Christ Is Our Joy

By receiving the life of Christ, we receive the joy of Christ. That is, the joy of the Lord becomes our joy (John 15:11). What kind of joy is this? It is a “joy inexpressible and full of glory” (1 Peter 1:8). It is a joy that made Christ the happiest person who has ever lived (Heb. 1:9). In fact, Christ never lost His joy. Though He was “a Man of sorrows” (Isa. 53:3), He was able to rejoice in the midst of His suffering.

Though Christ was called to face and carry out some difficult things, He always found pleasure in obeying God in those things (John 4:34). Even the most difficult task of all—dying on the cross—was motivated by “the joy that was set before Him” (Heb. 12:2). He was full of joy because He delighted in His Father at all times. Christ understood that in the presence of God there “is fullness of joy” (Ps. 16:11). With His heart steadfastly fixed on God, He was anointed with the oil of joy above anyone else (Ps. 45:7). Oh, what a blessing to be able to rejoice in every situation (Phil. 4:4; 1 Thess. 5:16)! Yet what causes us to cease from rejoicing is not trials and tribulations, but sin. Sin, by its very nature, makes us miserable. It makes us distrust God. It makes us thirsty and brings discontentment into our souls because it separates us from God. Though sin continues to promise us happiness, it only intensifies our dissatisfaction with life.

The problem with sin is that it not only enlarges the insatiable appetites of our flesh but it pulls our hearts away from the Lord, the only real source of life and happiness. Thus, sin always leads to misery and death. What must we do to enter into the joy of the Lord? We must run back into the presence of Christ. We must turn our eyes away from the things of this world and gaze on the altogether lovely One. Only when we are satisfied with Christ will we be satisfied at all.

Adapted from The Pursuit of Glory: Finding Satisfaction in Christ Alone by Jeffrey D. Johnson