Following a wonderful performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, the audience gave the conductor, Arturo Toscanini, and the orchestra a prolonged standing ovation. It is reported that Toscanini, bowed 3 times and then turned to his musicians and whispered, “I am nothing, you are nothing” before reverently adding, “But Beethoven is everything!”
It’s like that when we come to recognise that Jesus is everything. He is the one in whom “we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). Our lives centre on Him and we each work out our God-given roles with Jesus as the focus.
What is our God-given role? Billy Graham defined it as: “God wants every believer to be a witness for Christ to those who do not know Him.”[1] In short, we are called to be instruments to pass on the message of Jesus.
John the Baptist showed us how to play that role, how to be a voice to prepare the way for Jesus (John 1:23). John’s message has 3 main points:
1. Jesus is the Lamb of God (John 1:29,36). This reminds us of the Passover lamb that saved the nation from the wrath and judgment of God. Jesus was the “lamb led to the slaughter” (Isa. 53:7) who dealt with the great problem of human life – rebellion against God and sin. If we believe that we are forgiven through the blood of Jesus then we are in a relationship with God. We are not perfect but we are seen by God as forgiven.
2. Jesus will baptise His followers with the Holy Spirit (John 1:33). In other words, to help us live the Christian life, God floods our lives with His presence. Christ has qualified us for the enabling and mighty presence of God. “For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live” (Rom. 8:13 NIV).
3. Jesus can only live in our lives if we repent (Matt. 3:2). Here is a very old definition of repentance: "Repentance unto life is a saving grace, whereby a sinner, out of a true sense of his sin, and apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ, doth, with grief and hatred of his sin, turn from it unto God, with full purpose of, and endeavour after, new obedience."[2]
John the Baptist elaborated on what repentance looked like, constantly addressing issues surrounding money, the love of it and what it can do. He preached giving away a tunic if you had 2. He asked soldiers to be content with their wages and for tax collectors to not extort more money (Luke 3/11-14).
The take home message from this is that if we want to be a voice for Jesus, then we need to deal with our sin. Pray and ask Jesus to show us our sin. Confess our sin to Jesus, repent and get right with God. He will forgive because He is full of mercy. Receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit and find ourselves going deeper in our lives for Jesus.
[1] Billy Graham from https://billygraham.org/answer/i-know-i-ought-to-witness-more-for-jesus-and-tell-others-about-him-but-im-rather-shy-and-i-just-cant-do-much-how-can-i-overcome-this/ accessed 9.1.22 [2] The Westminster Shorter Catechism 1646