During our recent Christmas season I noticed many references to JOY. Exactly what is “joy,” and why is it so closely connected with Christmas? We note first of all that on the night of Jesus’ birth, the angel of God said to the shepherds, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy” (Luke 2:10, ESV). My favorite Christmas song begins, “Joy to the world, the Lord is come!” For Christians, this joy is not limited to the nativity season. As children, many of us sang year-round: “I have the joy, joy, joy, joy — down in my heart!”

Exactly what is this thing called joy? And why do we as Christians have so much of it? Here I will start with the word “joy” itself, and then progress to two other words: “hope” and “glory.”

I. JOY. Joy is basically a feeling or an emotion that begins in the heart. It is a feeling of happiness, of gladness, of delight. To be joyful is to be glad we are alive. This joyful feeling overflows into our behavior. We find ourselves smiling, laughing, and wanting to sing with James Brown, “I feel good!” or with Michael Buble, “I’m feeling good!”

I can’t think of anything that catches the spirit of joy more than another children’s song, one that goes like this: “It’s bubbling, it’s bubbling, it’s bubbling in my soul! There’s singing, and laughing, since Jesus made me whole! Folks can’t understand it, nor can I keep it quiet: it’s bubbling, bubbling, bubbling, bubbling – bubbling day and night!”

II. HOPE. This leads us to ask: what causes this feeling of joy in the lives of Christians? We could begin with things that have happened in the past, such as the birth of Jesus. But his birth, of course, was simply the means to his life and ultimately to his death and resurrection, which are the real sources of our Christian joy. When the angel announced to the women that Jesus had risen from the dead, they were filled with “great joy” (Matt. 28:8). When Jesus appeared to his disciples they “still disbelieved for joy” (Luke 24:41). After they saw him ascend into heaven they “returned to Jerusalem with great joy” (Luke 24:52). We feel this same joy when we think of what Jesus did for us during his time upon this earth.

But joy also comes from our present circumstances. Despite the cares of the world that we face every day, as Christians we know that we are at this very moment in possession of the greatest blessings we can imagine. Because of Jesus we have the gift of forgiveness of our sins; we live in the state of forgiven-ness. We do not have to fear eternal condemnation in hell, since Jesus took that penalty upon himself in our place (Rom. 8:1). We also possess the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit, who daily empowers us to fight against sin and live a holy lifestyle.

Our greatest source of joy, though, is something that lies yet in the future. Romans 12:12 sums this up by saying that we are “rejoicing in hope” (NASB). What is hope? It is not just an uncertain desire or longing for something good that might happen to us in the future. We give the term that unfortunate connotation, though, when we say things like “I HOPE I win the Publishers’ Clearing House Sweepstakes.” We say we “hope” we win, though (according to various websites) the odds of winning are about one in one billion (more or less)!

In the Bible, though, “hope” is not just a desire for something that is uncertain or nearly impossible. Rather, it is a confident expectation of something good that is still in the future. I emphasize the part about CONFIDENT EXPECTATION. Biblical hope is basically the same as assurance. We are sure about our present relationship with God, and we are sure of our reward in heaven. We call it hope only because its object is something that is still in the future (Rom. 8:24-25).

Thus Christian joy is based on Christian hope. We are “rejoicing in hope”—we are feeling bubbly over something that is yet to come in our future. Exactly what is this wonderful thing we are hoping for?

III. GLORY. Romans 5:2 sums it up by saying that “we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” If you are a Christian, what lies yet in your future? GLORY! The glory of GOD! This is our hope; this is what we are confidently expecting after we die, for eternity! We shall see a permanent manifestation of God in all his glory. We shall dwell in his presence. We shall bask in that glory. We will live forever in his glorious heaven.

Matthew 5:12 exhorts us, “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven”! Luke 10:20 adds, “Rejoice that your names are written in heaven”! This latter idea may remind us of what Christmas was like in our childhood, when in the days before Christmas morning we would see packages under the Christmas tree with our names written on them. Just seeing our names written there brought all kinds of joyful expectations into our hearts.

Well, Jesus says that our names are written in heaven. This means our names are on the guest list for an eternal party, or wedding feast (Rev. 19:9). There’s a place card there with your name on it! And your name is on the mailbox in front of your heavenly mansion! And all this is because your name is written in the Lamb’s book of life (Rev. 3:5; 20:15). This is the glory that awaits us. No wonder we have joy now! Because Jesus came the first time, we can live in joyful anticipation of his second coming.

This joyful hope of glory is similar to what you may feel when you are a long way from home and family, and you are planning to go home for Christmas. That trip may still be a month or two away, but once you have made your reservations and have your ticket, the joy of expectation bubbles and simmers in your heart.

Or think of it this way. Did you in your youth ever want something really bad for Christmas, and you knew you were going to get it? That happened to me. In one of my adolescent years I wanted so badly an Erector Set (#8½, with motor and magnet!). And yes, I “sneaked a peek” and found it. You may ask, did that not ruin your Christmas? The answer: absolutely not! If you ever had a similar experience, you will relate to this. Once you KNOW it’s going to happen, from that point on you can hardly wait for the day to come, and you are so giddy with expectation!

But that’s just a puny imitation of the joy we should be feeling right now, as we live in the hope of glory, in the confident expectation of eternal life in our heavenly home.