| Joy to the world! The Lord is come. Let earth receive her King! Let every heart prepare Him room and heaven and nature sing. Joy to the world! the Savior reigns, let men their songs employ. While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains repeat the sounding joy. No more let sins and sorrows grow, nor thorns infest the ground. He comes to make His blessings flow far as the curse is found. He rules the world with truth and grace and makes the nations prove the glories of His righteousness and wonders of His love. |
Every year, as Christmas Day approaches, I look forward to singing “Joy To The World” because it is a joyous song of announcement and triumph and victory. It is like shouting from the rooftops, “He’s here! Jesus is here! Come see!”
The announcement that came so long ago on that first Christmas day, was one that the people of God had been longing to hear. For over 700 years, since the prophet Isaiah first prophesied the coming of the Messiah, the people of God had been anxiously waiting for the Messiah to come to rescue and redeem them. The good news that they had been waiting on in faith for generations had finally arrived! What joyous news!
The wiseman followed a star, the shepherds got a heavenly announcement, and Mary got a front row seat to the biggest arrival the world has ever known. How blessed and honored each of these humble servants of God must have felt to receive this very special message from the Lord and be a part of the amazing unfolding of God’s good news of redemption and salvation. They got an invitation straight from the heavens to witness the most miraculous event in all of history–the birth of the Son of God. Can you even imagine the joy they must have felt?
Even Jesus’ cousin, John, leapt for joy at his arrival before he was even born.
“When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!’”
When Mary greets Elizabeth, the sound of her greeting is picked up by baby John in the womb, and he does a joyful little leap! The angel had said that John would be filled with the Spirit even in his mother’s womb. And so when Mary greets Elizabeth, the Spirit causes John to recognize that Jesus was there, too. The presence of Christ among us brings us great joy!
For so long humanity was stuck and lost in a world of darkness, lost to the error of our ways, in need of someone to rescue us. We were helpless to help ourselves. Maybe we didn’t even know we needed rescuing. But then, Jesus appeared and our joy was complete! Jesus didn’t just appear that first Christmas but continues to appear in each of our lives to bring hope and joy and love to this broken world.
Joy can be a difficult thing to have when life feels chaotic and busy or just plain hard. There are so many distractions and difficulties that try to steal our joy. But it’s important to remember that joy is not something that is determined by our circumstances like happiness. Rather, it can be present even in times of sorrow and trouble. It is not determined by our present struggles, but brought about through God’s presence and knowledge of our future destiny with Christ. We can have the joy Christ brings no matter what circumstance we find ourselves in, because the joy of the Lord (and His Good News of salvation) can be our strength.
You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
Psalm 16:11
Jesus is “Emmanuel”, which means God with us. His presence brings us joy. Joy came down as a baby on that first Christmas day and He continues to be with us through his Holy Spirit. In Christ’s presence we receive the fullness of joy!
I want to invite you to take a moment to rest in Christ’s presence and let His joy fill you up as you pray:
Jesus, your presence enters into our life and we are filled with such joy! Help us to believe the promises in your Word that we may receive your blessings. May we receive you as John did, and leap for joy in your presence. Thank you for the good news of Christ! May our joy abound as we spend time with you. Amen.
