You are my witnesses

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“I have revealed and saved and proclaimed—I, and not some foreign god among you. You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “that I am God.”
                                                                                                                                Isaiah 43:12

Introduction
You can divide the book of Isaiah into 3 parts. Ch 1-39 is written before the people of Israel were taken into exile, chps 40 to 55 was written during the period of exile and the remaining chapters were written after the people came back from captivity. So this ch 43 is written when the people were under the bondage of Babylonians. It was at that time that God asks the Israelites to be witness to Him. Here in verse 12, as we just read, the Lord God declares that we are his witnesses, the proof of his singular Deity as God alone and Savior alone

Even in the NT, last thing that Jesus said to his disciples is recorded in Acts 1:8 that says “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

From this verse, it is clear that being a witness is not something that we have chosen. God has bestowed this honor upon us. We cannot choose to be or not to be a witness. Rather it is something that God has chosen. He has chosen us to be a witness for Him.

1. We witness Christ through our words/we are witness of God’s love
God commands every Christian to be a witness (Matthew 28:18-20) and He promises power to be His witnesses (Acts 1:8). We witness for Jesus by telling others how Jesus paid for our sins with His blood and rose from the dead so we can be saved.

Every member of Christ's Church ought to be a witness for Him. Today, as at all other times, the need of the hour is for witnesses. And yet when we face the opportunity to proclaim the Gospel to those who know it not, often we feel inadequate for the task. The reason being, in our day and generation the Christian message often seems to be outmoded, outdated, and generally irrelevant. Consequently, in self-conscious weakness, we deny from speaking the word that God would place in our mouths.

But let continually remind ourselves that as Christians God has chosen us to be His witnesses. Jesus had spent hours teaching the disciples who they were. God's servants, my friends, beloved children, disciples. At moments they seemed to understand, but not always. At the beginning of the book of Acts, just before he was about to leave them, he reminded them that they were to be "witnesses." witness of everything they saw and experienced. Throughout the rest of the book of Acts, we find these disciples witnessed about Christ wherever they went. Regardless of how the conversion process comes about, we as believers have seen Jesus as our Savior and Lord. And we too are to witness our experience to the rest of the world.

2. We witness God through our life
The fact that we are witnesses is not something they we do, practice or earn; it is something they we are. Our connection or identification with God makes witnesses.

As one writer puts it, “Witnessing is not a spare-time occupation or a once-a-week activity. It must be a quality of life. You do not go about witnessing, you are a witness.”

We witness for Jesus by living an authentic Christian life based on a Biblical principles. Micah  6:8 teaches us to live a life pleasing to God. I will read that for you. “He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?”
So our life is not a walk of the flesh, but rather a walk of the Spirit.

3. We witness God through our work
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:16)

By our good works we definitely bear witness to the kingdom of God. It is indeed very nice to hear, that through the work of World Vision, we stand as witness to God. People from other faith also bear witness to our good works. 

  - Sunitha Justin

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