimony of Christ, the Spirit glorifies Christ.
Apart from the Holy Spirit, there is no way for man to know Christ. Man must be in the Holy Spirit to be able to touch Christ. First Corinthians 12:3 says, “No one can say, Jesus is Lord! except in the Holy Spirit.” Those of us who are saved truly have this experience. Often when we touch the Holy Spirit within through fellowship or prayer, we spontaneously say, “Jesus is Lord! Jesus is the Lord of all!” When we say this, we feel glorious, bright, sweet, and peaceful. This indicates that we have touched Christ in the Holy Spirit. Once we are in the Holy Spirit, we touch Christ, because the Holy Spirit is the transfiguration of Christ and the testimony of Christ.