‘The fruit of the Spirit is joy.’
If a Christian is defined as someone in whom God’s Spirit lives, then a joyless Christian is a contradiction in terms. Yet we all know that much of life is not characterised by joy, and so we either tend to feel guilty, because clearly we are not ‘spiritual’ enough, or we sigh briefly and then get on with things. But there are those nagging Bible commands. ‘Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice’ (Philippians 4.4). What’s it all about?
More than happiness
The first thing to realise is that joy is not the same thing as happiness. Often people say that joy is much deeper, which has led to the observation that some Christians’ joy is so deep it never seems to surface! The difference is not so much in depth as in duration. Happiness happens — it comes and goes and is largely the response of our emotions and feelings to external events. Nobody can be permanently happy; indeed you only have to set out determined to ‘be happy’ to soon feel quite miserable. So what is the joy that Christians have which is not experienced by those who do not share our faith?
The Bible makes it very clear that it is joy ‘in the Lord’. It is not dependent on circumstances, but is generated by the unchanging centrality of the Lord Jesus in his people’s lives. For Old Testament believers, joy came as a result of their thankfulness for all the way in which God had redeemed and helped his people, Israel. As they reviewed his loving kindness and steadfast love, they reminded themselves of his total dependability and faithfulness to his promises, so that their trust was strengthened and their hearts were joyful. We should expect these ingredients to be there, in intensified form, in the New Testament Christian’s expression of joy.
Wherever Jesus is at work
When the coming of Jesus is announced to the Bethlehem shepherds in Luke 2.10, it was ‘good news of great joy that will be for all the people’. Wherever Jesus is at work, in the gospels, there is joy; it pulsates through the gospel records. ‘How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them?’ (Mark 2.19). Reflecting on his healing miracles and his amazing teaching, Luke tells us: ‘The people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing’ (Luke 13.17). But there is greater heavenly rejoicing ‘over one sinner who repents’ and one lost sheep that is found (Luke 15.7). This begins to direct our attention towards the ultimate experience of joy in the heavenly kingdom, in the eternal fulfilment of all God’s purposes in Christ, which is also a major well-spring of our Christian joy in the ‘here and now’.
So, the disciples are actually directed away from a focus on the miraculous power of God seen in their mission activity. ‘Do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven’ (Luke 10.20). That is the location of their great reward (Matthew 5.12). It is the anticipation of the great wedding banquet of the heavenly kingdom which brings joy in the midst of present struggles and suffering. That is why, when Paul and Barnabas were expelled from Antioch due to the persecution of the Jews, ‘the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit’. The latter is the reason for the former.
Not dependent on circumstances
Christian joy is, therefore, not dependent on circumstances. Its focus is the Lord himself — who he is, what he has done for us, is doing and will yet do. It is based on the hope and confidence which is the product of faith in the Word of God. As the Holy Spirit brings the life of God, within our innermost selves, he generates a deep-seated confidence that we could not be more loved by God than we are at this moment, and that he will never love us less. Joy is knowing that our lives are in the wisest, most loving and most faithful hands of our great God and Saviour, so that those lives are ruled not by worldly discontent, or passive resignation, or a restless quest for happiness, but by the joy of a faith which is being strengthened and purified through all our changing circumstances. Ultimately, we are confidently waiting for the great day of the Lord’s return, when we shall see him face to face and enter into his glory. That perspective of the last day and the eternal kingdom is what keeps us rejoicing in the Lord and in his mighty power. ‘For the kingdom of God is... righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit’ (Romans 14.17).
David Jackman is the past President of the Proclamation Trust.
