Christmas Devotional: Joy to the World!

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.

“Joy to the World” is a much-loved Christmas hymn, heard in churches, malls, and TV shows across the country (and much of the world) this time of year. However, if you read the words a little more closely, it may catch your attention that the song is not in fact referring to Jesus’ original incarnation in Bethlehem. Have you noticed the lack of shepherds, magi, and angelic choruses in this hymn? Instead, there’s talk of renewal, of the earth breaking out in song, and the end of sin and sickness. In fact, for those who know their Bibles, this sounds more like the end of Revelation than the beginning of Matthew.

And you’d be correct. “Joy to the World” is, in fact, a song about Christ’s second coming. Behind Isaac Watts’ words are passages such as this, from Romans 8:

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. [Romans 8:18-23, ESV]

What happened at Bethlehem wasn’t the end of our redemption but the beginning. In Christ’s coming, his death, and his resurrection, the bondage to sin was broken for all who are in him. But we still experience sin every day, and will do until we are finally united with Christ in glory. All creation likewise looks forward to renewal. Sin not only corrupted man, but it broke creation. Death and decay entered the world on the day Adam fell. When Christ came, restoring sight to the blind, giving mobility to the lame, producing wine out of water, and raising the dead to life, he signaled to creation that the time of renewal was near. A time when there will be a new heavens and a new earth, no longer plagued with corruption.

So at Christmas, we not only celebrate salvation in the here-and-now that we have as a result of Christ’s first coming, but we look forward to the fullness of our redemption, and the completion of the work of renewal that will happen at his second coming.

Maranatha–our Lord, come!