Page 36 - Foundations

If you or I possess truth, or an understanding of the mysteries of God, but fail to communicate with
others in a spirit of love, we have become nothing more than a discordant noise in God’s ears. He
is not pleased when men speak truth while their attitude is devoid of love. We are commanded to
“speak the truth in love.”

Accurately Identifying Beginnings

Not long before Christ’s crucifixion and ascension, He spoke to His disciples about His departure.
He disclosed to them that He was going to send to them the Holy Spirit who would bear witness of
Him. He then added:

John 15:27
You will bear witness also, because you have been with Me from the beginning.

What beginning did Christ refer to in this statement? Those familiar with the Gospel accounts will
rightly infer that Yahshua was speaking of the beginning of His earthly ministry when He called
forth twelve men to walk with Him. Would we not err greatly if we concluded that Christ was
speaking of His beginning, the beginning of the creation, or the beginning of the world? This may
seem a simple question. I have chosen this particular verse because I do not believe there will be too
much controversy from readers as to its meaning.

If you are like me, and have concluded that Christ is in fact speaking of the beginning of His earthly
ministry when He called forth twelve disciples to walk with Him, I would ask you how you can be
sure of this? What if someone challenged you on this point? How would you demonstrate that your
understanding is the right one?

I would suggest that there are a number of ways to do so. A good place to begin would be looking
at the statement itself to see if it lends itself to other interpretations. In this instance I would allow
that it does indeed do so. The wording of the sentence itself does not clearly identify the specific
beginning of which Yahshua was speaking. Just by the phrasing itself we could not rule out the
possibility that Yahshua was speaking of any number of possible beginnings. Following are some
variant meanings.

You will bear witness also, because you have been with Me from the beginning (of my earthly
ministry).

You will bear witness also, because you have been with Me from the beginning (of My existence in