“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.” – 1 John 1:1-4 KJV
John was a real person who had a real relationship with Jesus Christ. He didn’t just hear about Jesus, he saw Him face to face; yet he didn’t just see Him face to face, but learned from Him as he walked with Him day by day. Thus he was filled with joy and moved with passion to share his experience with others. Indeed, there was nothing fictitious about his experience at all!
Unfortunately, John was persecuted for his faith by wicked men who sought to rob him of his joy. And so it is the same today; that is, wicked people lurk about looking for opportunities to tear down the walls of our faith, denying that Jesus had ever existed and trying to get us to believe that the Bible is a book of fairytales. Most of them seek to do this by using insulting language, while some are more ruthless in that they actually carry out acts of violence against Christians. Whatever the case may be, they are filled with hatred for the gospel.
Listen, these angry souls can attempt to push us around as much as they would like, even taking our lives from us if they so choose; but they will never be able to rob us of our experience in Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.” (John 10:27-29 KJV). So what do we have to fear?
Indeed, Jesus has done something for us that these gospel haters will never be able to do. Not only has He taken the stain of our guilt away, He has transformed our callous hearts into something beautiful. And best of all, He has given us the gift of eternal life. What a shame it is that these haters are throwing away such a wonderful opportunity. They would like to convince us that they are perfectly happy not believing in Jesus Christ, but they are really miserable and wretched; they aren’t satisfied or content with their lives, but are always reaching for more and more of what they don’t have, hoping to find happiness in lifeless things. And if they really were happy and content then why would they be so eager to try to make our lives miserable? In other words, why would they hate us so much? Would a perfectly content and happy person be hateful? I think not!
Don’t let haters discourage you from expressing your faith in Jesus Christ, but stand up and proclaim your love for God. Don’t be ashamed of who you are in Christ. Remember, there is no greater pleasure in life than to share Jesus with others. Watching people go from feeling hopeless to becoming hopeful in Christ is truly a miraculous thing. If you aren’t doing this then you are missing out on something wonderful. Share His joy!