What is JOY?
What does it mean to REJOICE?
We invite & allow the world to define JOY for us…instead of God’s Word.
It’s so important to read & study the Bible.
We are being formed by the inputs.
We are being formed by the information.
Romans 12:2 CSB
2 Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.
There is no real JOY without Jesus
JOY is a fruit of the Holy Spirit
JOY is what the Holy Spirit produces in us & through us
Not JOY that motivational speakers talk about
Tony Robbins or Oprah
Joy is a character from the Disney films ‘Inside Out’ and ‘Inside Out 2’
But, Disney movies are not the Bible.
We want the Bible to teach us about what is true & not true.
We want the Bible to be informing our worldview
Biblical worldview
This is what we mean when we talk about this Life with Jesus…
To Love the Lord our God with all of our MIND.
How does the Bible define JOY?
How does God define JOY?
Matthew 2:7-11 CSB
7 Then Herod secretly summoned the wise men and asked them the exact time the star appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. When you find him, report back to me so that I too can go [and pay him homage].”
9 After hearing the king, they went on their way. And there it was—the star they had seen at its rising. It led them until it came and stopped above the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overwhelmed with joy. 11 Entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and falling to their knees, they worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
JOY – ‘a feeling of great pleasure and happiness.’
“joie de vivre” – the JOY of living
Beethoven’s ‘Ode to Joy’
We find enjoyment in things that produce JOY in us.
WINE.
Ecclesiastes 10:19 (NASB) – “...wine makes life merry.”
Psalm 104:14 (ESV) – God gives us wine to “...gladden the heart of man.”
KIDS.
Raising godly children brings JOY.
Proverbs 23:24-25 CSB
24 The father of a righteous son will rejoice greatly,
and one who fathers a wise son will delight in him.
25 Let your father and mother have joy,
and let her who gave birth to you rejoice.
A WIFE.
In Genesis 2, God gives Adam the gift of Eve
JOY
REJOICING
ENJOYMENT
A husband & his bride
Jesus and His Church
Hebrews 12:2 CSB
For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Jesus was looking forward to a JOY that he did not yet possess
We are Jesus’s JOY!
We are waiting with Him.
“The joy of God’s people is not determined by their struggles, but by their future destiny.” – Tim Mackie (BibleProject)
JOY in the Bible is unique
Joy is an “attitude that God’s people adopt, not because of happy circumstances, but because of their hope in God’s love and promise.” – Tim Mackie (BibleProject)
2 Corinthians 8:2 CSB
2 During a severe trial brought about by affliction, their abundant joy and their extreme poverty overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.
2 Corinthians 7:4 CSB
4 …I am overflowing with joy in all our afflictions.
2 Corinthians 6:10 CSB
10 as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing…
Christian JOY is found in affliction, persecution, suffering, & death
We should not deny the reality of death.
We should not ignore or suppress our sorrow
But we can rejoice in it!
Christian JOY
“Christian joy is a profound decision of faith and hope in the power of Jesus’s own life & love.” – Tim Mackie (BibleProject)
1 Peter 4:12-19 CSB
Christian Suffering
12 Dear friends, don’t be surprised when the fiery ordeal comes [upon] you to test you, as if something unusual were happening to you. 13 Instead, rejoice as you share in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may also rejoice with great joy when his glory is revealed.
This is the great JOY that allowed Him to endure the cross (Hebrews 12)
1 Peter 1:5-9 CSB
5 You are being guarded by God’s power through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 You rejoice in this,[a] even though now for a short time, if necessary, you suffer grief in various trials 7 so that the proven character of your faith—more valuable than gold which, though perishable, is refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; though not seeing him now, you believe in him, and you rejoice with inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 because you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
Jesus has His eyes fixed on that day…and so we fix our eyes on Jesus
Nehemiah 8:10 CSB – “The joy of the LORD is [our] strength.”
Matthew 2:7-11 CSB
7 Then Herod secretly summoned the wise men and asked them the exact time the star appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. When you find him, report back to me so that I too can go [and pay him homage].”
9 After hearing the king, they went on their way. And there it was—the star they had seen at its rising. It led them until it came and stopped above the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overwhelmed with joy. 11 Entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and falling to their knees, they worshiped him.[d] Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
They had found the King of kings!
Jesus is their JOY!
GOLD
Gold represented power, authority, the right to rule
Queen of Sheba brought gold to Solomon in 1 Kings 10
This gift of gold meant that these wise men knew Jesus to be a king
Gold also represented divinity
The ark of the covenant
Pagan idols
Shadrach, Meshach, & Abednego
Golden calf
This gift of gold meant that these wise men knew Jesus to be divine
FRANKINCENSE
Symbolized holiness…righteousness
The incense smoke rising represented the offering smoke rising
Jesus became our better sacrifice
Jesus is the best gift that could ever be given.
Jesus is the treasure that God laid down for you & for me.
Jesus is the treasure.
Jesus is our JOY.
MYRRH
Often mixed with wine to numb the senses
This is the drink offered to Jesus on the cross, but he wouldn’t drink it
Mark 15:23
Matthew 27:34
Myrrh symbolized bitterness, suffering, anguish, affliction
Myrrh mainly used for the process of embalming
Myrrh symbolized death
This little infant king was born to die
Jesus came to die on a cross…to give His life as a ransom for many.
1 John 4:9-11 CSB
9 God’s love was revealed among us[b] in this way: God sent his one and only Son into the world so that we might live through him. 10 Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice [propitiation] for our sins.
Jesus came because He wanted to make a way to be with us forever
Jesus came because He loves us
Jesus came so that we might live through Him
Life with Jesus
JOY in Jesus
Jesus came to be our JOY