Joy Unspeakable And Full Of Glory

Every person who is not in Christ is a slave to a cruel master. But when we come to Jesus Christ He sets us free. “Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”” “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” John 8:31, 32, 36, NIV.

Even after becoming a Christian, we can be set free from any sin that we often fall into: “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.” 2 Corinthians 10:4, NIV.

Christians are joyful- they are children of God

“Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God--” John 1:12, NIV.

“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! ” 1 John 3:1, NIV.

Suppose we knew that we were the child of some great man or the child of a billionaire or the child of a king- wouldn’t that make us happy and joyful? But being a child of any of those is nothing compared to being a child of God, the King of kings.

My Father’s own Son, the Savior of men, Once wandered on earth as the poorest of them; but now He is reigning forever on high, And will give me a home in heaven by and by. I’m a child of the King, A child of the King: With Jesus my Savior, I’m a child of the King.

Christians are joyful- they are delivered from all fear

We should fear nothing or no one but God alone. A great many people have their joy spoiled because they are constantly thinking that some calamity may overtake them. People who have the comforts of life but don’t enjoy them because they fear that some calamity may come and take the comforts away. Others don’t enjoy life because they fear they may be thrown out of work and not be able to make a living.

This past year had a situation where one of my sons needed to attend a school that would meet his special needs. Concerned that I would lose my ministry here because for him to attend this school needed to move our residence to Ohio. Approached the elders and supportive of us moving to Ohio and continuing to minister here. In a week we are moving to Ohio. For a while not able to enjoy myself because of these concerns, I was worried. However, even if the worst does happen, we are delivered from all fear.

Soon after Jesus was born in Bethlehem, an angel appeared in their camp to announce the happy event. The shepherds were terrified according to Luke 2:9. The Greek here is, almost literally, they were “mega-afraid.” “But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.” Luke 2:10, NIV. The great joy the angels speaks of is “mega-joy.” In other words, the shepherds’ mega fear would be replaced by mega joy when they saw Jesus. When we are saved, our mega fears are replaced with mega joys.