Christ Must Increase

By Chad Prigmore

And they came to John and said to him, "Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness--look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him." John answered, "A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, 'I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.' The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. He must increase, but I must decrease." - John 3:26-30

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​When John’s disciples came to him complaining that all the people were going to Jesus to be baptized rather than to John, we see an example of what it is to look at Jesus through worldly eyes un-enlightened by the power of the Holy Spirit. We see the envy and competitiveness of the natural man who has yet to grasp the divinity of the Son of God. This ignorance of the divine truth is much the same cause which has led much of the contemporary Church to wander from faith in the gospel and into the worldly teachings of men.

For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. - 2 Timothy 4:3-4

​But in John’s reply to his disciples concerns we see the power of the divine truth shining into the darkness of worldly minds. When John replies that, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven” he very much knew what he was talking about from his own experience. Because the amazing fact for John was that he was chosen by God and richly blessed in life and ministry even before his conception and birth. In Luke 1:11-17 we read of John’s wonderful predestined purpose in God’s plan of salvation in Jesus Christ.

And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared." - Luke 1:11-17

John was predestined for glory as all in Jesus Christ are as Paul tells us in Romans 8:30, "And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified."

All that John had received had been given to Him from heaven. And his understanding of this, combined with his all consuming joy in seeing the purpose of his life and ministry alive and glorious in the person of Jesus Christ is what enabled him to see everything in the light of eternity rather than through the polluted lens of the world. Jesus was everything to John, his entire purpose for being existed in the Son of God - Jesus Christ. The joy that John speaks of when he states, “Therefore this joy of mine is now complete” was a blessed reality to John even before he was born. The Holy Spirit filled John with an un-surpassing joy that we read of in a profound and joyous portion of scripture from the book of Luke.

In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord." - Luke 1:39-45

What blessed humility and joy Mary and Elizabeth had through the filling of the Holy Spirit and the knowledge that their Lord was soon to be born! And what power of the Holy Spirit is shown in the baby John - leaping for joy even from within his mother’s womb because he knew he was in the presence of his Savior and Lord who was still within His mother’s womb. What an absolutely awesome display of the power of God!

When John claimed to his disciples that, “He must increase, but I must decrease” he in no way felt diminished or pushed aside. Instead, John felt the completion of his joy, knowing what we all must know; that we must decrease as we are brought from death to life in Jesus Christ - as the spirit of the Lord works in us to put to death the power of our sinful flesh and live in His righteousness by grace. We must always be in an increasing state of being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.

​Christ must increase and He will bring our joy to completion in Him.

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. - 2 Corinthians 3:18

​For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. - Romans 8:29