Costly Joy

Joy!  What a delightful thing to see in others, and to experience ourselves. To be so filled with pleasure and happiness that they seem to overflow, to gush out, from a person. Like an open fire hydrant spraying on a hot summer day, joy is something that flows out from a person and soaks everyone who is near.

I got to thinking about joy when I saw something on Facebook from a friend of mine who is a pastor.  At his church there was going to be a series of sermons based on the fruits of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22-23, where Paul writes:

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."

When I saw that list, and went to read those verses, I was struck by something about them.  They are all really good things that can be present within the life of the believer in Jesus. They are the kinds of things we would both like to see present in our lives, as well as being things that we want to grow in. 

For example, I want to be loving towards others, and to grow as a loving person. I want to experience joy, and to grow in knowing more joy in daily life.  I want to know peace in my life, I want to have more peace in my life, and I want the peace of Christ to be present within people whom I love. 

But back to joy.

Paul is writing specifically about fruits, or benefits, that come as a consequence of having faith in Jesus. Faith in Jesus means believing that Jesus is both the Savior and Lord of a person's life.  And to know Jesus as Savior means knowing that a person is a sinner, in need of salvation, or rescue, and believing that their rescue comes only by faith in Jesus as their rescuer.  Jesus, only Jesus, and no one or thing else.

So what does all this have to do with joy, and particularly the title of this post, Costly Joy?

The point is that the joy a Christian knows in their Savior comes at a great price to God the Father. Last week I preached from John 3:16-18, where verse 16 says:

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."

Within those words is the idea that God the Father freely gave his only Son to suffer the greatest injustice in all of history so that those who would believe in the finished work of that Son could rest, forever, in the love of God.

Human language can only give us limited and imperfect ways of understanding God as God truly is.  How painful was it for the Father to see the trial and execution of the Son? How hard did the Spirit have to work to sustain the Son in being faithful as he completed the task that no other person could even attempt?

We can know joy as we follow Jesus, but let us not forget that our joy came at great cost, not only to the Son who gave his life, but also to the Father who gave his Son, and to the Spirit, who works the will of God in all things.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.