“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”
Romans 15:13 (ESV)
I have been sharing with you why Jesus Christ came to this planet. First of all, He came to bring salvation and the forgiveness of our sins, so that we might spend eternity with Him in Heaven. We can have that assurance in our life, as Ephesians 2:8-9 (ESV) says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
As you can see, our salvation is not based upon works, but it’s the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ that He so generously pours out on you and me. Jesus came to bring peace. In fact, in Isaiah 9:6 He is called the Prince of Peace. We need that peace. You may be feeling right now like you could use some peace in your life. But this peace we are talking about is not circumstantial. Listen to what our Lord Jesus said in John 14:27 (ESV), “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” This is a lasting peace. This is a peace that is always there for you. It’s unlike what the world tries to give to us. We think if we just had more money or had a different house or a different job, we would have peace. But the problem with that is that when we do get a different job and more money, we change our circumstances but we still don’t have peace.
Finally, Jesus comes to bring the fullness of joy. Here are a couple of verses that include that really great phrase “fullness of Joy” or “joyful.”
Rom. 16:11 (ESV): “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”
John 15:11 (ESV): “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”
Simply being in God’s presence brings joy into our lives.
There is nothing too big for Him to conquer and nothing too small for Him to not care about. Whatever comes our way, God and His presence are always with us. Joy is not a fleeting feeling, here one minute and then gone the next. It has nothing to do with our outward circumstances, or whether we feel happiness in the moment. For Christians, joy is a state of being, something that remains inside of us no matter what is going on in our lives. And we receive our joy from the Creator of joy, the Lord Jesus.
Merry Christmas to you and your family! May Jesus Christ fill you with His joy and peace.