Light in the Dark: Experiencing Joy and Living in the Love of God

Light in the Dark: Experiencing Joy and Living in the Love of God

Isaiah 9:2-7

2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone. 3 You have multiplied the nation; you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil. 4 For the yoke of his burden, and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian. 5 For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire. 6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.”

As we celebrate Christmas this year we have looked each week at Isaiah 9 and considered the themes of Peace, Hope, Joy, and Love. Our sermon today considers joy and love in light of God’ promise to deliver us through the child who was born!

The world is dark… and it’s dark because of sin, and yet in the darkness and stain of a sin filled world God has promised light, and not just a light that you can see, a light that overcomes the darkness. A light that produces joy and demonstrates love.

In Isaiah 9:3 the prophet says; “You have multiplied the nation you have increased its joy.”

Joy Begins With God

The one who increases the joy of Israel is the Lord. Where does joy come from? Well, joy is different than happiness. Happiness is the result of circumstances, joy is inward and present regardless of circumstance.

Joy is possible because it’s not about our experience and circumstances, it is connected to God.

Joy Is The Result Of God’s Work

Light has shone on Israel in its time of darkness and oppression. (Isaiah 9:2)

Joy Is The Response Of God’s People

In Isaiah 9:4,5, and 6 the prophet lists out three reasons the people of God respond with Joy:

1. Defeated the oppressor

2. Complete freedom in total annihilation of the enemy

3. The Promise of the Messiah

Joy, True Joy, Is Unique To Christianity

There is no joy apart from the saving and freeing work of God. In Isaiah 9 Israel rejoices because light has dawned them in their darkness. Israel rejoices because of the Word of God, the promise He made concerning the Messiah.

Joy is connected throughout scripture with God’s saving work in the hearts and minds of men. Joy can be completed, the imitations of joy that the world offers can be finished, they leave people wanting more and more instead of being full and satisfied.

David wrote “Restore to me the joy of my salvation.” His cry to God for a renewed joy after the sin in his life is connected to the pure joy of being right with God through His saving work. The ways and pleasures of the world did not satisfy, they destroyed. His cry for the joy that comes from the Lord to return provides clarity to the emptiness of the things that promise joy in the world. It is also provides direction for those who have been pursuing the world to repent and come home to the Lord.

Paul wrote that joy and peace both come through believing in Christ. Romans 15:13 says, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” By faith in Christ you are saved and receive the Holy Spirit, who produces hope, joy, and peace in the life of Christians.

Joy is unique to Christianity because Jesus Christ is the promised child in Isaiah 9. Jesus is the one who defeated the ultimate the oppressor by defeating sin and death. Jesus has purchased a complete and total freedom from sin and death through the cross. At Jesus’ return, there will be an entire end to the enemy of sin and death. Apart from the promise of Christ there is no joy.

Celebrating the goodness of God and the grace of God through Christ is unique to the people of God. Those who have been transferred from the kingdom of darkness come together and rejoice like the times of the harvest, or the dividing up of the spoils of war. There is no joy in darkness; there is no rejoicing in death. Joy is experienced and expressed through the light and life of Christ.

Joy in Christ is real, and so is the darkness of the world that we live. Until Christ returns death and sin have dominion and Satan and his forces are at war with the Kingdom of Christ. Sin in the world and sin in the life of a Christian can impede joy in the life of a believer. In Psalm 51:12 as David cries out for God to restore his joy, the joy of salvation. David is repenting of sin, pleading for God to forgive him and restore him. Joy is something we receive from God, it is the result of God’s work through Christ, and it is something that we as Christians fight for and intentionally cultivate in our relationships with God and our church.

Jesus Is The Reason For Our Joy

1 Peter 1:8-9

“Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”

Christians need no other reason to rejoice other than Jesus Christ. We love Him. We believe in Him, and have been saved by Him. No matter what this world throws at us, and no matter what others do to us, even no matter what we walk ourselves through; our joy is in the saving grace of God and we will celebrate our freedom from sin and darkness until Jesus comes back!

And… as Jesus has come to bring Joy, light has come! The light that Isaiah promised came, and the reason that Jesus came is God’s love.

Jesus is the light!

Light has come because of God’s love for us

John 3:16–21 (ESV)

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

God loved the world so He sent His Son.

God’s Love Is Demonstrated In Jesus

Romans 5:8 (ESV)

8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Ephesians 2:4–10 (ESV)

4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

John 3:19-21

Jesus Is The Light Shining In The Darkness

Isaiah 9:2, 7

John 1:1–5 (ESV)

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

The Light Exposes What Is In The Dark

The Light Overcomes The Darkness

John 3:21

Living In The Light Glorifies God And Satisfies Your Soul

In verse 21 it says, “Seen that it has been carried out by God.”

1 John 1:5–7 (ESV)

5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

Cultivating Joy

1. You Cultivate Joy Through Knowing and Obeying God’s Word

Jeremiah 15:16

“Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O Lord, O God of hosts.”

1 John 1:4

“And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.”

Jude 24-25

“Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and present you blameless before the presence of His glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.”

James 1:2-4

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

2. You Cultivate Joy Through Making Disciples

1 Thessalonians 2:19-20

“For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? For you are our glory and joy.

2 John 1:4

“I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.”

3. You Cultivate Joy Through Worship

God has a plan for us in worship. God doesn’t need our worship; He deserves our worship and satisfies our hearts through worship. Sam Storms writes, “If God is altogether self-sufficient and cannot be served by human hands as if he needed anything (Acts 17:24–25; Romans 11:33–36), least of all glory, why does he command our worship and praise of him?”

Acts 17:24–25 (ESV)

“24 The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, 25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.”

Romans 11:33–36 (ESV)

33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! 34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” 35 “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?” 36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

Because as Sam puts it “Praise completes our joy.” C.S. Lewis said it this way; “I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation.” C.S. Lewis

Joy is cultivated and completed through the praising and worshipping of God.

4. You Cultivate Joy In The Church

Philippians 1:25-26

“Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.”

The church is filled with joy:

1. By the preaching of the Word

2. Through faithfulness to the Word of purpose, organization, and execution

3. By teaching and reminding each other of the Biblical Worldview

4. In Making Disciples

Avoid the distractions of non-Christian reasons to be a church. If being a church is about something other than being disciples things are off track, and more than just joy will be lost. Ultimately a church that isn’t focused on carrying out God’s Word in every way possible will dilute the Gospel in one generation and lose the Gospel in the next.

If you are not experiencing joy:

1. You are not a Christian; you are lost and trapped in the darkness of sin.

2. You ignore or avoid God’s word on a regular basis and turn to the world, friends, co-workers, and other sources of hope instead of Christ.

3. If you’re not experiencing joy it then it’s about your love for God. And living in the love of God is also living in the light… and there’s no joy to be found living in the dark.