Exhortation-Joy to the World!

Luke 2:10-11 10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

Joy to the world, the Lord is come! Let earth receive her King! A light has dawned chasing away the darkness and gloom of night.

The world is a sinful place. We don’t have to look very far to see the ill effects of sinful men. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life are readily apparent to every cursory examination of the affairs of the world. Men chase after happiness, joy and satisfaction but it is always beyond their grasp. They are like little children trying to capture the rays of the sun in a bottle only to find that when night falls, the bottle has become dark again. The light has fled away.

As we see this condition of the earth, this longing for the Consummation, it is easy for us to lose sight of the light and to attempt to gaze into the darkness. Our thoughts and eyes are turned from the effulgence of Christ to the gloom that He is chasing away. Our faith becomes weak, our hope becomes cynical, our joy turns to sorrow.

We forget the glad tidings of the Christmas story and only look for the hope of the Second Coming and the Resurrection. Of course, there will be greater joy when Jesus comes again in the final triumph. There is total and complete victory over death in the resurrection. But we must not forget that the light has already dawned. We are standing in that light now and that light is Jesus Christ, the light of men. When we see Jesus shining brightly, the darkness beyond Him and the darkness behind us becomes obscured by His glory. We do not forget the darkness but we take His light into the very corners of the earth. We work, and pray and live to His glory so that Jesus shines brighter and brighter until a full day, until all the shadows are chased away in the resplendent glory that is Christ, the Savior of the World. The light has dawned. Rejoice, good Christian men for Jesus Christ is born.

Let us look to Christ and rejoice. When we have not rejoiced in His goodness and His glory, it is needful for us to confess our lack of joy and thankfulness so that He would restore to us the joy of our salvation.