Celebration and Witness 1 John 1:1-10

“Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name” (Jn. 20:30-31, NASB).

This article is written in the last week before Christmas is celebrated. People around the world celebrate this holiday; and in each community there are different reasons to celebrate this holiday. In the Christian church Christmas is celebrated to remember that Jesus Christ is born. He is the promised Messiah that the prophets told about. He is the Son of God, God in the flesh. He comes to make God known to the world. He comes into the world and His name is Jesus because through His death on the cross He will save people from their sins. In this article I want to express my belief that we celebrate the birth of Jesus, not only to have a good time with our family, loved ones, and friends; rather, our celebration is one means that we can be a witness for Jesus Christ.

When John writes the Gospel of John he writes apologetically to give us reasons to believe that Jesus is the Son of God. In First John he writes to invite people to believe in Jesus and be saved. They are invited to become members of a fellowship in which the members will live as witness for Jesus Christ. John testifies about what he knows about Jesus though his personal experiences with Jesus and the disciples when Jesus walked the earth. We too are called to testify about our experiences with Jesus. We all have different experiences in life, but all Christians share in one common experience. We heard about Jesus. We believed what we heard. We accepted the free gift of salvation and forgiveness of sins. Thus, through the power of the Holy Spirit and the truth of His words we have fellowship with Him and all the saints that share in this unique fellowship.

John writes to tell us that Jesus is the Son of God. He is the “logos” that creates the world. He is the “light of the world.” This means that through Jesus God reveals Himself to the world. God is creator of all life. Jesus comes to do the will of the Father. It is the will of the Father that human being that are living in darkness will come to the light and be saved.

In both the gospel and the letter, John emphasizes that God is love. God so loved the world that He gave His Son Jesus to give eternal life to everyone that believes in Jesus. Now, this love is more than a feeling. Contrary to the belief of some God does not offer His love to some and refuse his love to others. The “whosoever” in John 3:16 means that God’s love is offered to every person without discrimination and partiality. Paul proclaims this truth in his letter to the Ephesians. He writes, “But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall” (Eph. 2:13-14, NASB). Thus all have peace with God and live together as one group enjoying access to the Holy Spirit (vv. 15-22).

Now that you and I are saved, we are called to be a witness that the truth is made known to us when we abide in the words of Jesus. Jesus Himself is the truth. He embodies all the truth that comes from the Father. The words that He speaks if believed leads to salvation from the penalty of sin, the power that sins holds over us, and the presence of sin in the new heavens and new earth when Jesus returns. It seems to me that testifying to the truth of Jesus both in His personhood and His teaching can be a hazardous endeavor in our world today. Secular laws are written that forbid Christians to talk about Jesus in the work place. Ecclesiastical protocols call for prayers that omit the name of Jesus in worship. Thus, it is common place to hear Christians pray without ever saying the name “Jesus.” We no longer pray to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Instead, we simply say “God.” We no longer end our prayers submitting them to the Father in the name of Jesus. Instead, we simply pray “in your name.” Yet, Paul writes a profound truth. He writes, “For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:9-11, NASB).

When we celebrate the birth of Jesus we are witnessing that we have been made free because we believe and live by the words of Jesus. We have discovered that the world offers facts. However, facts are based on the limited knowledge that human being has at their disposal. However, as time and circumstances change human being discover new evidences. As a Registered Nurse I experienced many changes in nursing and medical practices and protocols. New information means that what was a fact yesterday that guided us are no longer considered valid and helpful. Indeed some have been determined to cause more harm than good; and in some case lead to death. For example, opiod is a class of medicine highly regarded for the relief of pain. Unfortunately, the overuse of these drugs has led to a crisis in America because of their addictive qualities and their cause of death. Thus, facts as known by human beings cannot offer any certain unfailing and lasting outcomes. We are witnesses, on the other hand, that the truth of God is certain, unfailing, and eternal. How can be sure of this?

We cannot show by scientific facts that this claim is true. The Bible never tells us that we can prove anything by human knowledge. Instead, the proof for us is in our faith. The writer of Hebrew makes this declaration. The writer writes, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1, NASB). Faith is personal. My faith is my assurance of things that I believe to be true. My faith does not prove anything to anyone else. Therefore, I testify about my experiences. In his letter John tells about his own experiences. He joins in with a community that believes the same truth that he holds dearly. He invites anyone that believe his testimony to join the fellowship that he and other believers share with each other and they collectively share with Jesus Christ.

When we witness we take a risk. Indeed, the word “witness” is translated from a Greek word that is translated to mean one is a martyr. The disciples of Jesus are so confident in their faith that they are willing to put their lives on the line in defense of their belief in Jesus. Indeed, most of the twelve apostles suffered death because of their belief that they publically proclaimed. In the United States of America in the year of 2019 there are no laws and rulers that have the authority to kill us. However, when we witness for Jesus we risk our relationships with other people that have position and authority to cause us harm. However, we cannot be ashamed of Jesus. We are witnesses because we believe that in the end Jesus offers us eternal life. We are witnesses because we want other people to come to know the love of God, the truth of God, and the freedom that we have in God. We conclude that celebration of the birth of Jesus is our opportunity to make the name Jesus known in the world.