Joy to the World – Christmas Past, Present, and Future
Joy to the World” is, arguably, not only one of the greatest Christmas Carols of all time, but one of the greatest hymns ever written. While it is certainly fitting to be sung at any season, it does seem to have an even greater impact on the season in which we celebrate Christ’s birth. This hymn was written by Isaac Watts, a Congregational minister from England, and one of the most influential fathers of English hymn writing. If you like singing the praises of God in your own language, Isaac Watts is one of the men you have to thank for that development. Watts initially published “Joy to the World” in 1719 as a paraphrase of Psalm 98, entitled “The Messiah’s Coming and Kingdom.” The term paraphrase doesn’t do justice to this hymn. It would be more accurate to call it a Christological interpretation – a brief sermon explaining how the Psalmist foretold the person and work of our Savior and King, Jesus Christ.
Following in the footsteps of Isaac Watts, it will be my goal to open to you, Psalm 98, and how Christ brings Joy to the World in the past, present, and future.
Psalm 98
Oh, sing to the Lord a new song!
For He has done marvelous things;
His right hand and His holy arm have gained Him the victory.
The Lord has made known His salvation;
His righteousness He has revealed in the sight of the nations.
He has remembered His mercy and His faithfulness to the house of Israel;
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth;
Break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises.
Sing to the Lord with the harp,
With the harp and the sound of a psalm,
With trumpets and the sound of a horn;
Shout joyfully before the Lord, the King.
Let the sea roar, and all its fullness,
The world and those who dwell in it;
Let the rivers clap their hands;
Let the hills be joyful together
before the Lord,
For He is coming to judge the earth.
With righteousness He shall judge the world,
And the peoples with equity.
Introduction
Let’s begin by considering how, 2,000 years ago, Christ brought joy to the world in his incarnation. But this story actually begins far earlier. We only notice the joy and hope the Gospel of Jesus Christ brings because the entire world had been enslaved to sin from Adam to Christ. When you light a candle in broad daylight, no one cares. Hardly anyone even notices. But light that same candle in a dark room or a deep cave, and it will bless everyone with its light. Psalm 98 only makes sense in the context of a world held captive under the curse of sin.
In the first chapter of the Gospel of John, we have an account of the incarnation that sets the context better than any of the others. John describes Jesus as the Word of God, the Creator, and the life and light of men. He tells of John the Baptist who came before Christ to bear witness to the Light of Christ. He then speaks of Christ’s reception. Though Christ himself was the creator, his creation, for the most part, failed to recognize him. Especially among his own people, most did not receive him, but those who did receive Christ were saved, those who were born of God. John’s discourse on the incarnation reaches its climax in verses 14, 16, and 17:
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
This miracle of the incarnation, the Word becoming flesh and dwelling among us, is the beginning of the marvelous things the Psalmist foretells in our first point:
1. Christ the Savior (vv. 1-3).
Oh, sing to the Lord a new song!
For He has done marvelous things;
His right hand and His holy arm have gained Him the victory.
The Lord has made known His salvation;
His righteousness He has revealed in the sight of the nations.
He has remembered His mercy and His faithfulness to the house of Israel;
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
Throughout the Scriptures, history, and our own lives, we see God at work through ordinary means. Generally, the food we eat each day is grown by farmers and brought to our tables by ordinary means. Generally, sicknesses are treated through the ordinary means of medicine, and, occasionally, surgery. Generally, nations are defended through the ordinary means of well-trained armies. In all this, we ought to be a thankful people. We ought to praise God for his provision of the rain and the sunshine, for the wisdom of doctors, and the strength of soldiers. God is sovereign over every detail of these ordinary things, and we praise him for arranging each detail for our good and his glory.
However, some events do not fit our understanding of the ordinary course of nature. There are times when the Lord moves in marvelous or extraordinary ways. These are the times when the old song praising God’s work in nature falls short and we must take up the new song, praising God’s extraordinary, supernatural work.
In all of history, one event stands out that fulfills these verses better than any other: the incarnation. As we saw in John’s Gospel, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, became flesh and dwelt among us. That is to say, God became man. When we could not cross the chasm created by sin that separates fallen, sinful man, from a perfectly holy God, the Lord crossed that chasm for us. He became flesh and dwelt among us so that we might behold his glory and be reconciled to Him! This is the great miracle we celebrate at Christmas.
What human mind could conceive such a plan? And if the human mind could have imagined the plan, could they ever muster the power to bring it to pass? Certainly not. It is God’s right hand and his holy arm that gained this great victory. Christ came as the great Savior of men. Through his life, death, and resurrection, he made his salvation known. His righteousness was revealed to the nations, his mercy and faithfulness to the house of Israel. The long years of darkness and exile were complete. Christ came in fulfillment of every promise, every prophecy. Christ ministered in Israel preaching repentance and reconciliation. Through the work of his disciples and the church in generations since, Christ has been proclaimed as Savior to the ends of the earth. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
Brothers and sisters, every time a sinner is saved by grace, we witness the joy that Christ the Savior brings the world. To any among us today who remain under darkness and sin, come and see the great and marvelous works of our God! Repent of your sins and trust in Christ, our great Savior, and you also will experience the great joy he brings the world.
This joy that Christ brought to the world as the Savior in the past continues as he reigns as king in the present. Whatever your eschatological views may be, all Christians agree that after the resurrection, Christ ascended into heaven where he is now enthroned at the right hand of the Father, King over creation by the right of being her creator, and king for the New Creation by right of being her Savior. And Christ’s authority as King has no limits! As Jesus declared in Matthew 28:18: “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.” And from this boundless authority, Christ the King prescribes discipling and instructing every nation, with his presence and aid, until he returns.
We see the fruits Christmas should bear in the present in our second point:
2. Christ the King (vv. 4-6).
Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth;
Break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises.
Sing to the Lord with the harp,
With the harp and the sound of a psalm,
With trumpets and the sound of a horn;
Shout joyfully before the Lord, the King
Many in our time present the Christian life as yet another victim complex among the countless others of modern culture. It is true that faithful Christians often have been, and undoubtedly will again be persecuted for their faith, but we would do well to learn from the Scriptures and our fathers in the faith what faith in the face of suffering looks like. Modern American evangelicals love to talk about living as exiles and strangers, groaning under the hostility of the world, while they live lives of relative peace and prosperity. Our spiritual fathers, on the other hand, often went to a martyr’s death joyfully singing the praises of God as Paul and Barnabas before them. There is a stark contrast. Joyless Christianity is faithless Christianity. Those men and women of God who have suffered the most for their faith have often proven to be the most joyful, yet here we are, proclaiming our melancholy dispositions over and against the clear teaching of Scripture that the kingly reign of Christ brings joy to the world no matter how dark the times may seem!
If we have been saved by Christ, how should we live? With shouts of joy and songs of praises! Other religions have their dead gods, their prophets reside in sealed tombs, and their hopes rest in their own good works. But our Savior is risen from the dead! His tomb is empty! Our Savior reigns as King over all of creation. All authority has been given to him! Our hope rests not in our own goodness or merit, but in our Savior’s perfect righteousness credited to us by faith! Let men and devils scheme against us, but they will answer to our great King who holds all authority in heaven and earth. How could our worship not overflow with joy? If we believe what the Scriptures declare about our Savior and King, though we may at times grow weary and disheartened, these seasons should be greatly overshadowed by the constant theme of joy in our Savior and King thanks to his present reign.
Brothers and sisters, let our worship be enthusiastic! Let us raise our voices with all our might to praise our great King Jesus. And let that vocal worship be accompanied by every musical instrument that may be suitable for the jubilant, joyful praise of our Lord and King!
But this joy does not end with our present praises, or even the combined praises of every nation that will bow the knee to Christ in their own time and way. The days are coming when our Savior and King will be praised by every part of his creation, for he is coming again!
We see the joy Christ will bring the world, the future hope of Christmas, in our third point:
3. Christ the Judge (vv. 7-9).
Let the sea roar, and all its fullness,
The world and those who dwell in it;
Let the rivers clap their hands;
Let the hills be joyful together
before the Lord,
For He is coming to judge the earth.
With righteousness He shall judge the world,
And the peoples with equity.
We often forget the full effects of the curse on nature. In Romans 8, Paul declares the eager expectation of all creation for the sons of God to be revealed. He describes a creation subjected to futility or vanity due to the curse of sin, that eagerly awaits delivery from this bondage. Paul counts himself among the firstfruits of the Spirit who join with creation in eagerly awaiting the completion of this great and marvelous work.
Another thing we often forget that we see in both Romans 8 and Psalm 98, is that the Christian has no reason whatsoever to fear Christ’s return. If you love Christ but find yourself filled with anxiety over his second coming in judgment, it’s time to go back and read the Bible again. Yes, the enemies of God have every reason to be terrified, but the answer is not to live on in that fear but to submit to Christ and live for him. Christ alone brings joy to the world, and this joy will be fully realized when he comes in judgment.
Christians have much to learn from nature. As the Psalmist describes here, one of those things is Creation’s earnest longing to submit to her Savior and King. Here we see the sea roaring, the rivers, applauding, the hills breaking forth with joy at the simple promise of Christ’s return in judgment! Who are we to waver between joy and anxiety? It is not the righteous but the wicked that will be destroyed in that day. It is not good but evil that will be destroyed in that day. It is not joy, but sorrow and suffering that will be destroyed in that day. Creation instinctively knows this and rejoices!
But the Psalmist does not merely speak of joy to the world, but to those who dwell in it. This joy is proclaimed to the people of the world. Though we still live in the days when most of humanity remains under bondage to sin, enemies of God, the Psalmist seems to paint a very different picture. Many of our spiritual forefathers understood these verses to describe a time before Christ’s return when most of Christ’s enemies would be defeated, and the majority of men would be converted. But even if you hold a view that most men remain unconverted at Christ’s coming in judgment, you still have an expectation of the people of the earth in front of you to consider. Even if it is too late for their salvation, the people of this world will bow before Christ on that last day, and recognize his justice and righteousness are good and glorious. Even those who remain in rebellion will witness the joy Christ brings the world when he comes in judgment, and they will see that it is right and good.
Finally, in verse 9, we see the reason for this final hope and joy. Christ will judge in righteousness and equity. Yes, we often see evil men acquitted in this age because there is insufficient evidence or, worse yet, unjust laws. Yes, some tyrants and terrorists may escape justice in this present age. Yes, some do prosper for a time in lies and deceit. But there is coming a day when the imperfect justice and partiality of our present age is abolished, and this is a great comfort and hope, not only to the people of God but to all of creation that groans under this curse of sin. Brothers and sisters, Christ will judge in righteousness! He will judge in equity! He is not only perfect in his character but perfect in his knowledge, so there will be no failures in his judgment. How deeply our hearts long for this perfection of justice, and we rejoice in knowing, it will surely come! We long for the day when all of creation is set free from sin and death! While Christ certainly brings joy as our Savior and King, we long for the day when he brings joy to the world as our great and glorious judge! This, brothers and sisters, is the future hope we see in Christmas, of joy to the world!
Christ brings joy to the world, as our Savior, our King, and our Judge.
