Joy to the World! - Part 1

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Well, Christmas is such a nostalgic time. There's the music of Christmas, which we've already begun to sing. There's the warmth of family and friends, the lights and the trees and the presents, and all of the traditions. In fact, if you live in my house, I need a manual to keep track of all of the traditions that I'm supposed to live up to. They're all the wonderful memories of childhood Christmases.

I've often thought that our nostalgia really reminds us that as those made in the image of God, we long for real, lasting joy. And this should be the season of joy. But for many, sadly, this season is actually a time of emptiness and even sadness, because memories and traditions can't sustain real, lasting joy deep in our souls. In fact, I think if we had to describe the times in which we lived, the sort of mood or atmosphere in our own country and around the world, we would choose words today like anger, bitterness, resignation, discouragement, depression, even despair. Everything but joy marks the world in which we live.

But for us who have believed in Jesus Christ, this Christmas season should be one of overwhelming joy. We sing it every year: "Joy to the world! The Lord has come, let earth receive her King." You know, it's interesting: We sing those words written in 1719 by Isaac Watts. But ironically, he wrote that song based on Psalm 98, about the Second Coming. But eventually, it was associated and connected with Christmas, because it resonates with the same idea, that the Lord has come. 

The point of that carol, really, and I think the reason that it's become connected to Christmas, is that for us, joy has come. And joy has a name. His name is Jesus of Nazareth, Israel's Messiah, the Promised One, the Servant of Yahweh, the eternal Son of the living God. It's in Him that joy comes. As the angel said to the shepherds that day in Luke 2:10, "[But] the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy.'" Because of the incarnation of Jesus Christ that we celebrate at Christmastime, our lives, as His followers, should be marked by unending, unbroken, unmitigated joy. And over the next three weeks, I want us to consider exactly what it means, that Jesus brought joy to the world.

But I want to begin today in a place that might surprise you. I don't want to begin with a Christmas story. Instead, I want to step back from the Christmas story and show you how joy came to be at the center of the story of Christmas. Let's begin our study of joy today by first considering the ultimate source of joy. 

Now, before we get into the source itself, let me make sure we understand what we're talking about. Let me give you a basic definition of joy. What is joy? Well, we can define it several different ways. There's of course the English word. Our word in English, joy, comes from the old French, joie — forgive me if I mess that up, you who speak French, I don't, clearly — that comes from the Latin word gaudium. Webster's defines the English word joy this way: "The emotion of great delight or happiness caused by something exceptionally good or satisfying; a state of happiness." There are many words in Hebrew for joy. Two of the most common words are translated joy, and it means just that, joy or gladness; mirth. Another common Hebrew word is translated rejoice. You see that all the time in the Psalms. And this word means to be filled with joy, or to outwardly express one's internal joy. The Greek word is a word you probably even recognize in the New Testament. The word is chará, which means joy, gladness, the experience of joy, or the experience of gladness. 

Now, when you look at these words and how they're used in the Scriptures, they're used for all kinds of joys, joys we should have and joys we shouldn't have. But it's clear that the biblical joy of God's people is different from the joys of unbelievers, in part because the joy of unbelievers is brief at best. As Job 20:5 puts it, "[That] the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the godless momentary." But their joys are also different because of where they look for joy. Augustine put it well when he said, "Man wishes to be happy even when he so lives as to make happiness impossible." 

Here are some of the wrong places that people look for joy. This isn't an exhaustive list, merely representative. Here's a wrong place: In the pleasures of this life, even the good and right pleasures of this life. In Ecclesiastes 2:10-11, Solomon considers all of the pleasures that can come in this life, and he concludes this: "Behold all was vanity and striving after wind and there was no profit under the sun." It's the wrong place to look for joy. 

Don't look for joy in the pleasures of sin. In Hebrews 11:25, it describes Moses, who chose to bypass, to forsake, and I love this expression, "the passing pleasures of sin." That's what they are. Oh, they're there, but they're a flash in the pan. They're gone. It's a lie. It's not going to bring you lasting joy. 

Another wrong place to look for joy is in the escape of substances, like drugs and alcohol. This is throughout the Scriptures, but here's one example, Isaiah 5:11: "Woe to those who rise early in the morning that they may pursue strong drink, who stay up late in the evening, that wine may inflame them!", looking for joy and escape from life's troubles in substance. 

Another wrong place to look for joy is in wealth. First Timothy 6:9: "[But] those who want to get rich fall into [temptation and a snare and] many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction," no joy there. 

[With regard to] possessions, [in] Luke 12:15, Jesus said, "Beware, [and be on your guard] against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions." You won't find joy in stuff. 

Others look for joy in peace and tranquility: "If I can just have a quiet, uninterrupted life." It's kind of like Hezekiah in 2 Kings 20:19. When he learned that God's judgment would come not in his generation, but the next, he said, "'The word of the Lord which you have spoken is good.' For he thought, 'Is it not so, if there will be peace and truth in my days?" "If I can just live in peace and tranquility, that's where joy is found." 

[With regard to] success; Solomon nailed this one in Ecclesiastes 2:18. He says, 

[Thus] I hated all the fruit of my labor for which I [had] labored under the sun, for I must leave it to the man who will come after me. And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the fruit of my labor for which I have labored by acting wisely [under the sun]. This too is vanity. Therefore I completely despaired of all the fruit of my labor.

No, no joy in success.

Here's a big one: There's no joy in the perfect life circumstances. This is how most people think about joy: "You know, if my life were this way," and they have this picture, "if these were my circumstances and these others were not, in the perfect life circumstances." That's not where joy is found; that's not life in a fallen world. Job 5:7 says, "[For] man is born for trouble, as the sparks fly upward." That's the reality of life in a fallen world. Job 14:1: "Man, who is born of woman, is short-lived and full of turmoil." That's life in a fallen world. If you wait to have joy until you have the perfect life circumstances, you will never experience joy.

So, if those are the wrong places to look for joy, what is the ultimate source of joy? Where does joy come from? Joy finds its ultimate source in the Person of God. Sadly, the picture most people have of God is that He is consistently morose and withdrawn, or even for some, God is terribly gloomy. Those are slurs on the character of God. The truth is, our God is characterized by joy. Now, before I explain that to you, let me just make sure you understand something important. Scripture teaches that God is not driven by human passions and emotions in the same way that we are, because our emotions are responses. They're reactions to our thoughts, to the words and actions of others, or to our circumstances. But God never reacts in that way to anything, because He knows what will happen before it happens. And even more to the point, it happens because of His own eternal plan. So, He doesn't react like you and I react. However, in spite of that potential misunderstanding, God still often uses the language of human emotion to explain His own disposition about something. Theologians call this anthropopathy. It's attributing human emotions to God to help us understand something that's true about Him.

And here's where I want you to go with me today when it comes to this issue we're dealing with. The Scripture teaches that God is characterized by uncontainable, unbroken, unlimited joy, and it's because it is the unchanging perfection of His nature. Joy is the unchanging perfection of God's nature. In fact, this irrepressible joy marks all three Persons of the Trinity. I want you to see this. 

First of all, Scripture is clear about the joy of the Father. In 1 Chronicles 16:27, we read, "Splendor and majesty are before Him, strength and joy are in His place." Joy dwells with God. It is characteristic of Him. Turn with me to Proverbs, chapter 8. Proverbs chapter 8 is an interesting chapter in which Solomon personifies God's wisdom. In Proverbs 8:22-31, Wisdom explains, as she's speaking, personified, explains that her origin is in the character of God, and describes how she participated with God in creation. The point is, God exercised the perfection of His wisdom as He worked to create all things through His Son, as we read a moment ago in John chapter 1, nothing was made apart from the Son. So, He created all things through the Son. He did so in wisdom. Notice [Proverbs] 8:30, this is Wisdom talking, now personified, "Then I was beside [Him], as a master workman;" or craftsman, "and I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him." So, wisdom worked alongside God as He created, and as God worked through His Son in creating, all things. Notice how God the Father is described: In His wisdom, as He creates, verse 30, He found daily delight. He was rejoicing in the wisdom of His

work. Verse 31, He was "rejoicing in the world, His earth, and having [my] delight in the sons of men" that He created. This is our God. He is marked by, known by, joy. God found joy in the work of creation. 

Scripture also describes not only the joy of the Father, but the joy of the Son. I love Matthew 25:21[BK1] , where you have the judgment of the nations after the Tribulation, and to those who are believers, we read this: "His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things.'" And then listen to how he describes entering eternity, entering the kingdom and eventually eternity: "'Enter into the joy of your master.'" You see, the joy of heaven will be the joy of Jesus Christ. We will share that joy. In Luke 10:21, while He was here on earth, we read, "At that very time [He] rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit, and said, 'I praise you, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants.'" 

But turn with me to Acts, chapter 2, because in Peter's sermon on the day of Pentecost, he quotes Psalm 16:8-11, and he explains that that psalm must ultimately refer to Jesus Christ. But I want you to know what Peter says, and what the psalm says, is true about Jesus. Look at Acts 2:25: "For David says of Him" — he says this is ultimately fulfilled in Christ —

'I saw Yahweh always in my presence; for He is at my right hand, so that I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart was glad and my tongue exulted; [moreover my flesh also will live in hope;] because You will not abandon my soul to Hades, nor allow Your Holy One to undergo decay. You have made known to me the ways of life; You will make Me full of gladness with Your presence.'

He's marked by joy, by gladness. [BK2] 

Turn over to Hebrews, chapter 1. As the writer of Hebrews begins to prove the superiority of Jesus Christ over all things, he begins with His superiority over angels, in chapter 1. And He says — you can read in verse 7 what God said to the angels. But notice verse 8: "But of the Son He says," so now the Father is talking, and the Father is talking to the Son, so the Father says to the Son, "'Your throne, O God,'" by the way, there's another evidence for the deity of Christ, "'Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, And the righteous scepter is the scepter of His kingdom. You'" — again, the Father talking to Christ — "'You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness above Your companions.'"

Those words are from Psalm 45:6-7, "above [Your] companions."[BK3]  What does that mean? Well, it could mean you have more gladness than the angels around you. Or it could mean you have more gladness than your brothers and sisters you've redeemed. I think it's the second, because in Isaiah 61:3, believers are said to be anointed with "the oil of gladness." And in Hebrews 2:12[BK4] , it says Jesus will sing for joy in the congregation of His redeemed brothers. So, the writer of Hebrews is saying, in verse 9, that Jesus' joy as the Redeemer is greater than your joy as the redeemed. Think about how filled with joy you were on the day you came to understand the Gospel, when you understood that you could have a relationship with God, that your sins could be forgiven. Think about how joyful you were, and then remind yourself that God has anointed His son with greater joy, greater joy than that. Jesus' joy perfectly mirrors the Father's eternal joy.

But that's not the end of the story. Turn over to Hebrews 12, because here we learn Jesus' joy is not only joy. Hebrews 12:1, the end of the verse says we are to "run with endurance the race that is set before us," our race, the race God set before us, "fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith," now watch verse 2, "who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down on the right hand of [the throne of] God." Now why is this important? Because it reminds us that while Jesus experienced joy, He didn't experience only joy. There was the shame of the cross. There was the pain and suffering of Calvary. Isaiah 53:3 says of our Lord Jesus Christ, He was "[A] man of sorrows and acquainted with grief." John 11:35, and on other occasions, tells us that Jesus wept with those who wept. In Matthew 26:38, in Gethsemane, Jesus said, "'My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death.'" So, Jesus' unbroken joy didn't mean He experienced only joy. Like Paul in 2 Corinthians 6:10, Jesus was "sorrowful yet always rejoicing."

John Piper writes, 

The glory of Christ is His infinite, eternal, indestructible gladness in the presence of God. But if it is not glorious to be gloomy, neither is it glorious to be glib. The carefree merriment of a ballroom gala and the irrepressible joy in a Russian gulag are not the same. One is trite, the other triumphant. One is glib, the other glorious.

Don't think of Jesus' life of joy like an upbeat song with only happy notes. Instead, think of Jesus' life of joy like a symphony that's written on the theme of joy. Jesus' life, like a symphony might on joy, Jesus' life had its dark and discordant notes and dark movements. But the theme of His life was joy, and that theme was present even when the dark notes sounded and the dark movements were in play. Through the unspeakable suffering of Gethsemane and Golgotha, Jesus found His soul sustained by an unconquerable, indestructible joy. Look again at Hebrews 12:2: Jesus, "[who] for the joy set before Him endured the cross." 

So, what was the joy that sustained Jesus through the dark hours of the crucifixion and His death? I think you discover that in John 17, the prayer that's prayed just before His arrest, the High Priestly Prayer of John 17. I think the first thing, the first joy that sustained Him was the joy of bringing glory to the Father. That's how He begins [in] John 17:1: "Lifting up His eyes to heaven, [He] said, 'Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You.'" I think that was part of the joy that sustained Him. He knew He was bringing glory to the Father, but Jesus' joy — and this is unbelievable — Jesus' joy that sustained Him, that allowed Him to endure the cross, was not merely the glory of the Father, it was the joy of redeeming you, Christian. [In] John 17:24 Jesus finishes that prayer with these words, "'Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me,'" those [the Father] gave [Jesus] as a love gift in eternity past, [Jesus desires] that they "'be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world,'" and You love them in the same way, He goes on to say. Think about this, Christian: Your salvation, your redemption, your being with Him forever, was part of the joy that sustained Jesus on the cross; for the joy that was set before Him, he endured the cross. That's the indestructible joy of Jesus.

But Scripture also reveals the joy of the Holy Spirit. In 1 Thessalonians 1:6, Paul writes to the believers in Thessalonica, "You [also] became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation," and you received it "with the joy of the Holy Spirit," the joy the Spirit enjoys and produces in us. That's why [in] Galatians 5:22, "[But] the fruit of the Spirit is love," — and what is it? — "joy." The reason God demands that we rejoice always, is that is His own character. The Spirit is characterized by joy. Joy is the unchanging perfection of the nature of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

But secondly, it's the unchanging reflection of His purpose. You see, in keeping with God's great eternal purposes, there are certain things that God finds joy in. This isn't an exhaustive list, but it's an important one. First of all, God finds joy in His own character. Jeremiah 9:24: "'I am Yahweh who exercises [lovingkindness], justice, and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,' [delares] the Lord." [God finds] joy in [His] steadfast love, in [His] justice and in [His] righteousness. Micah 7:18: "Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession? He does not retain His anger forever." Why? "Because He delights in unchanging love." God finds joy in His unchanging, steadfast love for you, Christian. He finds joy in that. 

Secondly, God finds joy and delight in His Son. Isaiah 42:1 is a Messianic prophecy, and the Lord says this: "Behold, My Servant whom I uphold; My chosen One in whom My soul delights." God finds joy in His Son. Of course, when Jesus came into the world, again and again God made this clear, even from heaven. In Matthew 3:17, at Jesus' baptism, God speaks from the clouds and says, "'This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased." I find joy, I find delight in Him. At the Transfiguration in Matthew 17:5: "While he was still speaking," a bright light, "a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud said, 'This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!'" 

Thirdly, God finds joy in His creation. After He had created all things, in Genesis 1:31, we read, "God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was" — what? — "very good." We saw in Proverbs 8, God delighted in His creation. Psalm 104:31, talking about the creation, says, "Let the Lord be glad in His works." God finds joy in His creation. Do you? 

Fourth, God finds delight and joy in His people. Psalm 147:10: "He does not delight in the strength of the horse; He does not take pleasure in the legs of a man." God's unimpressed about what we have to offer, but "the Lord favors," or the Lord finds [or] delights in "those who fear Him, those who wait for His [lovingkindness]." Psalm 149:4: "[For] the Lord takes pleasure in His people." He delights in His people. And I love the image that's used in a couple of passages. In Isaiah 62:5, describing God's ultimate joy in His people as He brings redemption to its close, it says, "[And] as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so your God will rejoice over you." That's such a powerful picture. Zephaniah 3:17: "He," God, "will exult over you with joy…He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy." That's God responding to His people. 

Number five, God rejoices, finds joy, in repentant sinners. Ezekiel 33:11: "Say to them," God says, "'As I live!' declares the Lord God, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked." God doesn't find joy in the damnation of sinners. His justice demands it. But He doesn't find joy in it. He says instead, rather, this is where I find joy, "'that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, [turn back] from your evil ways! Why then will you die?''" God finds joy in the repentance of sinners. 

Turn to Luke 15. I wish I had time to walk you through this entire passage but look at Luke 15:1. This is the context: All the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to Jesus, and many of them becoming His followers. Luke 15:2: "[Both] the Pharisees and the scribes began to mumble, saying, 'This man receives sinners and eats with them." And in response to that, Jesus tells three stories. All three stories have the same punchline, the same point: God finds joy in the repentance of sinners. But of course, the most famous of those is the story of the prodigal son, picturing rebellious sinners. And how does the Father in that parable respond to the repentant son? It's a picture of how God responds to all repentant sinners. Look at [Luke] 15:22. This is God the Father pictured here. 

[But the father] said to his slaves,"Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, [and] put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet, [and] bring the fattened calf, kill it, [and] let us eat and celebrate, for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found." And they began to celebrate. 

A party in heaven. Verse 32, he says to the older brother, "'[But] we had to celebrate and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found.'"

This is God's response to the repentance sinner. Let me just say, if you're here this morning, [and] you've never come to trust in Jesus Christ, and you believe the lie that God doesn't want anything to do with you, doesn't have any interest in you, it's a lie that Satan has told you. Listen: God finds joy when a person turns from their sin and comes to Him in faith, putting trust in His Son. And if you'll do that today, He'll receive you. God has never turned away a single truly repentant heart. 

I'll just mention in passing number six, I believe it is: God finds joy in loving Him and obeying His word. I love the way Samuel rebukes Saul. In 1 Samuel 15:22, he says, "'Has the Lord as much delight,'" does He find as much joy "'in burnt offerings and sacrifices'" as the joy He finds in your "'obeying the voice of the Lord?'" He says, "'to obey is better than sacrifice.'" God finds more joy in His people's obedience than in ceremony. 

So joy, then, ultimately comes from the Person of God. It is the unchanging perfection of His nature and the unchanging reflection of His purpose. But this brings us to Christmas. Although joy finds its source in God's eternal nature, it comes to us on this planet in the incarnation of His Son. There's only one source of joy in our dark world, and it's the light of Jesus Christ. It is Jesus Christ and His gospel. This joy, by the way, that was to be manifested in the Messiah, was promised in the Old Testament. In Isaiah, chapter 9, that great prophecy about the Lord's coming, it says this in 9:2: "The people who walk in darkness will see a great light; those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them." Listen to this: "You [shall] increase their gladness; they will be glad in Your presence as with the gladness of harvest." In an agricultural society, when you gather the harvest and it's all in and packed and ready for the winter, and it's a huge harvest and the celebration breaks out, that's what it's like when Christ comes. 

In the New Testament, we're immediately confronted with this joy that comes through the Messiah. Turn to Luke, chapter 1. Again and again, you see this joy. In Luke 1:44, John the Baptist leaps for joy in Elizabeth's womb when he hears Mary, the mother of the Messiah. In 1:47, Mary says, "'[And] my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior," as she hears about the birth of her Son, the Lord Jesus. Turn over to [Luke] 2:20. The shepherds glorify and praise God. They're filled with joy because they've seen the Messiah. Go down to [Luke] 2:28 and following, and Simeon and Anna rejoice and give thanks to God. Sometime later, it's recorded in Matthew 2:10, the wise men found Jesus and "they rejoiced exceedingly." Joy has come. 

But listen carefully: God also intended that the birth of His Son would bring you, individually, great joy. He made that clear in the announcement of Jesus' birth, recorded in Luke 2. Go to Luke 2:8: 

In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields [and] keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. But the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people.' 

God was announcing good news to all the world and news that brings great joy to all who will receive it. What is this good news that brings great joy? It's verse 11, "'For today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.'"

That is an amazing verse. That's the heart of the gospel. In fact, in that verse are the key truths about Jesus that, when you understand them and you respond in faith to them, create true, lasting joy in your soul. Look at it again [Luke 2:11]. Today, Jesus was born on a real day, in time, a day just like this one, probably in the year 5 or 6 BC. Notice: "'In the city of David.'" It happened in a real place, a place you can visit to this day. I've been there. Probably the exact spot, in this case. It was in Bethlehem, just as the prophet Micah had prophesied 700 years before about the Messiah and the place of His birth. Today, "'in the city of David, there has been born'" — He was a real human newborn. The good news was embodied in a Person, in time and space. He became Man, but he was more than a Man. Notice the end of verse 11: He "'is Christ the Lord.'" He's the promised Christ, the Messiah, the anointed one that the Old Testament promised would come. And He's the Lord. That's an Old Testament title for God. So, he is Man, but he is God. He is the God-man, as the ancient creeds describe it. And notice why He came, verse 11:  "'There has been born for you a Savior,'" for you. 

I love the way John Calvin puts it in his commentary: "The pronoun to you is very emphatic, for it would have given no great delight to hear that the Author of salvation was born unless each person believed that for himself He was born."

There has been born for you a Savior, a Rescuer, a Deliverer. That's the heart of Jesus' mission. That's why He came. He came for you, to rescue you. You say, "To rescue me from what?" Well, the angel explained it to Joseph in Matthew 1. He said, your wife to be is going to have a child; you're to call His name Jesus. Jesus means Yahweh saves. Why call Him that? Because He, the Child, will save His people from their sins. The good news is that Jesus came into the world to be a Savior, to rescue us from our very real personal guilt before God, guilt that, at the final judgment, would require God to declare us guilty and to sentence us to eternal death.

How? How can Jesus rescue us from that? Well, He became one of us. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. He needed to be our substitute. Then, to be our substitute, He also needed to live a perfect life of obedience, the life that you were supposed to have lived, the life that I was supposed to have lived. And then, He died under God's justice on the cross, suffering the entire penalty for every single sin that every single person who would ever believe in Him would ever commit.

But there's a caveat. It's not enough just to believe that's true. It's not enough just to say, "Yeah, I believe that." I mean, that's what we do at Christmas. We celebrate Jesus like that. No, you have to respond in the way Jesus told you to respond. Here's how He put it. His first sermon that Mark records, in Mark 1, he says — this is Jesus, [Mark 1:15] "'Repent and believe the gospel.'" That's how what He did becomes applied to you. You have to be willing to turn from your sin, your rebellion against God, and you have to believe in all of the truths that we just saw in [Luke 2:11]. You have to put your trust in Him. You have to believe in Him as Savior and Lord, that's what verse 11 is saying, and then, you can begin to experience real, lasting joyous this Christmas. Why? [Luke 2:11]: "For today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.'" That is the ultimate source of joy. But Christian, salvation in Jesus isn't the end of the story of your joy. In other words, it's not that you live the rest of your life solely in the joy of your salvation, although that's important. We'll talk about that. 

There's more. God sent His Son into the world so that as believers, we can constantly share in Christ's own joy, not only forever, but in this life. Listen to how Jesus prayed it in John 17:13. He says to the Father, "[But] now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that" — [Jesus'] disciples, listen to this — "may have My joy made full in themselves." Jesus came, Christian, so that as you live life through this world, you can have His very joy full in you. How? How can we walk through this troubled world with all of the issues and struggles of life? How can we do that? Lord willing, over the next two weeks, we'll consider the believer's life of joy, how Jesus' own joy can become the joy of every one of his disciples.

Let's pray together. Father, thank You for our time together this morning. Use it, Lord, to remind us of who You are. Thank you that You are the source of joy, that You are marked by unbroken, unmitigated, indestructible joy. Father, thank You that joy has come into the world in the Person of Your Son, and that for us who believe in Him, we can have joy not only that our sins are forgiven, but we can have His joy made full in ourselves. Father, I pray that You would help us to understand that in the coming weeks. And Lord, I pray for those who may be here this morning who are still in the gloom and darkness of their own guilt and sin. May they respond to the Light of the gospel, the Person who is the Light, the Savior who came even this morning. Lord, You must do that work in their hearts. May they repent and believe in Him even now. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.