Christmas 2012 JOY I. The reality of Sorrow Romans 5:12 tells us that sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned. Sin means death and death means sorrow. A world where people die is a world where people also suffer, and hurt, and cry. It really is an inescapable part of all of our lives. As human beings, we feel sadness and sorrow for many reasons. When we hear the news about a school shooting. When we hear the news about the death of someone that we loved. When we hear the news that our own death is near. When we hear the news of a broken relationship (whether it s a marriage or a friendship, whether it s our own or someone else s). When we get the news of a failed job or a financial disaster. Whatever form it may take, there s always plenty of bad news to go around, and so there s always plenty of sorrow, and sadness, and grief in the world. Sometimes it s just the bad news that I can t really think of any truly good news. When people actually stop to think about it long enough, life can feel very empty. What s really the point? Where can I find fulfillment? And so some people go through periods of intense depression. II. The longing for Joy But what we all really long for is joy. Joy isn t a word the world uses very much. In the Bible, joy is a quality [a character trait], and not simply an emotion (NBD). Joy is an attitude of delight and happiness (HIBC). And so, in the Bible, joy doesn t come and go based on changing circumstances. Joy isn t the kind of thing that increases and diminishes depending on what happens from moment to moment. Joy is that deep and abiding sense of happiness, and delight, and well-being that can somehow exist even in the midst of pain and suffering. James 1:2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds. Romans 5:3 We rejoice in our sufferings. 1 Thessalonians 5:16 says it very simply: Rejoice always. Wouldn t it be nice if that were really possible? The world doesn t mention the word joy very often, but that s what everyone in the world is really longing for. And so whether we realize it or not, joy is what we all spend our lives pursuing. All of us, without exception. III. The failed search for Joy But all too often, what we end up with is a very cheap, and a very deceitful substitute for joy. Isaiah 56:12 Come, [the world says], let [us] get wine; let us fill ourselves with strong drink; and tomorrow will be like this day, great beyond measure. That sounds a lot like our pleasure seeking culture as if worldly pleasures could bring us joy. But listen to what the Preacher has to say in the book of Ecclesiastes: 1
Ecclesiastes 2:1 11 I said in my heart, Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself. But behold, this also was vanity. I said of laughter, It is mad, and of pleasure, What use is it? I searched with my heart how to cheer my body with wine my heart still guiding me with wisdom and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was good for the children of man to do under heaven during the few days of their life. I made great works. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself. I made myself gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees. I bought male and female slaves, and had slaves who were born in my house. I had also great possessions of herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem. I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I got singers, both men and women, and many concubines, the delight of the sons of man. So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me. And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil. Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun. What we long for is joy, but what we end up settling for is the cheap thrills of money, possessions (think of Christmas presents?), entertainment, and whatever feels good and pleasurable. But none of it ever truly and permanently satisfies, does it? And so we re always living for the next fix, and the next high the next package from Amazon, the next big movie release, the next chance to spend time on our hobby. To put it simply, we re always living for the next best thing whatever that may be. And so at least for a time, we re able to deceive ourselves into thinking that we have all the joy and happiness that we need. There are others who look deeper. They look to relationships, and even to the doing of good deeds. And so in spite of all the reasons for sadness, and sorrow, and grief in the world, there s also a lot of laughter, and happiness, and good times. But the writer of Proverbs reminds us: Proverbs 14:13 (NKJV) Even in laughter the heart may sorrow, and the end of mirth may be grief. Laughter, and happiness, and good times are not necessarily the same thing as joy. And what we all really long for is joy. IV. The problem of Sin Romans 5:12 says that sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned. Sin is our problem. Sin is the ultimate cause of all sorrow, and sadness, and grief in the world. Sin is the living of any part of our lives without reference to the perfect and holy will of God. Romans 3:23 All have sinned and fall short of the glory [the absolute perfection] of God. 2
And so sin alienates and cuts us off from God. And therein lies the problem. The Bible teaches us that God Himself is the source and the wellspring of joy. God has all true joy in Himself. So the Psalmist writes: Psalm 16:11 You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Psalm 21:6 You make [the king] most blessed forever; you make him glad with the joy of your presence. And yet as we ve seen, our sin separates us from God. The prophet Isaiah writes: Isaiah 59:2 Your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you. The Bible has even described us as alienated and hostile in mind (Col. 1:21) enemies of God (Rom. 5:10), and by nature children of [His] wrath (Eph. 2:3). In the Old Testament Scriptures, the nation of Israel was the privileged and chosen people of God. But because of Israel s sin, the joy that God intended for His people was most often replaced with weeping, and mourning, and sorrow. Lamentations 1:1 2 How lonely sits the city that was full of people! She weeps bitterly in the night, with tears on her cheeks she has none to comfort her. Lamentations 1:4 5 The roads to Zion mourn, for none come to the festival; all her gates are desolate; her priests groan; her [maidens] have been afflicted, and she herself suffers bitterly the LORD has afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions. Lamentations 1:16 For these things I weep; my eyes flow with tears; for a comforter is far from me, one to revive my spirit. Lamentations 2:5 The Lord has become like an enemy; he has swallowed up Israel; he has swallowed up all its palaces; he has laid in ruins its strongholds, and he has multiplied in the daughter of Judah mourning and lamentation. Lamentations 2:18 O wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears stream down like a torrent day and night! Give yourself no rest, your eyes no respite! This is just a sampling of the grief and sorrow that Israel experienced on a regular basis. Sin separates us from God and causes us to be children of His wrath. Psalm 39:11 When you discipline a man with rebukes for sin, you consume like a moth what is dear to him; surely all mankind is a mere breath! Psalm 90:7 10 We have been consumed by Your anger and by Your wrath we have been dismayed. You have placed our iniquities before You, our secret sins in the light of Your presence. For all our days have declined in Your fury; we have finished our years like a sigh. As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years, or if due to strength, eighty years, yet their pride is but labor and sorrow; for soon it is gone and we fly away. Sin is the ultimate cause of all grief, and mourning, and sorrow in the world. Sin robs us all of the joy that we long for. It is sin that leads us to look for joy in all the wrong places, always 3
searching, and never finding happy and satisfied one moment, and then unhappy and dissatisfied the next. God spoke through the prophet Jeremiah: Jeremiah 2:13 My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water. We are all by nature children of wrath. We were all born into this world as sinners. And the ultimate destiny of all those who are sinners and children of wrath is hell. The Bible describes hell as a place of weeping and misery (cf. Mat. 8:12). Hell is the final end of all joy, and that s because in hell, the face of God no longer shines upon anyone, ever, at all. To be in hell is to be finally and absolutely cut off from the presence of God so that not even the counterfeits of joy can satisfy. So we enter this world as sinners, and we re greeted with sorrow. The sorrow of living in a fallen world, where school shootings happen, where people get sick and die, where we will all die one day. The sorrow of living under the sentence of condemnation for our own sin. And ultimately the everlasting sorrows and griefs of hell utterly cut off from the light of God s face. But what we long for is joy not the cheap thrills of the world, but rather that deep and abiding sense of happiness, and delight, and well-being that exists even in the midst of this world s pain and suffering. We long for joy, because that s what God created us to long for. And God created us to long for joy so that we would long for Him, and be forever joyful in Him. But we have committed two evils: we ve forsaken God, the fountain of living waters, and hewn out cisterns for ourselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water (Jer. 2:13). And so already our iniquities have made a separation between us and God, and our sins have hidden his face from us (Isa. 59:2). This is the terrible bad news of grief and sorrow, and one day of everlasting mourning and weeping. We can expend a lot of energy trying to ignore it, and hide it, and mask it for a time but not forever. The reality is that if we can t face the truth of this bad news of sin, and death, and grief, and sorrow, and mourning, then we ll never really know the true joy of Christmas. V. The JOY of Christmas Remember Israel? Remember that because of Israel s constant sin, the joy that God intended for His people was most often replaced with weeping and mourning. But often times, God would speak to His people about a day still to come when all of their weeping would be replaced with singing, and when sorrow would finally be replaced with JOY. The prophet Isaiah once quoted in advance the words of the coming Messiah and Savior: Isaiah 61:1 3 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the LORD s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning. Isaiah 25:6 9 On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that 4
is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the LORD has spoken. It will be said on that day, Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the LORD; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation. Sin and death would be defeated; and that means that sorrow must give way to joy true JOY. The joy of God s salvation the joy of being restored to His presence, and knowing that the light of His face will shine upon us forever, and forever, and forever. At one point, the prophet Isaiah wrote as though it had already happened: Isaiah 9:2 3, 6 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. 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 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. Christmas is proof that God always keeps His promises. To us a child was born, to us a son was given; and He brought us God s salvation and with that salvation, He brought us everlasting JOY. Luke 2:1 12 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great JOY that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. Conclusion Listen to how Isaiah describes the one who came to bring us joy: Isaiah 53:3 He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief. It was Jesus who cried out on the cross: My God, My God, why have you forsaken me? (Mat. 27:46). 5
Isaiah 53:4 5 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace [ and JOY ], and with his wounds we are healed. As one song says, [He] wept great tears that ours might be dried, [He] cried out in anguish that we might sing ( How Deep ). Do you have true, abiding, and everlasting joy? Have you discovered in Jesus the ultimate joy of the forgiveness of sins and the blessed hope of everlasting life lived in the presence of God? If not, then won t you come to God, through Jesus, today in true saving faith? And if yes, then let s ask ourselves if we ve been faithful to find our joy in Jesus, and in the salvation that He has brought to us. This Christmas, may God bless each and every one of us with JOY. John 3:16 so beautifully sums up the true meaning of Christmas: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. In Luke chapter one, it was Mary who said: Luke 1:46 47 My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior. Two thousand sixteen years have passed, and this day we can say the very same thing. My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior! Isaiah foretold it, even seven hundred years before Mary. He said that one day these words would be spoken the very words that we can speak now with all of our hearts: Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the LORD; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation. (Isaiah 25:9) 6