See Christ as the faithful Witness of God and be the Church as the Testimony of Jesus

In the book of Revelation, we see Christ as the faithful Witness of God, the testimony and expression of God; in particular, Revelation presents to us the revealed Christ and the testifying church, for in this book we see the testimony of God (Christ) and the testimony of Jesus (the church).

Lord Jesus, we love You as the faithful Witness of God! We open to You! Shine on us. We want to know God, enjoy God, and experience God, so we come to You, Lord Jesus, to see God and partake of what God is. Amen, Lord, keep us enjoying and experiencing You as the testimony of God until we become the testimony of Jesus, expressing God corporately in this dark age! Amen!

This week we return to the main topic of, Experiencing, Enjoying, and Expressing Christ (part 4), focusing mainly on the book of Revelation. In particular, this week we want to focus on, The Faithful Witness of God for the Testimony of Jesus.

The book of Revelation is not mainly a book on prophecies of future things, various signs, and all kinds of interesting subjects and events it foretells.

The book of Revelation is a book of Christ; at the very beginning, the apostle John said that this is the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to him to show His slaves the things that must quickly take place.

And He made it known by signs, sending it through His angels to His slave John, who testified the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ, even all that he saw (Rev. 1:1-2). John is the one who testified the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Apparently, if we read the book of Revelation, we may think it is a book that prophesies many things concerning the future; actually, this book is a revelation of Jesus Christ.

Many Bible teachers have expounded this book in the past and throughout the ages, and their emphasis was on the signs, the figures, the prophecies, and the future things that would happen before the end of this age or even in eternity.

Yes, these are clearly mentioned there, but this whole book of Revelation is a revelation of Jesus Christ. Our emphasis, especially nowadays as we live at the end of this age, should not be on these signs, events, prophecies, or anything that we think the prophecies are speaking about; we need to see Christ and see the revelation of Jesus Christ.

May we open to the Lord and ask Him to enlighten the eyes of our heart so that we may see Christ as the testimony of God and the church as the testimony of Jesus.

Christ is the Faithful Witness of God, the Testimony and Expression of God – His Expressing God is His Witnessing!

According to the book of Revelation, Christ is the faithful Witness of God; He is the testimony and expression of God, and His expressing God is His witnessing (Rev. 1:5; 3:14).

It is easy to glance over this or read it and say amen, but then move on; but we need to prayerfully consider what the Bible says concerning Christ.

What does it mean that Christ is the faithful Witness of God? A witness is someone who heard something or saw something, someone who experienced something and now they testify concerning what they heard, saw, and experienced.

Christ is such a faithful Witness of God; He knows God, He has experienced and He saw God, and now He testifies of God, witnessing God to us. Actually, Christ is God Himself incarnated.

When He came to this earth, His one work was to simply be a witness of God; He testified concerning God the Father to us. In John 1 we see that the only begotten Son of God has declared God (John 1:18).

The sole purpose Christ came is to express God. Yes, He came to accomplish redemption by dying for us on the cross, and He did many other things, including speaking for God, doing miracles, and helping others; however, He came to be the testimony of God.

Whatever He did, whatever He said, and everything about Him was to testify God to others. Christ is the very testimony of God.

In the Old Testament, the testimony of God was the law of God; the law of God was not just a list of dos and don’ts, but rather, it was a photograph of God, an expression of God.

When you read the law of God, you see who God is and what God is like. The law was a type of Christ, who is the real testimony of God; He is God expressed.

Even more, Christ is the living law of God, the living testimony of God, even a living photograph of God. Christ was not a dead picture or photograph of God but a movie of God, the living testimony of God, a living movie of God. Wow!

Christ is God’s expression. He didn’t just do a work and spoke some words to express God from time to time; rather, He Himself was the embodiment of God, for He was God in the form of a man, and He made God visible.

He embodied God, He expressed God, and He shined forth God, for He was the effulgence of God’s glory and the impress of God’s substance.

If we read the four Gospels, we see that in everything Christ did, in everything He said, and in all His work and living, He testified concerning God.

His expressing was His witnessing. He spoke the word of God, He declared God, He made God real to us, He sought the glory of God, and He was one with God.

He was the declaration and witness of God. He even said that, when others saw Him, they saw the Father (John 14:9); when others saw Jesus Christ, they saw God, for He was the Witness of God.

He testified of God with everything that He was and everything that He did and everything that He said.

God’s heart, God’s attributes, God’s virtues, God’s desire, God’s word, and everything that was God and or of God, Christ embodied and expressed.

We need to see a revelation of Jesus Christ, the faithful Witness, the Firstborn from the dead, the Ruler of the kings of the earth.

He loved us, He has released us from our sins by His blood, and He made us a kingdom, priests to His God and Father. To Him be the glory and the might forever and ever, Amen!

Lord Jesus, unveil us to see You as the faithful Witness of God! Thank You for coming through incarnation to embody God and express God. Amen, Lord, may we see not only Your redemptive work for us on the cross but even more, may we see the expression of God in Christ! Hallelujah, Christ is the faithful Witness of God, the testimony and expression of God! Amen, Lord, Your expressing God is Your witnessing. Thank You for making God visible, tangible, and real to us. You are the effulgence of God’s glory, the radiation of God’s glory, for You shined out God, You declared God, and You testified God to man! We come to You, Lord Jesus, so that we may see who God is, what God is, and what God’s desire is. May we have a revelation of Jesus Christ as the faithful Witness of God. May we be filled with Christ so that we may become the testimony of Jesus! Amen, Lord, may You be expressed and testified through us today! Make us Your reproduction and Your continuation on earth!

The Revealed Christ and the Testifying Church: the Church is the Testimony of Jesus

Christ is the Witness of God, the testimony and expression of God; the church is the testimony and expression of Christ, and as such, the church is the reproduction of the testimony and expression of God in Christ.

What is the church? According to Revelation, the church is the testimony of Jesus, which is particular and consummate (Rev. 1:2, 9; 12:17; 19:10; 20:4).

The testimony of Jesus is the church. What the book of Revelation shows us is the revealed Christ and the testifying church.

Christ is the witness of God, and the church is the testimony and expression of Christ. Just as Christ testified and expressed God, so today the church witnesses and testifies Christ.

The church is not a dead building on the corner with a cross on top, nor is it merely the gathering of Christians.

The church is not just some kind of human organisation, a religious group, or a denomination; the church is the testimony and expression of Christ.

The church is the testimony of Jesus. Just as Christ expressed God the Father, we are today on the earth as the church, expressing Christ the Son.

When people see us, they see Christ. We are the embodiment of Christ, the continuation of Christ, the living out of Christ; when others see us, they should be able to see Christ, for Christ lives in us (Gal. 2:20; Phil. 1:21).

This is what God wants. He wants to see Christ lived out, Christ reproduced, and Christ expressed in millions of His believers, so that He may gain a corporate Christ.

The church is the reproduction of the testimony and expression of God in Christ.

By virtue of us believing into Christ and being baptised into Him, we are now joined to Him organically, having an organic union with the Lord in spirit.

The book of Revelation presents to us the revealed Christ and the testifying church, which is the testimony of Jesus (John 1:18; 5:31-37; 8:14; Rev. 1:2, 5, 9; 19:10; cf. Gen. 1:26).

In this book we not only see Christ revealed but also the church testifying; Christ is revealed and the church is testifying concerning such a Christ.

In particular, in Revelation 1:11-20, we see seven golden lampstands, which are the seven local churches; the local churches are the local expression of the universal church, which is the testimony of Jesus.

Christ is the testimony of God and the church is the testimony of Jesus, the enlarged Christ as the corporate expression of the Triune God.

The church is seen in Revelation in many types: in chapter one we see the seven golden lampstands, in chapter seven there’s the great company of the redeemed ones in the heavens, in chapter twelve we see the bright woman with her manchild, in chapter fourteen we have the harvest, in chapter fifteen there are the overcomers standing on the sea of glass, in chapter nineteen there’s the bride ready for the wedding, and finally in the last two chapters we see the New Jerusalem.

In chapter 1 in particular, we see the testimony of Jesus, the seven golden lampstands; the local churches are the golden lampstands as the testimony of Jesus on the earth.

The first sign of the testimony of Jesus is the seven golden lampstands; the church is golden in nature, holding forth the light and expressing God in this dark age.

The seven golden lampstands are identical to one another; they are not different in anything except in the negative aspects in the local churches.

The fact that the golden lampstands are golden signifies that all the local churches are divine in nature, having the divine nature of God.

We are not merely made of clay but we have the golden divine nature in us, and we are part of the testimony of Jesus.

All the local churches must be divine; without divinity, there can be no church. On the one hand, the church is composed of humanity and on the other hand, there is divinity; the structure is humanity, but the intrinsic and basic nature is divinity.

Thank the Lord that the church is something shining with Christ, being constituted with the divine nature!

The lampstands shine in the darkness; there is oil in the lampstands, which is the Spirit, and we enjoy Christ and shine Him forth to be the testimony of Jesus in this dark age (Phil. 2:15-16; Matt. 5:14).

We are not here as the church to merely preach the gospel but even more, to shine Christ forth, even to shine forth the glory of God.

All the lampstands are identical to one another.

Many Christians think that they should be different from one another, but the Bible emphasises our sameness; we are the same in life, nature, and expression, and the only thing that is different is our problems, as seen in the different problems in the local churches in Revelation 2-3.

Praise the Lord, we are one, we are the same, and we are shining with God’s golden nature!

We need to allow the Lord to expose and deal with the negative elements and treasure our sameness, being one with the Lord and with one another for the testimony of Jesus!

Lord Jesus, keep us enjoying You as the revealed Christ so that we may be the testifying church on earth today! Hallelujah, we as the church are the testimony of Jesus! Praise the Lord, even as Christ is the testimony of God, so we today are the testimony of Jesus, even the enlarged Christ as the corporate expression of the Triune God! Amen, Lord, keep us enjoying You and being filled with You so that we may be Your continuation, Your reproduction, and Your expression! Wow, we all have God’s divine nature in us, and as the local churches, we are the golden lampstands, holding forth Christ as the light and shining to be the testimony of Jesus in this dark age! Amen, Lord, may we receive more of the Spirit to be filled in spirit and shine forth Christ as the testimony of Jesus! Praise the Lord, the local churches are the same in life, nature, and expression, for they are the testimony of Jesus, the golden lampstands! Amen, Lord, may we see the revealed Christ and the testifying church!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Minoru Chen on this topic, and portions from, Life-study of Revelation, msg. 3, by Witness Lee, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Experiencing, Enjoying, and Expressing Christ (4) (2025 December Training), week 37 (msg. 1), The Faithful Witness of God for the Testimony of Jesus – day 1.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Christ is the very Word of God, / He is God’s explanation true; / God’s full embodiment is He / And God’s own image brings to view. / Image of God invisible, / Effulgence of God’s glory fair; / God’s fulness ever dwells in Him, / God’s testimony He doth bear. (Hymns #818 stanzas 2-3)
  – See the local churches, / ’Midst the earth’s dark night; / Jesus’ testimony, / Bearing Him as light. / Formed by Him, unmeasured, / In the Spirit’s mold— / All are one in nature, / One pure work of gold. / See the local churches, / ’Midst the earth’s dark night; / Burning in the Spirit, / Shining forth with Christ. (Hymns #1259 stanza 1 and chorus)
  – The churches are the Body / Of Christ on earth today. / They are His testimony, / That He may have a way. / They are the golden lampstands / In cities far and wide. / They are His fighting army, / And His beloved Bride. (Hymns #1265 stanza 1)