In the spirit of Christmas, the merriment, the decorations, the beauty, are all in the air, but the most important is the abundant joy our Lord Jesus Christ brought to this world.
Let’s look at the bible text; Luk. 2:10-11:
“10. 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. 11. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”
We’ll be looking at six ways Jesus brought Abundant Joy to the world:
1. The Joy of His Birth:
When the angel announced the birth of Jesus to shepherds in the field, his first words in Luk. 2:10 were “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people”.
The birth of Jesus was necessarily to bridge the gap between God and man. He was called “Immanuel” meaning, God with us. This is significant to the essence of His birth. God who was perceived to be far away from man finally came to live in the world with man.
2. The Joy of Salvation:
Jesus came to save and restore what man lost to sin in the garden of Eden (Gen 3:1-8). The consequence of the fall in the garden of Eden was the reason for eternal condemnation in hell.
The love of God towards mankind, through Jesus, despite our imperfection, is why He gave up Jesus for the purpose of our salvation and joy to humanity. In 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.”
As a result of Jesus birth and death on the cross, we have the opportunity to come into the presence of God and be pronounced “not guilty”
3. The Joy of the gift of the Holy Spirit:
Without salvation, there wouldn’t be the gift and fruits of the Holy Spirit.
In Gal 5:22-23:
“22. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23. Gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.”
The indwelling of the Holy spirit, the comforter, and the promise of the Father is the source of joy.
4. The Joy of Hope:
According to Col. 1:27: “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
Within every human heart is the knowledge of eternity, even if we don’t recognize it as such. In Eccl. 3:11, it says: “He has put eternity in the hearts of men”. The birth of Jesus gave us the hope of a glorious eternity. The word became flesh – Jesus, and in Him we have hope of eternity. No joy greater than that.
5. The Joy of Resurrection:
In Joh. 20:20 – As He spoke, He showed them the wounds in His hands and His sides. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord.
This event followed after the resurrection of Jesus. He showed his disciples a proof that He had risen. His resurrection conquered sin and death permanently; and the disciples were filled with joy. His resurrection gave us the hope of eternal life.
6. The Joy of Miracles:
Joy is always spurred after an event that defies natural laws – miracle. Jesus demonstrated a lot of miracles that brought life and joy to many.
Every time He healed a person, cast out a demon, or forgave a sin, joy was the immediate results.
Among the many miracles were Jesus turning water to wine (John 2:1-4), Jesus healing the paralytic who was let down from the top of roof (Matt 9:1-8), the woman with issue of blood who got healed when she touched the elm of His garment, etc.
The miracle worker and Joy giver is alive and is still at work. He can bring abundant joy into your, if you let Him.
Say this prayer: Lord Jesus, fill my heart with abundant joy all the days of my life, in Jesus name. Amen.
