Dear Family and Friends,

Have you ever received a Christmas gift you weren’t expecting? And because it’s common in Hawaii to reciprocate, you found yourself rushing to get a last minute gift?

Or are you one of those who prepares well and buys extra gifts just in case? For you, it’s all about being prepared.

Which is what we’ve been doing this past month – preparing our hearts for Christmas.

More specifically, we’ve been preparing a gift for Jesus – because it’s common in Hawaii to reciprocate.

After all, when Jesus came He gave us the best Christmas gifts ever. His gift list stretches longer than Santa’s!

So with that in mind, may I suggest a gift idea?

How about praising Jesus and giving Him all the glory this Christmas – like you never have before?

Or because you are so grateful for what He has done, is doing, and will forever do in your life, you decide to give Lord Jesus, Son of God, Emmanuel the fullness of your heart and live for Him and Him alone?

Let’s spend one last time preparing our hearts for Christmas by looking at a passage not usually associated with the birth of Christ, but is very much about Christmas.

“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.

The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.

We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.

We write this to make our joy complete.”
1 John 1:1-4 NIV

Jesus was from the Beginning – Oh how appropriate that John describes Jesus in the way the Bible begins – when God created the heavens and the earth. John begins his Gospel in a similar way, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”  John 1:1 NIV

Jesus is the Word (Logos) – To a Jewish reader, Logos, or Dabar in Hebrew, was the creative agent, distinct from God yet fully God, involved in creation, a manifestation of God. “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth.”  Psalm 33:6 NIV

Greek readers had a similar understanding of Logos – the reason or power behind the organization and intelligence in the universe.

John boldly proclaims Jesus is the Word.

The Life appeared – The story of Jesus is not a folk tale. Many testified to His presence on earth. Even the respected Jewish historian, Flavius Josephus, wrote of Jesus of Nazareth.

“At this time there was a wise man called Jesus, and his conduct was good, and he was known to be virtuous. Many people among the Jews and the other nations became his disciples. Pilate condemned him to be crucified and to die. But those who had become his disciples did not abandon his discipleship. They reported that he had appeared to them three days after his crucifixion and that he was alive. Accordingly, he was perhaps the Messiah, concerning whom the prophets have reported wonders. And the tribe of the Christians, so named after him, has not disappeared to this day.”
Flavius Josephus, Jewish Antiquities (Shlomo Pines, An Arabic Version of the Testimonium Flavianum)

Jesus is the Eternal Life – Jesus not only is God, has eternal life, and gives eternal life – He is Eternal Life. He is salvation.

And to believe who He is by faith, to know and to love Him, to always follow Him, is to be in Eternal Life.

Fellowship with the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ – Fellowship (Koinonia) means a personal relationship of mutual sharing.

No other religion offers a personal relationship with their god. Other religions are also one-sided. They require man to take the initiative – you do this and god will take care of you.

Our relationship with the Father and Son is upside down from the others. (Or perhaps I should say right side up.) God sent His Son, His Son came to earth and became the sacrifice – before we did a thing.

We have peace which leads to fellowship with the Father not because of our doing, but because of His grace.

Let’s not overlook that Koinonia means mutual sharing – to love and adore, make sacrifices for, and commit our lives to Jesus, just as He does for us.

Make our Joy complete – What makes our joy incomplete? Doubts – about who He is, or His authenticity and trustworthiness, or the life eternal that He offers.

John had no doubts. Neither should we.

And because of his fellowship with the Father and Son, John’s joy was complete. Joy that is ours to have as well.

Let me close by asking that you not feel burdened to give Jesus a gift this Christmas. That is not my intent.

Giving a gift to Jesus out of obligation may provide temporary relief, but eventually leads to resentment, not joy.

The way to true joy is by giving what we decide in our hearts to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion. God loves cheerful givers. (From 2 Corinthians 9:7 NIV)

In love always,