For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16 KJV) Every Christmas time, we sing one of popular Christmas carols, Joy to the World. We sing like this: 1. Joy to the world! the Lord is come; Let earth receive her King. Let ev’ry heart prepare Him room, And heav’n and nature sing, And heav’n and nature sing, And heav’n and heav’n and nature sing. 2. Joy to the earth! the Savior reigns; Let men their songs employ; While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains Repeat the sounding joy, Repeat the sounding joy, Repeat, repeat the sounding joy. 3. No more let sins and sorrows grow, Nor thorns infest the ground; He comes to make His blessings flow Far as the curse is found, Far as the curse is found, Far as, far as the curse is found. 4. He rules the world with truth and grace, And makes the nations prove The glories of His righteousness, And wonders of His love, And wonders of His love, And wonders, and wonders of His love. (Joyful Noise Music Company, Logos Hymnal, (Fort Worth, TX: Joyful Noise Music Company) 1994.) If you like Christmas season, why do you think we like to sing this hymn. The rest of the world may sing this song because the time is right to celebrate the holiday season. But that is not the reason we sing it. Even though Christmas didn’t originate from the first Christianity era, we sing Joy to the World to remind why our Almighty God brought His Son, Jesus, to the world to let Him face the penalty of death for our sins. John 3:16 tells us that God loved His creation so much, that He doesn’t like to destroy what He created; so, He brought His Son to the corrupted world to save the lost souls from going to eternal Hell. Jesus died for the only people who accepted the free gift of salvation that He offered to them. Most preachers may tell you that Jesus died for everyone’s sins, but that is not in case here and that was not in case at the Calvary. If Jesus died for everyone, why we see many of us still are living in old sinful nature. We see some people may decide to have sex before marriage or go to the abortion client to kill unborn child from the mother’s womb. If that was in case, Jesus didn’t die for everybody. Jesus told His disciples that He didn’t come to the world to make a peace treaty, but a sword (Matthew 10:34). He came to make separation between sheep and goat or true believers and unbelievers. Also, He came to the world to separate the family unity. If one of family members believes in Him and the rest of them not, He only takes the one person to Heaven and the rest of them fall into Hell. Are you and your family members save by the grace of God through Jesus Christ? Jesus died for our sins and resurrected on the third day, so we can have life with Him for now and eternality. If you like to receive this free gift of salvation, you simply ask Him to forgive of your sins and invite Him to your life. He is all you need and there is no other gods to fulfill your inner body of your soul. This can be your joy to the world. |