All I Want For Christmas is Joy

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us... But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us... And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. (Romans 5)

All we truly want this Christmas—joy that endures—arrives in the coming of Christ.

The Search for the Abundant Life

Christmas is just two days away, and for the last four weeks we have been considering some of the important things the Bible says about this season. We have been talking about the needs every one of us has that must be met if we are to experience what Jesus calls the abundant life. In John 10, Jesus said, "I have come that you may have life, and that you may have it more abundantly." The Scriptures reveal these needs that must be met if we are to experience that abundant life fully.

I don't know anybody who does not deeply desire an abundant life. People describe it in different ways, but everyone is seeking it. In our culture, for the better part of the last century, we have been led to believe that the way to satisfaction is to meet one's practical material needs—that if we just deal with all of these material needs, we will have the abundant life.

Why Material Things Cannot Satisfy

Over the last two and a half generations in our nation, we have been privileged to have most of those material needs met. And yet, even with virtually all the material needs met, we still have people who are not experiencing the abundant life. The theories of a hundred years ago said that if we just dealt with these things, people would be satisfied and joyful. Yet that has not been our experience. Not only are many people unsatisfied, but we are a society experiencing anxiety, depression, and distress at an alarming rate.

I believe this is because material needs, while important, cannot satisfy our deepest desires—because we are more than material beings. There are those today who put forth the theory that we are nothing more than material, that even our consciousness is just chemical interactions. But that doesn't measure up to how we actually live our lives. The biblical worldview is that we are more than material beings, and therefore we have transcendent needs that must be met.

The Hierarchy of Spiritual Needs

I've noted throughout this series Abraham Maslow, recognized as one of the chief behavioral psychologists who wrote on human motivation. In the 1940s he derived the hierarchy of human needs. At that time, many people did not have their practical needs met, but over the last 75 years in the West we have largely met them—and yet people are still lacking. There are needs of the soul, spiritual needs, that every human being has.

In Romans 5, Paul brings these transcendent spiritual needs clearly into view, and he makes clear they are only fulfilled in Christ. This is Paul's theme throughout much of his writing—this concept of being in Christ, that what we truly need and value is found in Christ. So here is the first point: the abundant life is impossible without grace from God, bringing peace with God, resulting in hope in God, all on the basis of the love of God. Love, grace, peace, hope—all of these components are essential if we are going to have the abundant life.

The Things That Do Not Satisfy

There are people who think the abundant life is found in fame, pleasure, power, prestige, or wealth. Some think it is found in the perfect spouse, the perfect house, or perfect children—which is never going to happen. We think that if we just have these things, we will be satisfied. Yet those who attain them often find they do not satisfy. It may help temporarily, but it always leaves us looking for more—which means there is something more to be found.

There is a force in this world constantly feeding the narrative, "If I just get this, then I will be happy." Biblically, that force is the one referred to as Satan, the prince of the power of the air, feeding our fallen nature with the things of this world. That's why our greatest hits include songs like "I Can't Get No Satisfaction" and "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"—they connect with an understanding in our soul.

I have a good friend, Joey Buran, who is now a pastor but was once a professional surfer. He worked for years to reach the very top of surfing, and in the early 1980s he won the Pipeline Masters, which in surfing is a really big deal. I was helping him move once, and at his mom's house he pulled out a dusty trophy from under a bed—the Pipeline Masters championship. He told me that within twenty minutes of receiving the award, a big storm came in on the beach in Hawaii, everyone ran for cover, and he was left sitting out there alone in the rain, realizing, "This is all it is." He fell into a deep slump that led him to be suicidal for a time. Ultimately God used that to bring him to realize that lasting joy is not found in these things—it is only found in Christ, as Paul speaks of here in Romans.

The Advent of What We Truly Need

Love, grace, peace, and hope are part of the spiritual hierarchy of needs every human being has, and they are only found in Christ. That is why the advent of Christ, which we celebrate at Christmas, is the arrival of that which we deeply need and ultimately desire. His coming into the world brings the very things we are desperately seeking.

Because of God's love, Jesus graciously came into this world to satisfy justice. Through His death on the cross, He satisfies the just requirement of God's law so that we could be justified—justified means justice is satisfied. His grace satisfies justice, giving us peace. We who were at enmity with God, going all the way back to Genesis 3, can now have peace with God through Christ, who is our peace. This makes it possible for us to have hope that is eternal—hope in God.

Great Joy and Rejoicing

This leads to the second point: as a result of God's love and grace, we have great joy and rejoicing. Paul says, "We stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God" (Romans 5:2).

We live in a nation that enshrined in its founding documents the pursuit of happiness. The Declaration of Independence declares, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, and they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Notice that this derives not from the politics of a nation or the word of a king, but from God who created us. For 242 years we have pursued this, and it has been an overall net positive for us and for much of the world.

But at best, any happiness you can secure as a result of life and liberty in this nation is temporary and fleeting. If you look at the etymology of the word happiness, you find it is connected to "happenings" or good fortune. We think happiness derives from good fortune—if good things happen, we will be happy. We have places like "the happiest place on earth," but if you go there with four kids at four o'clock in the afternoon, you will not be happy.

Rejoicing in Tribulation

Yet Paul says in Romans 5:3, "We also rejoice in tribulation." There is a cognitive dissonance in that statement—when something you hear does not align with your experience of the world. I am always challenged by these words, because my nature says, "I rejoice that I got a flat tire? Lost my job? Got a cancer diagnosis?" It just doesn't work that way. But Paul says we rejoice in tribulation, which tells us something about this joy.

Point three: the joy of the abundant life is not circumstantial, but increasing and enduring. When you receive God's love, grace, peace, and hope, then, as Peter said in 1 Peter 1:8, "You rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory." Jesus came so that, in His words from John, "My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full."

A Durable Source of Joy

It might surprise you that I was listening to my favorite atheist this week—Sam Harris. I subscribe to his podcast; he intrigues me. He was interviewing a doctor named Peter Attia, and a quarter of the way into the conversation, Sam Harris said this: "The narrow conception of happiness that most of us have by default is something that we are always trying to defend and shore up against all of the other things in life that are threatening to undermine it." He went on to say that seeking after happiness "is not a safe play," because so many things threaten to destroy our experience of joy. "Any joy that you can feel, by virtue of its having arisen based on some causes and conditions, is going to pass away."

Sam Harris says he is seeking a durable source of joy. I am grateful for that, because I am convinced it is found in only one place. Jesus said those who seek will find, and to those who knock it will be opened. He hopes to find it through meditation, but it will not come through meditation—it is only found in one place.

Joy in the Midst of Trial

I don't want to falsely suggest that if you trust in Jesus, every happening in your life will be happy. That is not true. Some people with big platforms and TV shows teach that sort of thing, but that is not what the Bible says. If it were true, there would not have been loads of Christians martyred over the last two thousand years; there would be no cross of Christ. Life can be difficult and challenging. This last week some people's lives got harder when the Dow Jones slid steeply—but if losing 500 points is the worst thing you experience, you are blessed. This very morning the news reported a tsunami in Indonesia from a volcano, with at least 200 people dying instantly.

But love, bringing grace, peace, and hope from God, brings a joy that Paul and the other writers of Scripture describe as increasing unto fullness for eternity. Three thousand years ago David wrote in Psalm 16:11, "You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore." A thousand years later, Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." David believed God would show him the path of life, and Jesus said, "I am the path."

The Stumbling Block of Exclusivity

This may be one of the most challenging words of the Bible for modern American culture. The biggest stumbling block for those with no religious affiliation—being referred to by sociologists as "the nones"—is the exclusivity of Jesus' claims. Last night I had an hour-long conversation with my wife's 75-year-old Uncle Pete, a sharp old lawyer. He made it clear he has a hard time with the exclusive nature of Jesus' claims, which I understand.

But if it is true that there is only one way to joy that is eternal and full, would it be wrong and narrow to say that's the only way? If there were one cure for cancer, would it be narrow-minded of me to say, "This is the only cure"? Or would it be loving to extend it to people who do not yet have it? I suggest it is the most loving thing to declare the one way—which is what Jesus came and said.

When you trust in Christ, you receive the gift of God's love, which brings grace, resulting in peace with God where there once was enmity, and hope in God for an eternal and expanding joy that remains in spite of circumstances. James, the half-brother of Jesus, wrote, "Count it all joy when you fall into various trials." Apart from God's work of grace, no one counts it joy to fall into trials. But James understood the grace and love of God, the peace and hope of God, so he could count it joy.

A Far More Exceeding Weight of Glory

This leads to what Paul wrote in Romans 8:18: "I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." The only way to have enduring joy in the midst of a broken world is the anticipation of something beyond this life that is greater than this life. In 2 Corinthians 4, Paul says, "Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal."

Some of you remember my good friend Mike Callahan, who went to be with the Lord years ago. He lived the last seven or eight years of his life with a brain tumor the size of a bar of soap, and this was his favorite verse—he shared it with me many times. He was one of the most joyful people I ever knew, even with terminal brain cancer. He knew it would take his life, yet he served God passionately, looking forward to the glory that would be revealed in him. People wondered why he wasn't depressed—because he knew it was a light affliction working for him a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.

Good Tidings of Great Joy for All People

In Luke 2, we read a familiar Christmas passage:

Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord..." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!"

The original Greek word for "good tidings" is euangelion—where we get our concept of the gospel, the good news. The stumbling block for many today is the exclusivity of Jesus' claims, but understand that Jesus came to bring great joy to all people.

It is fascinating that the announcement of the birth of the King of kings was made by angels to shepherds in a field—likely the lowest socioeconomic group in ancient Israel. These shepherds near Bethlehem, just seven miles from Jerusalem, were likely the ones who oversaw the sheep brought to the temple for sacrifice. The angel didn't go to royalty—not that the gift isn't for royalty too—but he came to the lowliest, as if to say you don't have to work your way up to receive this. "I have come to bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people."

The Joy of God for All People

Point four: the joy of God is available to all people in Christ. It might seem narrow to add "in Christ," but it is essential, because the joy of God is available to all people, yet found in only one place. Though it is a stumbling block to many secularists, that is the news of the gospel. Every single person, whether they believe in God or not, is looking for a durable source of joy—even if their name is Sam Harris. But that joy is only found in Christ.

This is the message the angels gave the shepherds two thousand years ago, and the message God would have us remember, rejoice in, and share. Of all the things we will share in two days at Christmas—with friends, neighbors, co-workers, and family—I pray you will share the good news of great joy that is for all people, found in Christ.

Closing Prayer

God, I thank You that You do not want us to be ignorant about who You are and what You've done. You desire that we would know how great You are, and that we would be in Your presence, where there is fullness of joy forever. You have designed that this message would be proclaimed throughout the entire world, and for the last two thousand years that is exactly what has happened. So I pray that You would work in us, giving us boldness and passion to share that good news of great joy with the people in our lives, so they would know the joy we are beginning to experience. We have only had a little foretaste, an appetizer, of that great joy, but for the ages to come You will be revealing the riches of Your grace toward us who believe. Help us take advantage of the opportunity we have this holiday season, as we prepare to celebrate Your birth, that Your coming is the arrival of all that we ultimately want. We praise You and thank You in Jesus' name. Amen.