The revelation of Christ from birth to resurrection and ascension is all about bringing joy to nations. When the shepherds heard the news about the birth of Christ from the Angels and witnessed it with their own eyes, they started to speak about it publicly and marveled people with their joy and praises (Luke 2: 8-20). The Apostle Paul said that he was overflowed with the joy of Christ despite all the problems surrounding him (2Corinthians 7: 4). The Gospel tells us again and again that even though the followers of Christ were poor and experienced much trouble, the abundance of their joy in Christ saw increased richness of their generosity (2Corinthians 8: 2).
So, the joy of Christ is for all circumstances, unfading and outshining. When the Spirit of Christ resides in us, the joy of His fellowship will fill our hearts and overflow from us to our surroundings. We won’t be able to keep from speaking and demonstrating His love when we receive His full joy.
The joy of Christ in us will speak with influential reason, expressing our confidence that Christ is the best in everything:
Our joy must speak for the person of Christ
His personal presence is the revelation of all truth so that no one is left in any kind of spiritual darkness which is the cause of agnosticism, ungodliness or any belief that see God as an image-less impersonal being that is practically irrelevant to the life on earth. Christ revealed God so that people could proclaim “Immanuel”, which means “God with us”. God is called unknown and non-functional in all other beliefs, but Christ made God known and introduced Him as the functional God who cares for His creatures and pays a great cost to release them from all kinds of bondage.
The person of Christ revealed the absolute truth in order to destroy the spiritual darkness perfectly so that people could have a spotless standard in their lives on earth in order to have a harmonious spiritual, political, social and moral life with others. That’s why the Gospel says that all things on earth and in heaven were reconciled to God and to one another through Christ. (Colossians 1: 20). Because, He is the superior standard.
As a result, every person in the world needs to know that the person of Christ is the source of victorious joy.
Our joy must speak for the beauty of Christ
Unconditional love is the beauty of Christ that has made the Word of God so appealing. The God fearing prophets of the Bible told of the sacrificial love of the Savior that would one day give His life for all, Christ. Such unmatched, unmerited love caused them to humble themselves and give full glory to the Christ who is able to love the world, including His enemies, unconditionally. Such unconditional love draws the attention of even enemies, with the power to draw them into a relationship with the One who brings true peace among humanity. Jesus never wills to lose anyone, no matter his/her race, nationality or belief. His character is to win all and reconcile them to Himself and, thereby, one another. He even reveals Himself to those who terrorize His followers, releasing them from hostility and enmity towards others into the peace and love for which He destined His creation. History has seen none who values life like Christ, even the lives of his enemies. The Gospel says that while we were His enemies, while we rejected Him, He loved us and gave His life for us (Romans 5: 10). We carry Christ’s beautiful heart in us in order to be the voice of His beauty to the world.
Our joy must speak for the infinite victory of Christ
Victory gives joy, but infinite victory gives infinite joy. So far in history, no one has been able to have absolute victory over evil. Since all other religions and philosophies did not have a better option, they eventually gave up and made evil a part of their spiritual diet. All pagan religions show great reverence to the Devil. Yin is the prince of spiritual darkness and lawlessness that Taoism respects, as much as it respects the prince of light, Yang. In Islam, the Satan and evil angels are used as Allah’s evangelists for spreading Islam. The contemporary dominant belief in the western world is that good and evil are highly subjective states; both are right. The teachers of these empty beliefs expect compliance and loyalty to their dualism; a highway to nothingness and death.
Jesus is different. The reason He revealed Himself was to destroy evil so people could live in a right relationship with God, receiving His peace here on earth and hope for eternity. He conquered the source of evil, Satan, in the world so that all nations could see His victory, put their trust in Him and become victorious (Matthew 12: 20-21). This infinite victory is the source of infinite joy. And, infinite joy is not silent.
Our joy must speak for the harmony between the doctrine and life of Christ
Almost all beliefs in the world teach that “the end justifies the means”. This is a self-centered ethic and it must be overcome by the Truth. Christ said, “But let your word be, Yes, yes; No, no. For whatever is more than these comes from evil” (Matthew 5: 37). What did He mean by this? That we are to be truthful with our words. Christ is truthful and does not twist His words. With a genuine “yes” or “no” he opens the door for a trustful, peaceful, love-based relationship. The belief “the end justifies the means” is a win-lose ideology that closes the door to trust and respect, exposing it to self-seeking motivations. The Gospel says, “But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness, nor adulterating the Word of God, but by the revelation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God” (2Corinthians 4: 2).
Compare this ethic with the dominant ethic in the world which has sheltered political correctness, craftiness and deceit, hurting all in one way or another. For Christ, a true belief must be pure and sincere, far from pretense and craftiness.
So, the revelation of Christ is to give victory to people and fill their hearts with joy. The joy of freedom in Christ from beliefs that fail to satisfy the heart’s longings is absolutely incomparable. People need to hear the message of this joy.
As the followers of Christ, we need to allow Christ to be the principal object of our joy in our own personal life and in our relationships with others. Then we cannot but express His joy loudly in word and deed.
