How Is Our Joy Complete in Christ?
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Joy is sometimes hard to define, but we know it when we feel it. Just like the world’s brand of love and peace, the joy the world offers can be fleeting. But Christians are meant to enjoy lasting “fullness of joy,” complete joy in Christ.
How is the believer’s joy complete in Jesus? How do we answer the call to find joy in Him?
It helps to understand how joy comes to God’s children.
Joy — Before and After Jesus Came
The Old Testament abounds with joy. There are more than a dozen words in Hebrew rooted in joy — translated into English with words like “joyful,” “happy,” and “glad.” In the beginning of time, God created all things and pronounced them “good” (Genesis 1 and 2), and we can almost imagine His joy in the Garden of Eden with the harmony and abundance He created there, and His daily communion with the first couple.
The prophet Isaiah symbolically described creation as rejoicing with the people of God — the mountains and hills burst forth with joy and trees clapped their hands (Isaiah 55:12). Humans are invited to join the wonder and delight with creation’s happy praises when the righteous Judge comes (Psalm 96:11-13a). The psalmist praised God for His faithfulness and mercy, saying, “You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy” (Psalm 30:11).
God’s people are designed for joy. Yet all of creation presently groans under the weighty curse of sin — struggling with pain and loss (Romans 8:22). Mankind needed a savior, and there was great joy in His coming. In God’s providence, a young virgin named Mary expressed her joy in being chosen to bear the Messiah, saying, “My spirit rejoices in God my Savior” (Luke 1:46-47). Not long afterward, holy angels announced to lowly shepherds the “good news” that would cause “great joy” — the long-awaited birth of the Savior (Luke 2:10). Sometime after Jesus was born, Magi (wise men) sought Him and were “overjoyed” when they saw the star leading to the Christ Child (Matthew 2:10).
Yes, there was joy in heaven and a measure of it on the cursed earth before Jesus came, but when the Father sent the Son, our fullest, most complete joy was made possible in Him — joy that would last forever. Joy comes to those who have a right relationship with Father God through Jesus Christ.
How Does God Give Us Fullness of Joy on Earth?
The word “joy” is chara in Greek — a word often used to express the transformation of sorrow into joy. Jesus illustrated this sorrow-to-joy emotion in the parables He told stories about a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost son. In each case, there was a desperate sense of loss followed by great celebration when the loss was recovered. Through these parables, Jesus invited His followers to understand how the Kingdom works and enter into that joyful Kingdom in the here and now. The heart of His message? Lost sinners are rescued in Him, a cause for great rejoicing!
In our human experience, joy and sorrow exist simultaneously. Paul had much to say about this. Romans 12:15 says, “Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.” Feel the tension in 2 Corinthians 6:10 when Paul said we are “sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.” Romans 9:2 speaks of the apostle’s “great sorrow and unceasing anguish,” yet in Philippians 4:4, Paul admonishes believers to “rejoice always.” We might ask, “How then is our joy ‘complete’ in Christ while we’re on earth if there’s so much struggle?”
In a podcast, John Piper expressed three ways we can have fullness of joy in Jesus now. First, he says, “We can be said to have fullness of joy in God if our joy in God is so full that it outweighs all other competing emotions and overflows in love to others.” Despite our terrible, sinful brokenness, it is still possible to experience joy in Jesus and express it beautifully to others (2 Corinthians 8:2).
Second, “We can be said to have fullness of joy in God if our joy in God is so full that we know we have arrived at the end of our quest for satisfaction.” In other words, Christ is the end of our heart’s search, our spiritual hunger — our fullness of joy is in Him alone.
Third, we can be said to have fullness of joy in God “if our joy in God is so full,” Piper said, “that it rises to the heights of overflowing gladness in song or other forms of exuberance” (Ephesians 5:18-19). Praising God and expressing gladness for salvation is bound up in the joy of worship.
Our Joy Will Also Be Complete in Christ in Heaven
It is not unusual for pastors to quote Revelation 21:4 at Christian funerals: “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
The certainty of completeness of joy in Christ means there will be no sad thoughts or emotions to fight against — to compete with — our joys in heaven. This truth can bring great peace, comfort, and rejoicing to those who must deal with their Christian loved one’s passing.
The psalmist understood that in God’s presence, joy is full and there are “eternal pleasures.” The heavenly hosts understand this too — the angels rejoice whenever someone turns to the Lord (Luke 15:10).
Jesus Can Give Us Joy in the Midst of Sorrow
Psalm 30:5 is familiar to many Christians: “Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.” But there’s also joy in the mourning — joy as we mourn — when our face is turned toward the Son.
Devastated by disease, accusations, or loss, we may feel we are missing out on the abundant joy Jesus wants to give us. But James calls us to “consider it pure joy” amid our trials (James 1:2-4). He says we can rejoice in two things in our struggles: maturity and completeness — being well-developed spiritually. In the Father’s sovereign love and wisdom, and our complete joy in Jesus, nothing is wasted, not even deep sorrow. Because of all that Jesus has done for us — the lavish blessings we have in our identity with Him — we can experience triumphant, even outrageous joy.
God can enlarge our joy in life’s toughest challenges. Colleen Chao, who is fighting a tough battle with cancer, wrote about joy in suffering in her book In the Hands of a Fiercely Tender God. “Suffering with Jesus has seasoned my laughter and grown it large with hope, freedom, and peace I didn’t have twenty years ago,” she said. “When I laugh now, it’s as if my heart is saying, ‘Pain, you haven’t won! Grief, get back in your place. God is writing a good story, and He wins in the end!” Now that is victorious joy in Christ!
We Need the Outpouring of Christ’s Joy
Jesus has been called “the man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3). As a human, He wept freely. But Jesus was also a man of profound joy, rejoicing in the Holy Spirit (Luke 10:21). He had purposeful joy. It was for “the joy that was set before him” in obedience to the Father’s will that Christ endured the cross (Hebrews 12:2).
I’ve often heard the phrase “blessed God” from 1 Timothy 1:11, but the word “blessed” can be interpreted as “happy.” David Mathis wrote, “Jesus is the happiest being in the universe. As God’s Son, and God himself, he is ‘the happy God’ … As human, he is the most truly joyful, satisfied soul who has ever lived — so satisfied that he embraced the greatest anguish. And now, wonder of all wonders, he not only wants to make us happy, but he pours his own joy into us.”
The joy that sustained our Savior is the joy He wants to give to us. It’s the outpouring of His supernatural joy because our human, fleeting joy is simply not enough.
Jesus Prayed We’d Have Complete Joy in Him
Jesus not only wanted us to have joy, He prayed for it. He taught the disciples to abide in and obey Him so that His joy would be in them — He wanted their joy to “be complete” (John 15:11). In John 16:16-24, as Jesus encouraged His confused disciples, He told them the Holy Spirit would come to help them and give them joy; but He also said they could pray to the Father in His name, and the Father would answer them. Why did Jesus say that? Again, He wanted their joy to be complete.
In His High Priestly prayer, Jesus prayed to the Father, “I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them” (John 17:13). That prayer was for His followers for all time (v. 20)!
Further, Jesus encouraged His followers by saying their grief at His death would “suddenly turn to wonderful joy” after His resurrection. The disciples would see Him again, and no one would rob them of “that joy” (John 16:22). Knowing that Jesus will return, it’s good for believers today to proclaim their utmost joy in Him with grateful praise. We also take joy in allowing the Holy Spirit to transform us into the image of Christ. We practice the joy the Spirit gives — keeping in step with the Spirit and, as a result, growing in joy.
We may suffer for a short time with grief in all kinds of trials, but because of our relationship with Jesus and love for Him, we can “rejoice with an inexpressible and glorious joy” — even if following Him costs us dearly (1 Peter 1:6-8). The believer’s greatest joy will always be proclaiming what Jesus has done for sinners.
Jesus brought us His joy from heaven; we rest and grow in His joy now as we do the good works we were created to do; and someday in heaven, we will rejoice again — not only because He will reward us for our obedience and faithfulness, but also because we will be in Christ’s presence forever.
Photo credit: ©Getty Images/Mint Images - Tim Robbins
