JOY to the World
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
As we live our lives, we unfortunately go through many hard times. And over the last couple of Sunday’s, there have been many in our church that have faced quite a few challenges.
And as we continue to make our way around the Advent candles every week, lighting a new one, we have encountered several themes of the Christian life.
Hope
We celebrate the hope that entered the world through the Christ-child. This hope is not just for the past, but also for the future.
We hold on to the future hope of King Jesus’s return, when He will make all things right.
This hope is rooted in God’s promises and the anticipation of His Kingdom coming to fulfillment.
Peace
Then last week we encountered the candle of peace. And as Christians, we have a restored peace with God through Jesus Christ.
He is our peace, even in the hardships of this life, we can have peace. This peace is not just the absence of conflict, but a deep, abiding presence of God in our lives.
Peace and hope are inseparable—hope gives birth to peace.
Peace and hope are manifestations of a right relation with God.
We have peace because there is hope.
Joy
Today, we arrive at the next candle. This candle is intertwined with hope and peace.
The candle of Joy has been lit and as it burns, it reminds us of the Joy in this Christmas season.
But Joy is unique.
In the old testament, hope was grounded in the waiting of the Messiah, but for us, hope is in the anticipation of the second Advent.
Peace is in the security of that hope. We have peace with God in salvation but we also have peace in the promise of the future hope of a complete salvation.
But Joy is different.
Joy is something that comes in the fulfillment of an event or a accomplishment.
What is the fulfillment that brings Joy to the world?
It was Jesus.
In Luke 2:10 we read,
Luke 2:10 (NKJV)
Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.
This joy that the angels proclaimed, was a joy to all people.
The arrival of the Messiah. His long awaited birth was a fulfillment of the messianic prophecies.
This fulfillment brings Joy.
I think of the child that is waiting for Christmas morning. He is filled with that anticipation and hope. There are gifts that he desires and he is excited for the day that he receives those gifts. His mind is filled with peace as he anticipates receiving them.
Then Christmas morning comes and the family gathers around the tree. The boy is handed a gift and opens it.
Now, there can be one of two reactions. One, could be a reaction of disgust. “I got another pair of pants” or that is a reaction of joy because he got that long awaited red rider BB gun.
He waited and planed and dreamed of the BB gun and finally he got it and his life was filled with joy.
As Christians we know that there is a difference in the joy that is felt when we open a gift and the joy that Christ brings.
For one thing, we know that there will be no disappointment. The promised gift is for sure and it is a perfect gift.
But just like the child opening the gift on Christmas morning, the idea of joy is the same.
On that first Christmas morning when Jesus was born, there was a real joy that was felt.
Isreal had been waiting and thinking and dreaming about this Messiah and finally He came.
This is the joy that came to all people.
The anticipation is settled and finds its completion in that baby in the manger.
After years of waiting, finally, He has come.
But I wonder today, how many of us are struggling to hold on to that joy.
Sometimes, especially during this time of year, many people loose joy because of all the busyness.
We are busy decorating, shopping, looking on Amazon, going to events, visiting loved ones that we push the joy out of Christmas.
But when we light these candles and think about the themes of each week, I wonder if we have left room for these themes to be more than themes. Are they real in our lives? Hope, peace, and Joy, are they real to you this morning?
There are two songs that I would like us to reflect on today. One is “Hark the herald angels sing”.
This song reminds us of the fact that Joy is rooted in our salvation.
Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King;
peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!”
Joyful, all ye nations rise,
join the triumph of the skies;
with the angelic host proclaim,
“Christ is born in Bethlehem!”
Today the Christian has Joy because of this. “God and sinners reconciled”.
In Romans 5:11 Paul
And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.
We rejoice because we are reconciled to Him. And we need to recognize that there’s no real joy without knowing that we’re forgiven and that we are in a right relation with God.
The joy of Christmas comes from the birth of Jesus.
He wasn’t just an idea or a symbol of God. He was actually born into the world with the sole purpose of reconciling God and man thus bringing glory to God.
This is the real source of joy. God came down to be with us in the form of a baby, offering us the gift of salvation. Praise God!
The second song that I would like to reflect on is a song that was written from a Psalm
Issac Watts wrote this in a collection called The Psalms of David Imitated in the Language of the New Testament.
This particular poem was a paraphrase of Psalm 98, written to celebrate the coming and reign of Jesus Christ for the second Advent.
At that time the church quoted and sang Psalms and he thought that it would be a good idea to show the connection to Christ and so he wrote many poems and such to do this.
He also thought that the church was dull in their worship of God. He is quoted in saying..
“To see the dull indifference, the negligent and thoughtless air that sits upon the faces of a whole assembly, while the psalm is on their lips, might tempt even a charitable observer to suspect the fervency of their inward religion.”
He didn’t believe that the people showed enough praise and worship to God.
Some said that he was a heretic because he wanted to sing songs that were not directly quoted from the Bible.
But lets read these verses of Psalm 98
Psalm 98:4–9 (NKJV)
Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth; Break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises.
Sing to the Lord with the harp, With the harp and the sound of a psalm,
With trumpets and the sound of a horn; Shout joyfully before the Lord, the King.
Let the sea roar, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell in it;
Let the rivers clap their hands; Let the hills be joyful together before the Lord,
For He is coming to judge the earth. With righteousness He shall judge the world, And the peoples with equity.
Does anyone know what this song is?...Joy to the World
I love the opening lines to this song.
Joy to the world the Lord is come
Let earth receive her king
Let every heart prepare Him room.
This is a reminder that there is one reason --- and only one --- that we can find JOY in this world.
Because the Lord has come. Amen
If you receive Christ as King of your life, He provides Joy. In the same way that your body craves food, and nourishment so your Spirit craves a relationship with God. Without that relationship, your soul will become famished and restless a soul with no Joy.
As we see in Psalm 98, the world sings with Joy because of the King, the Lord.
He came as a child in the manger but He is coming again and this is where the Joy is.
But notice this line. “Let every heart prepare Him room.
For a lot of people today there is no room for Christ the King.
They don’t want a King and so they reject Jesus.
To them Jesus is a threat to their plans.
A threat to their individual freedom,
A threat to their passions, greed or pride.
And so there is no room in their hearts for Him.
This morning, I want to ask you. If you haven’t recieved Christ, do you have room for Him in your heart?
This is the source of Joy.
Maybe your life stinks right now and you do not have Joy in knowing that one day all things will be made new. When Christ comes back and splits the sky to bring His children home, will you be among His children?
I want you to think about that today as these genteman sing a few more songs and if you feel the pull in your heart, then come and we will be glad to pray with you.
I want to close this sermon with a illustration that is on a bit softer note.
I heard a story about a woman who was doing her last-minute Christmas shopping at a crowded mall. She was tired of fighting the crowds. She was tired of standing in lines. She was tired of fighting her way down long aisles looking for a gift that had sold out days before. Her arms were full of bulky packages when the Elevator door opened. It was full.
The occupants of the Elevator grudgingly tightened ranks to allow a small space for her and her load. As the doors closed she blurted out, “Whoever is responsible for this whole Christmas thing ought to be arrested, strung up, and shot!” A few others nodded their heads or grunted in agreement. Then, from somewhere in the back of the elevator came a single voice that said, “Don’t worry. They already crucified him.”
We need to remember who is responsible for the whole Christmas thing. It is all about how God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son so that who ever believes in Him might have eternal life. John 3:16
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
