Posted Dec 19, 2022 |
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“Thank God for this gift too wonderful for words!” 2 Corinthians 9:15.
On the day Christ was born, the angels sang. They understood how glorious it was to see their King in the flesh, to see the Savior of the fallen world arrive. They were excited to witness what was happening and what was going to happen. Great things were going to occur, for us!
There are so many experiences we have in life that come close to this type of joy but still none can compare. I remember how excited I was on my wedding day. Having designed my own wedding gown and my soon-to-be husband not having see me in it yet left me with anticipation for his reaction. His smile in that moment was priceless to me.
When I discovered I was pregnant with each of my children, joyful emotions flooded my heart. Having had a few years of infertility and nine miscarriages caused a lot of worry but each positive test somehow made things better. And when each one of my children were born, I couldn’t get enough of them. I was meant to be a mom and every moment is worth singing over. I imagine Mary felt the same, even though she didn’t fully understand the magnitude of God in flesh.
Joy is always there.
There have been many moments in my life where the joy of it was worth singing about. Joy is always with us because God is always with us. Joy, unlike happiness, is not circumstantial. There is never a short of it and it is present even in horrible, dreadful times. Happiness is fleeting and is activated by your circumstances. Such as, I am happy when my daughter has good grades, but I am joy-filled to have my daughter. She could have issues that make her appear less shiny but my joy never leaves.
Your joy comes from the Lord and He was born over 2000 years ago to save the world. He took on human form to be the sacrifice for our sins so that we had a chance to get out of our misery and oppression. Christ wants every person to have the chance and He sacrificed Himself for that provided opportunity. He will not force Himself into your life, so you will need to take the risk and ask for Him to enter your life.
There is no greater gift to receive!
Some have chosen not to believe and accept the gift because they see it as they are being asked to give up stuff. Yes, you will need to give up stuff. That same stuff is what has been holding you back, though. Once you rid yourself of the dead weight that you have been carrying, you will feel better than ever.
Trust me when I say, I have experienced this first hand. I was a smoker, drinker, promiscuous, disrespectful, listened to horrible music, watched filthy movies, controlling, angry and bitter, depressed and anxious, and cursed like a sailor. Giving those things up felt, at the time, like someone was caging me. The opposite is true now that I am completely free of them. Some of those things were pleasurable things that I just wanted to keep, causing me to place a roadblock between me and God. Other things were lies from Satan that were holding me captive.
None of what I had before truly brought me happiness, let alone joy. At best, they were temporary fixes of euphoria. They did feel nice, for brief moments, but nothing compares to how I feel now and who I am because of Him.
His birth made the way for a second chance.
Even though Christ was born 2000 plus years ago, in a time when the world needed the ultimate “lamb” for slaughter. In Bible times, people sacrificed spotless lambs (or doves if they were poor) to cleanse themselves from sin. The world got too sinful and needed something that would cleanse it from all sin until the end of time.
Jesus was the perfect Spotless Lamb. He never committed any sin. As God on earth, He lived a blameless life. When he went to the cross for us, He took on all of our past, present, and future sins. There is reason to be singing for joy because what punishment we completely deserved, He accepted on our behalf.
If you know anything about the crucifixion story, then you know it was the worst punishment imaginable. You would also know that those who were punishing Christ took it on further than any normal person would have. You can read about it in Matthew 27:1-54, Mark 15:1-40, Luke 23:1-48, and John 19:1-30. (I will go into more details about this story around Easter because many people misinterpret the Bible about the facts of His crucifixion. Ironically, this is one of the times when people bring their personal views and bias into reading the text but they should be looking at it from a Scientific-factual-gathering-of-information perspective.)
His death was not a time to mourn but a time to rejoice because “it is finished!” No more excuses to get right.
Hail the Son of Righteousness!
Joyful all ye nations rise.
Join the triumph of the skies.
Glory to the new born King!
No matter which lyrics you sing from your favorite Christmas Carol, remember His birth is the reason for the season and should be enough to sing out with great joy! Merry Christmas.
