“Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice, and let them say among the nations, ‘The Lord reigns!’” I Chronicles 16:31
In our beloved Christmas hymn “Joy to the World!” we read;
Joy to the world! The Lord is come! Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And heaven and nature sings, and heaven and nature sings,
And heaven and heaven and nature sing.
In one sense this has been fulfilled in that the object of our Joy has come. He was born at just the right time in that lowly stable and His light now shines in the darkness…a great light has come and shines on His people causing them, who have ears to hear and eyes to see, Joy as He increases our Joy!
Joy to the world! For He has come to restore the reality and power of His kingdom over the power of darkness:
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.
While He has come to effect this change, it is yet to be realized as it states in the hymn. This is looking forward to what we have been promised. And since God has never broken a promise Christ will return and make all things new! This too is a cause for great Joy!
But we aren’t the only part of creation that brings glory to God as it praises Him daily without hesitation:
Joy to the earth! The Savior reigns: Let men their songs employ;
While the fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains
Repeat the sounding joy, repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat the sounding joy.
All creation joins in praising Him in heaven and on earth now, and when He returns. This too is on-going, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.” Psalm 19:1 Since our God has reigned, does reign and will reign forevermore we and all creation are to praise Him always…all day long. Even creation looks forward to its final release from the curse so it too does what it was created to do…praise the LORD with their own songs. At Christmas we think more of such things and in them we find Joy!
And lastly, in our versions we sing;
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, wonders of His love.
We must never forget even at Christmas when we think so much of a baby born to the world, a son given that this One also reigns now! He sits at the right hand of the Father and is reigning and interceding on behalf of His people and all creation as we and it awaits His return. It is at the return that we will no longer fret about the cares of this world and we will Rejoice. Joy to the World! The Lord has Come and our Savior reigns!
Merry Christmas!
In His Grip,
Pastor Mike
