Joy to the World
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we have been in a series for the last month; the month of advent, called Glorious Songs of Olde.
We have been looking at different songs traditionally sung during the month of Advent that reflect the truths of scripture and the tension and anticipation that we live in not just at Christmas but as a part of our existance.
As Christians we believe that 2000 years ago, a child was born in a small town in modern day Israel Bethlehem. And that this child was unlike any other child ever born in the historu of humanity.
As the angel mentioned to Mary in
31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!”
the implication is that all other kingdoms do end. So whether he is refered to or not, we cannot say this means nothing to us. If the kingdom reigns forever it means tht it has significance for everybody and every other nation.
IF TRUE!!! It has implications for all of us!
PAUSE
Now probably many of you do noty know this logo. Which hurts a little.
EVERTON If they won the Premiere League or to dream big, the Champions League which the the ultimate competition betwen every club in Europe,
my son and I would be loud about it.
There would be posts about it on social media, some catchy memes.
If you were at our house or saw us in the lobby, or passed us on the stret, we would be ointerersted and excited to explain to you this momentous thing that had happened!!
And most in this room if not all of you would ask yourself two things....
Who cares?
And why should this matter to me?
For some of you you might approach Christmas the same way!!
does this change anything about the way I live my life.
how does this event that happened along time ago have anything to do with me
For many the announcement of God becoming man, the good news or gospel of Jesus who was born, lived, died and rose again has the same kind of effect.
Why should I care?
How does this effect me!
See when I was growing up, the main issue was dealing with athiests. Having strong arguments to prove that God exists, that Jesus truly did live and die and he was resurrected. (and there are a ot of good reasons to believe that)
For many today those arguments don’t matter, becasue modernity has called us to self-sufficiency and therefore no need for God.
Rather than athiesm we are faced with ..
apathiesm- who cares if God exists
What does that have to do with me?
So songs like Joy to the World may have some nostalgia, some thoughts of an old time Christmas, but obviously we are not actually called on to rejoice in this event that took place in some small ancient foreign town,sourounded by foreign kings of small kingdoms, and lowly inginificant shepherds.
Well, some of you may know that Joy to the World is not a Christmas song, at least not in the truest sense.
When Isaac Watts wrote Joy to the World in 1719 his goal was not reflection on how we ought to approach the arrival of Jesus as a baby in a manger. (although all the thoughts would apply)
What Watts was nviting us was to look foreward, (in light of the first coming of Christ to look forward to his second coming.
Isaac whats loved to take OT imagery and moix it with new in order t have a robust fuller expression of what it meant to worship God.
And in Joy to the World we have a mix of imagery from Revelation, and the ultimate return of Jesus to rule and reign and . Which I’d like to look at this morning.
So let us stand ...
A psalm.
1 Sing a new song to the Lord,
for he has done wonderful deeds.
His right hand has won a mighty victory;
his holy arm has shown his saving power!
2 The Lord has announced his victory
and has revealed his righteousness to every nation!
3 He has remembered his promise to love and be faithful to Israel.
The ends of the earth have seen the victory of our God.
4 Shout to the Lord, all the earth;
break out in praise and sing for joy!
5 Sing your praise to the Lord with the harp,
with the harp and melodious song,
6 with trumpets and the sound of the ram’s horn.
Make a joyful symphony before the Lord, the King!
7 Let the sea and everything in it shout his praise!
Let the earth and all living things join in.
8 Let the rivers clap their hands in glee!
Let the hills sing out their songs of joy
9 before the Lord,
for he is coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with justice,
and the nations with fairness.
PRAYER
In the Ancient near east and during the time of the Roman Empire.
When a king would arrive to a city it was the practice to welcome him in with singins and worship.
There was usually a spectacle.
Music, tumpets, hrps, dancer....and it wasn’t alsways becsue tyou were glad they were there. If they a powerful forign conquering king you wanted to appease them. If they were your king who had returned from battle you wanted to celebrate them.
Practice of something called ADVENTUS- arrival specifically of a King
When a king shows up to the gates of your want to know a few things:
When the watchmen callers out and word is getting around he city, there will need to be clarification.
Is it “a” king is coming, or “the king”
Meaning is it our king, the one we are familiar with, returning from battle or is it the king who may have conquered our king coming to declare he defeat of our king and that we are under his authority now.
Then we want to know is this king coming as a benevolent king or a king bring in judgement.
And here is the thing: the answer is “yes” to all of the above.
The psalmist in 98, and the the collection of Scriputre is talking about this happening in a on a cosmic scale!
When we declare the coming of God in the person of Christ we see that yes he is a our God, but he is also a God who has come to conquer sin and death and it consequences in our lives.
He has come as an approachable God who is near Emmanuel God with us, as we sing....”behold you king” (O Holy Night)
Yes he comes as a benevolent king with power and judgement but also with love and grace and forgiveness!!
This approachable king, will take all the judgement on his own shoulders.
21 But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. 22 We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.
23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. 24 Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. 25 For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, 26 for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.
What we have here is the image of a entering, conquering king.
We have the invitation to worship and rejoice and welcome in:
like an ancient king who has returned from battle or who has come to save you from forieng oppression.
I. SURPRIZING REASON TO WORSHIP (v. 4-8)
shout
-10
praise
sing for joy
What, Who, Why?
II. Everyone, at least everyone who wants to be on the right side of history.
III.
rock out with the harp
trumpets
ram’s horn
joyful symphony
and let’s open this up let;’s get all of creation in on it
creatures of the sea shout praises
rivers clap
hills sing
Everyone should be getting in on this beautiful cosmis ceremony. Why?
v 9…JUDGEMENT!!!!
What is strange is the reason we are welcomed to welcome and praise him.
It isnt the Grinch sliding into Who-ville with presents to retung all the gifts ans the roast-beast.
It isnt Santa Clause coming to town!
1 Sing a new song to the Lord,
for he has done wonderful deeds.
His right hand has won a mighty victory;
his holy arm has shown his saving power!
2 The Lord has announced his victory
and has revealed his righteousness to every nation!
3 He has remembered his promise to love and be faithful to Israel.
The ends of the earth have seen the victory of our God.
4 Shout to the Lord, all the earth;
break out in praise and sing for joy!
5 Sing your praise to the Lord with the harp,
with the harp and melodious song,
6 with trumpets and the sound of the ram’s horn.
Make a joyful symphony before the Lord, the King!
7 Let the sea and everything in it shout his praise!
Let the earth and all living things join in.
8 Let the rivers clap their hands in glee!
Let the hills sing out their songs of joy
9 before the Lord,
for he is coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with justice,
and the nations with fairness.
The words were written by Isaac Watts, who is widely regarded as one of the finest hymn writers in history. Isaac Watts also wrote such well-known hymns as: “Alas and Did My Savior Bleed,” “Jesus Shall Reign Wherever the Sun,” “O God our Help in Ages Past,” and “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.”
Not good King Wencheslaus coming to the feast of Stephen to bring.....
In Verse 9-10
9 before the Lord,
for he is coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with justice,
and the nations with fairness.
What???
How can we look forward to judgement??
“Joy to the World” is a favorite carol of many and one of the best known of all the Christmas songs. The words were written by Isaac Watts, who is widely regarded as one of the finest hymn writers in history. Isaac Watts also wrote such well-known hymns as: “Alas and Did My Savior Bleed,” “Jesus Shall Reign Wherever the Sun,” “O God our Help in Ages Past,” and “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.”
II. WHY IS THIS GOOD NEWS? (v.9)
because he is unlike any judge you have ever seen. Wipe you minds of corruption and deciete.
9 before the Lord,
for he is coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with justice,
and the nations with fairness.
Watts often wrote paraphrases of the Psalms for his hymns, and “Joy to the World” was inspired by his study of , especially verse 4 which reads: “Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music.” ()
“Joy to the World” was first published in 1719 but with a different melody than the one we know today. Over a hundred years later, in 1836, the composer Lowell Mason would combine several themes from Handel’s Messiah to create a new melody which he called Antioch. Mason then looked for three years to find just the right words to go with his melody and finally settled on Isaac Watts’ hymn “Joy to the World.” It was a perfect match, and it is still the way we sing “Joy to the World” at Christmas today.
a. We need/desire a righteous judge
What is ironic is that Watts never meant for his hymn to be a Christmas song. The hymn is really an Old Testament Psalm mixed with New Testament language which probably describes Christ’s second coming better than his first. Still, the note of joy and the images of the Lord coming and every heart preparing him room all combined to make this one of the best-loved Christmas carols of all time.
This morning we are going to do three things. I want to share with you a little but about Isaac Watts, the composer of the carol. Then we will do a brief study of . And then finally we will see how inspired Watts to create the hymn we all know as “Joy to the World.”
Well, I dont know how to tell you this, but all of you actually like judgement!!
People used to say that truth is relative. What is right for me might not be right for you.
People used to hold tightly to the idea that there are no absolutes.
That is less popular, but rather than move toward a sense that there must be a truth that stands in authority above us all, we live ina culture that says,
Truth is not relative; my truth BETTER be your truth or I will publically shame you!
And so villification and divicivemness has never been stronger.
In the midst of it we are calling out for a righteous judge. Because we are unable to find consencus.
We rage and call out for justice but we are extremely unclear on what justice is and who has the authority toi make a judgement.
All of us want there to be some level of judgement at least on other people!
All of us want there to be some level of judgement at least on other people!
I. Isaac Watts (the composer)
All the judegment we have experienced is tainted by the intticacies of ourt human condition.
9 The heart is deceitful above all things,
and desperately sick;
who can understand it?
Jer 17:
There are always questions of whether or not someones judgement whether it is a court judge or the ugly christmas sweater someone decided to wear there is always a concern that someone made the wrong choice.
When we judge… we have to deal with our own insufficiencies, our own feelings of indequacy.
When we think of judges we think of them having to bow to public opinion and the precident of previous cases, there is always an outside influence.
But as Christians author, Max Lucado wrote....
“God occupies the only seat on the supreme court of heaven. He wears the robe and refuses to share the gavel.”
Jesus n his ultimate show of humility leqves it up to the father....
Even Jesus left it to his Father
23 He did not retaliate when he was insulted,
nor threaten revenge when he suffered.
He left his case in the hands of God,
who always judges fairly.
There is no influcne that God bows to, so his judgement is always correct.
34 For who can know the Lord’s thoughts?
Who knows enough to give him advice?
PAUSE
But here is the thing if God is coming with judgement. If there is a judgement day as this Psalm says there is, and all of scriputre points to how are we to view that day?
All of creation cries out for the day when things will be put right.
When the borkeness of creation will be ultimately repaired, and those who have been downtrodden and suffered will be made to lift their heads and to reveice full health and glory.
Who doesnt want that?
Ultimate judgement is the only way to process so much evil that seems to go unoticed in our world. Terrorism, war, rape, murder....how can we mae any sense of that. The Christian worldview is that there will be a judgement for such things, for Hitlers, and Stalins, mass murderers!!
If there is no judgment day, what hope is there for the world?
We need a judge! But oh man! Mabe for everyone but me. Or everyone but those I love.
there is an ongoing tension througout scripture. That God wants to be in relationship but also calls us to live lives of holiness (NOT PERFECTIONS) but lives that recognize Him as God and that our lives are his.
But there is this constant tension between calling us to live holy lives and his continued love for us regardles of when we mess up.
b. We need a good king
There is something deep in us that loves a good story of a peaceful kingdom. Where a king takes his rightful place, a place where no one else should rule or can properly rule; Narnia, Lord of the Rings, Disney movies that place evilk aaside and bring peace to the kingdom that the kingdokm has longed for.
So let’s begin with Isaac Watts, the composer.
And we know that in the same way our intricacies and deficiancies make us unqualified for the job of ultimate judge they also make us unfit to rule.
And that the only thing that can save humanity from a simple collectiog of 8 Billion people ruling their individuals kingdoms, is the ultimate king of kings. The Prince of Peace reigning.
Tim Keller explains that this way....
We know deep in our souls that we were built to serve and love that King and that we will never reach our capacities, all our latencies and inert things that are in us … We know we’re nothing like what we’re supposed to be. Deep in our souls, we know that only under the rule of the great King will we ever blossom. We’ll start to blossom in places we didn’t even know we had buds.
There is a freedom, a release from imprisonment when we realise we are not our own king.
There is an underlying ongoing spiritual stress when we think that we are required to rule. to rule without anchors in something deeper. To create meaning in our kingdom, and be the ultimate authority with no counsel.
We need a good king. A king who judges with fairness and justice.
A. The man
1) raised in an academic setting
Isaac was born in Southampton, England on July 17, 1674. His father ran a boarding school out of their home and so young Isaac was raised in a highly academic setting. Surrounded by other students and exposed to learning at an early age, Isaac had a distinct advantage when it came to academic studies. He was a bright young student and began learning Latin at the tender age of four!
2) a poet and a wordsmith
Isaac was also a poet and a wordsmith. He inherited his love of poetry from his family. His parents and grandparents also wrote poems, but Isaac’s habit of always rhyming things annoyed his parents so much that at one point his father told him no more rhyming in the house. When young Isaac forgot and began rhyming again, as his Dad was getting ready to spank him, Isaac cried out: “O father, do some mercy take, and I will no more verses make!” I don’t imagine that went over very well!
Isaac’s poetry was so good that his mother didn’t believe it was all his, so one time when he was seven years old she sat him down at the table and told him to wrote her a poem right then and there. To her astonishment, he immediately composed the following ten lines:
I am a vile polluted lump of earth;
So I’ve continued since my birth;
Although Jehovah grace does daily give me,
As sure this monster Satan will deceive me.
Come, therefore, Lord, from Satan’s claws relieve me.
Wash me in Thy blood, O Christ,
And grace divine impart.
Then search and try the corners of my heart,
That I in all things may be fit to do
Service to Thee, and sing Thy praises too.
The poem is amazing not only for its meter, imagery, vocabulary, rhyme scheme, depth of meaning and theology. But if you look closely, you will see it is also an acrostic. The first letters of each line spell out the composer’s name: Isaac Watts. Which is appropriate because the poem’s theme is the author and his need for Christ.
When Isaac was sixteen-years old, he complained about the hymns on the way home from church one day. His father told him if he didn’t like them, he should write something better. Isaac took him up on the challenge, and that afternoon wrote his first hymn based on . His father was so impressed, he brought it with him to church that evening and they sang it as part of the service. It was Isaac’s first hymn, but not his last. Watts went on to compose more than six hundred hymns and hundreds of poems before he died in 1748.
3) a minister of the gospel
Watts became a minister of the gospel at age 26, and his music and theological writings spread rapidly. He attracted one fan, Elizabeth Springer, who proposed marriage to him by mail! Isaac accepted, but when she met him in person she jumped on the train and went back home. She later described him: “He was only five feet tall, with a shallow face and a hooked nose, prominent cheek bones, small eyes and a deathlike color.” Isaac’s loss was our gain. He poured himself into the ministry and his writing, and he never did marry.
B. His times
1) a time of plague and uncertainty
Watts was born and raised during a time of plague and uncertainty. His town of Southampton was still decimated from the Bubonic plague that had killed over one hundred thousand people in and around London a decade before. Families had been torn apart and there was much poverty and economic uncertainty.
2) a time of great pressure to conform
He was also raised during a time when there was great pressure to conform. The Anglican Church put great pressure on everyone to conform to their order of worship. Isaac Watts grew up in a family that was part of a group of churches that were actually called Nonconformists. These Nonconformist Christians and churches believed that each church should have the freedom to worship God according to the Scriptures and not be bound to the Anglican system.
III. WHY IS ALL CREATION INVOLVED?
3) a time of persecution for the Christian faith
This was also a time of persecution for the Christian faith. Many of the Nonconformists suffered persecution for their faith. In fact Isaac’s father was in prison for his beliefs at the time when Isaac was born. He would continue to be in and out of prison or in exile for the rest of his life.
So Isaac Watts lived during a time of uncertainty, a time of great pressure to conform, and a time of persecution for the Christian faith. Sounds a little bit like our times, doesn’t it? We also live in a time of uncertainty, great pressure from the world to conform, and increasing persecution for Christian faith.
I share that with you because it would be easy to think that Isaac Watts lived in simpler times in which it would be easy to write a hymn such as “Joy to the World.” But Watts wrote “Joy to the World” not because he lived in easy times, but because he read the scriptures and had faith in the God of the Bible. We have the same scriptures and we serve the same God, so we will now turn to the Scriptures from which Isaac found the wonderful truths to write “Joy to the World.”
II. (the source)
As we mentioned earlier, “Joy to the World” is based on . is one of the Royal Psalms (), so called because they all emphasize God’s royal kingship in various ways. especially emphasizes our joy in the face of God’s kingship over all the earth. Albert Barnes writes about : “One cannot read this Psalm without being a happier man; without lofty views of God; without feeling that He is worthy of universal praise; without recognizing that he is in a world where the mind should be joyful; that he is under the dominion of a God whose reign should fill the mind with gladness.”
The Psalm is nine verses long and is made up of three stanzas of three verses each. Verses 1-3 tell us to rejoice in God as Savior of his people. Verses 4-6 tell us to rejoice in God as King over all the earth. And finally verses 7-9 tell us to rejoice in God as Judge over all the nations.
A. Rejoice in God as Savior of his people (1-3)
Let’s take a look at the first stanza which tells us to rejoice in God as Savior of his people. Look at verses 1-3:
Sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things; his right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him. 2 The LORD has made his salvation known and revealed his righteousness to the nations. 3 He has remembered his love and his faithfulness to the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. ()
There was a reputration that the God of Isrerl was powerful and unike other gods.
The Psalm begins by saying: “Sing to the LORD a new song.” God is always doing a new thing in the lives of his people, and so he is always deserving of new songs of praise.
what does it mean to write a new song.
The depths are not reached!
Ironically, “Joy to the World” was one of those new songs when Isaac Watts first wrote it based on this Psalm. When you put your faith in Christ, you become a new creation and you too will sing a new song.
spew- alchezeltzer and a shot of Sprite.
“He has done marvelous things; his right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him.” Israel’s victories never came about by their own strength, but they understood it was God and his power who delivered them. In the same way God worked our salvation for us through Christ on the cross.
“The LORD has made his salvation known and revealed his righteousness to the nations. He has remembered his love and his faithfulness to the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.”
God’s purpose in saving Israel was always that all the nations might come to know that He is God. The entire Bible and indeed all of human history is a record of how God is glorified in all the earth through the salvation of his people. The key words here are love and faithfulness – God’s covenant love and faithfulness to his people Israel in the Old Testament, and to his people in the church in the New Testament.
B. Rejoice in God as King over all the earth (4-6)
The next stanza tells us to rejoice in God as King over all the earth. Look at verses 4-6:
Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music; 5 make music to the LORD with the harp, with the harp and the sound of singing, 6 with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn – shout for joy before the LORD, the King. ()
The theme of this stanza is clear. God is King over all the earth, and so all the earth should shout for joy to him. We are not only to shout for joy, but we are to “burst into jubilant song with music.” We should be so filled with joy in God as our King that we can no longer contain it. This is not a forced joy, but rather a joy that is so full that it forces its way out of us.
Here the whole earth is instructed to shout for joy to the Lord. Every voice is summoned. The whole orchestra is enlisted to sing God’s praises. The stringed instruments join the song in verse five, and the wind instruments join the song in verse six. Harps and voices and trumpets and horns rise together in jubilant song as the whole earth rejoices in God as King.
We sound the trumpets for earthly kings, how much more for Jesus Christ – the King of kings and Lord of Lords. He is King over all the earth; let us rejoice in him!
the entire goal of the game was to see who could hold out longer before they exploded.
C. Rejoice in God as Judge over all the nations (7-9)
The first stanza tells us to rejoice in God as Savior of his people. The second stanza tells us to rejoice in God as King over all the earth. And then finally the third stanza tells us to rejoice in God as Judge over all the nations. Look at verses 7-9:
Let the sea resound, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it. 8 Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy; 9 let them sing before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples with equity. ()
There is an ongoing theme of scripture that the truth of a God who is love, who brings justice, the facts of a God who steps in and takes the burden of Creation on his shoulders and carried them to the cross to nail them there and remove them as a threat to his creation, that that truth ought to cause an erruption of praise and joy in us!
Of course there is personification here, but Paul makes it clear and we see the effects of the sin and the curse when we lok at creation..
19 For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. 20 Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, 21 the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. 22 For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us.
In the first stanza we are told to rejoice in the Lord. In the second stanza all the peoples of the earth are told to rejoice in the Lord. And now here in verses 7 and 8, all creation is told to rejoice in the Lord. Let the sea resound and everything in it; let the world resound and all who live in it. The word “resound” is a word that means “to thunder or roar!” The rivers clap their hands – think of the mighty waves of a rushing river crashing into each other like the clapping of hands. The mountains sing together for joy. Or as Charles Spurgeon calls it: “the song of the seas, and the hallelujah of the hills.”
everything on vv1-3 have taken place.
The israelites when they sang this song together in worship had an acurate but limited version of what these statements proclaimed.
They were proclaiming/ remembering the emancipation from Egypt after 400 years of slavery.
Reflecting speaking of his wonderful deeds, his victory of Pharoah, his power that proved his reality over the false gods of Egypt, his ongoing faithfulness.
As we look at this psalm we have something different in mind when we think of wonderful deeds we think of the power of Christ on display as he put to death death itself.
The Israelites looked at pharoah after they were freed from slavery and said, pharoah where is your sting.
We look at sin and death and because of Christ say…where is your sting?
55 O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”
56 For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. 57 But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.
I Cor 15:55-
They looked back at the armies of pharah and rmemeber that God gace them the vistory we look back at the cross
15 In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross.
The Israelites looked back at the saving power of God through Moses leading thm from slavery,
We who call Jesus our king look to him and remember,
8 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.
and that this is not a salvation for a small group but for all who will believe
16 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
And why does all creation sing together for joy? Because the Lord is coming as Judge over all the nations. He will judge all evil in the world, and he will make all things right. When the Lord comes as Judge, he restores all things, including creation, which is why creation joins the chorus of praise here.
Oh man, let’s not let scripture that we are famliar with lose its potency!
ISIS and other terrorist organizations will be no more. Every false religion will be exposed. Every violation of God’s law will be judged. Every knee will bow and every tongue confess when Christ returns as Judge over all the nations.
The psalm finishes by saying: “He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples with equity.” When God comes to judge, he will judge in absolute fairness.
Conclusion:
Pastor Ray Fowler says it thi way....
“He is all-knowing, so he knows all the particulars of every situation. He is all-just, so he will always make the right decisions. He is all-powerful, so he is able to execute the proper judgments against sin. He is all-loving, and so he has provided a way of escape for his people who have put their trust in him.”
Oh when the King of All creation comes and steps up to the gate!!
Pastor Ray Fowler
tells us to rejoice in God as Savior of his people, as King over all the earth, and as Judge over all the nations.
When Jesus in all his glory returns to put all things right, we will declare his wonderful deeds!
III. Joy to the World! (the carol)
The ultimate victory won.
His saving power.
EVERY NATION, EVERY LANGUAGE
A. Verse 1: “Joy to the world, the Lord is come!”
– ;
ALL OF CREATION WILL DECLARE IT!!
Verse one of “Joy to the World” reads:
3 I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”
Rev 21:3
Joy to the world! The Lord is come.
Let earth receive her King.
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And heaven and nature sing.
No more cancer, no more hospital visits, no more loss of loved ones, pain sorrow gone, and replaces with the full presence of God. No more darkness...
23 And the city has no need of sun or moon, for the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its light.
No more Jesus as an aditoin to our lives, it will be the fullness of who we are.
This first verse, which is also the most well known verse, is based on the middle stanza of where we are told to rejoice in God as King over all the earth. Here in the song the whole world is encouraged to rejoice that Christ has come and to receive him as their King. The line “Let every heart prepare Him room” may be a subtle reference to : “She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.” () It may also be one of the reasons this song became known as a Christmas carol to begin with.
But if there is judgment day, what hope is there for you and me?
B. Verse 2: “Joy to the world, the Savior reigns!”
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Verse two of “Joy to the World” reads:
Joy to the world! The Savior reigns.
Let men their songs employ.
While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains
Repeat the sounding joy.
This verse corresponds to where all creation is asked to join in the song – the fields, floods, rocks, hills and plains. In verse one of the carol Watts called Christ “Lord” and “King.” Here in verse two of the carol he calls him “Savior.” This ties in with Christmas through the angel’s announcement in : “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.” ()
C. Verse 3: “No more let sin and sorrow grow!”
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Moving on to verse three of “Joy to the World,” we read:
No more let sin and sorrow grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground.
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found.
This corresponds to the first two verses of which speak of God making his salvation known to all the nations. As far as the curse is found, so will God’s salvation be known throughout the world.
We need a judge! But oh man! Mabe for everyone but me. Or everyone but those I love.
When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden, God put a curse on all creation. We read in where God told Adam: “Cursed is the ground because of you … it will produce thorns and thistles … by the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.” ()
Because of Emmanuel God with us, the curse has been reversed, and at His return it will be eliminated.
There will be no more thorns infesting the ground, no more sin, sorrow, sickness, mourning, crying or pain. We read in
21 the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay.
: “The creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.” ()
D. Verse 4: “He rules the world with truth and grace!”
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And then finally we come to verse four of “Joy to the World” which reads:
He rules the world with truth and grace
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness
And wonders of His love.
This final verse in the carol corresponds to verses 3 and 9 in which says “All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God” and that “He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples with equity.” In the New Testament we read in : “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” ()
God judges the world in absolute truth and fairness, and yet he also gives us grace through Jesus Christ, who paid the full penalty for sin at the cross for those who believe in him.
CONCLUSION: So what is the Christmas carol “Joy to the World” really all about? The same thing is all about, but now applied to Jesus coming into the world.
Joy to the world! Why? Because God sent Jesus into the world to be our Savior.
Joy to the world! Why? Because Jesus is a good and righteous King over all the earth.
Joy to the world! Why? Because Jesus is returning as Judge over all the nations. He will judge all sin and wickedness. He will make all things right – including the beautiful creation that he made by the power of his word.
Joy to the world! The Lord has come! Let earth receive her King!
1) Jesus is King ()
1) Jesus is King ()
1) Jesus is King ()
1) Jesus is King ()
2) Jesus is Savior (, )
2) Jesus is Savior (, )
Let men their songs employ;While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plainsRepeat the sounding joy,The image given in the Psalm and in the song is of creation rejoicing over Jesus because He has saved them.When we think of salvation we think of it as a transaction, Jesus paid for my sins.It very much is this, but it is also MUCH MOREJesus reversed the destruction sin causedHe reversed the power of sin over deathHe reversed sin’s power over usBut He also reverse sin’s curse on the earthJesus’s miracles are not David Blaine magic tricks, but declarations of His saving work in all of creation.One day He will return and complete what He started.That is why we, and all creation, rejoices over our Savior!!
3) J
3) J
Nor thorns infest the ground;He comes to make His blessings flowFar as the curse is found,Not only has He saved us and creation from power of sin, He is the redeemed us from it as well.He fixes what was broken by sin.He fixes what was broken by sin.When we are redeemed, we become different people. When we are redeemed, we become different people. When God redeemed Israel from slavery in Egypt, He made them a new nation and gave them a new land. Likewise, the Christian has a new identity in Christ. No longer is the Christian a captive to sin and death. When God redeemed Israel from slavery in Egypt, He made them a new nation and gave them a
4) Jesus is the Hero ()
4) Jesus is the Hero ()
And makes the nations proveThe glories of His righteousness,And wonders of His love,Christmas gives us the opportunity to proclaim victory as we know the true King, the rightful ruler is on His thrown.No nation will conquer our mighty kingNo political party should own our allegiance more than Him.One day every knee will bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue will proclaim that Jesus is King “To the glories of His righteousness!”Jesus wins, He is the hero, and that is a reason to REJOICE!!!The baby born in Bethlehem was born to die in our place. He went to the cross and received the wrath we deserved for our sin (). He died to purcha