Third Sunday of Advent: Light the Candle of Joy
This week’s Advent focus is Joy. This time of year, we see this little three letter word everywhere. We wear it on sweaters, we post it on billboards, and it’s in our song lyrics. It has become the word that defines the season. But what is joy? The dictionary defines it as the feeling of pleasure or happiness.
There are many things that bring us happiness. Successes like acing a test we studied for or receiving a raise in our job, doing the things we love, or spending time with friends and family are all sources of happiness. The problem is the happiness we experience is temporary. It can leave us seeking the next success in order to feel happy.
Over 2,000 years ago, angels announced to shepherds the “good news that will cause great joy”. The joy they were speaking about was different. This joy is a deep-rooted happiness inspired by God. How do we receive this joy?
From the beginning, God created mankind for relationship with Hm. When mankind sinned, the relationship was severed and the whole earth suffered the consequences. The history of Israel tells numerous stories of God pursuing them and their failure to consistently obey and follow Him. The narrative of the Old Testament ends with the nation experiencing God’s faithfulness as they returned from exile, but, yet again, they failed to follow Him. Their situation seemed hopeless because no matter how many laws they wrote or how great their leaders were, they just could not overcome their sinful nature and separation from God.
But God had a plan all along. He sent his son, Jesus, into the world as one of us so that through Him he could, once and for all, atone for the sins of mankind and restore our relationship with Him. When we recognize our own sinful nature and separation from Our heavenly Father, we accept the gift of salvation that God offers through the death and resurrection of Jesus. We experience rebirth as our spirit reconnects with His Spirit. Paul says it this way in 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! As new creations, we carry the deep-rooted happiness inspired by God within us. The Good News is our circumstances cannot take it away.
I leave you with one final thought from Hebrews 12:2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Christ found joy in suffering on the cross because he knew its purpose was to reconcile us to God! I pray you find the joy that can only come from a relationship with your Daddy, God.
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Over 2,000 years ago, angels announced to shepherds the “good news that will cause great joy”. The joy they were speaking about was different. This joy is a deep-rooted happiness inspired by God. How do we receive this joy?
From the beginning, God created mankind for relationship with Hm. When mankind sinned, the relationship was severed and the whole earth suffered the consequences. The history of Israel tells numerous stories of God pursuing them and their failure to consistently obey and follow Him. The narrative of the Old Testament ends with the nation experiencing God’s faithfulness as they returned from exile, but, yet again, they failed to follow Him. Their situation seemed hopeless because no matter how many laws they wrote or how great their leaders were, they just could not overcome their sinful nature and separation from God.
But God had a plan all along. He sent his son, Jesus, into the world as one of us so that through Him he could, once and for all, atone for the sins of mankind and restore our relationship with Him. When we recognize our own sinful nature and separation from Our heavenly Father, we accept the gift of salvation that God offers through the death and resurrection of Jesus. We experience rebirth as our spirit reconnects with His Spirit. Paul says it this way in 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! As new creations, we carry the deep-rooted happiness inspired by God within us. The Good News is our circumstances cannot take it away.
I leave you with one final thought from Hebrews 12:2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Christ found joy in suffering on the cross because he knew its purpose was to reconcile us to God! I pray you find the joy that can only come from a relationship with your Daddy, God.
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