Brokenhearted Joy

Joy in Christ is an absolutely essential component for salvation. Delight in Jesus Christ is created at the new birth when the Spirit of God breathes spiritual life into us. Happiness in Jesus is then continually commanded to us as we progress through our daily lives. This ecstasy is then consummated when we enter eternity into the joy of our Master. This gladness in the glorious Lord Jesus Christ is an everlasting gladness, and will, in fact, increase throughout eternity. It is simply mind-boggling!

However, to enter into eternity with this everlasting and ever-increasing joy in God, we must earnestly pursue this deep and lasting joy that has been bought by the blood of Christ. One common and true motto is, “No holiness, no heaven.” Equally true would be, “No joy, no heaven.” I assert this by the full authority of Scripture regardless of the many professing Christians who try to justify their joylessness by maintaining that it is merely optional in the Christian life, or, at best, less essential than other components of salvation and the Christian life.

One look at an exhaustive concordance will undoubtedly demonstrate that joy in God is a dominant theme in Scripture with broad ramifications. We neglect it at our own peril. It is indeed the God-appointed way to make much of Jesus Christ in all of life. It genuinely draws all attention to Jesus, our beautiful and all-satisfying Treasure in this age and in the age to come.

Nevertheless, as the title of this blog indicates, this joy is surely a brokenhearted joy in this present life. That is, while our joy in Christ should be inexpressible and full of glory, there are, in reality, a plethora of impediments to a full and lasting joy in God on this side of eternity. That is, this emphasis on the necessity of delighting in Jesus Christ takes in account the massive reality of sin and suffering in this world.

The apostle Paul bluntly stated in 2 Corinthians 6:10, that he was, “as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.” Why this paradox in the Christian life? I can attest from my own life that, by God’s transforming grace, I want to glorify Him by being completely satisfied in Him. Yet, there are so many obstacles in this quest to honor Him. Foremost, there is the grim reality of my own remaining sin. This causes so much blockage for vibrant affection for Jesus Christ. I, and I alone, bear the full responsibility for this result. Then, of course, other people’s sin can hold my joy hostage. Finally, the rampant suffering in this world combined with all the other effects of the curse on creation prevent my full and lasting happiness in Jesus Christ. May you come quickly, Lord, and create a new heaven and new earth where there will be no impediments to an everlasting and ever-increasing jubilance in you!

Am I content with a brokenhearted joy in this life? That is a tough question! I want to indeed strive to feast more and more at the banquet table of the glories of Jesus Christ. This will, no doubt, increase my happiness in God, and thus, glorify Him more, and I, in turn, can be more eternally helpful to others. Nevertheless, to whatever degree of joy I attain in this life, it will be mingled with much sin and sorrow. That is the harsh truth!

Enable me, Father, to glorify you by rejoicing in you always. Thank you, Father, for sending your Son to bear my outrageous sin on the cross in order that I may have the right to delight in you. And thank you, Father, for leaving your Spirit here in order that I may have the power to delight in you, even though, for the moment, it is a brokenhearted joy, in advance of the unimaginable delight that will be mine for all eternity. Wow!