” Then he said to them, “Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:10
This passage was an account in the book of Nehemiah when the people returned back to the LORD after the book of the law was read to them and the people were caused to understand. So what is the joy of the Lord?.
In Luke chapter 15 verse 7, our Lord Jesus revealed: “I say unto you, that even so there shall be joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth…” So salvation of a sinner is the joy of the LORD and it brings about such great rejoicing in heaven.
In Ezekiel chapter 18 verse 23 God declares: “Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord GOD, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live”? God made man in His own image and likeness, though man fell into disobedience and sinned and by this, death came to every man but it is His will that all men should be saved and live, hence He gave His only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ the Saviour. God has no pleasure in the death of a sinner.
Nothing gives God more pleasure than the repentance of a sinner, this is His joy. To see man whom He made in His image and likeness, but who became dead because of sin now live is the joy of the LORD. The story of the prodigal son who returned home in the gospel of Luke 15 verse 32 gives a vivid description: “It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.”
At the birth of our Lord Jesus the angels announced to the Shepherds in Luke 3 verse 10: “And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.” And what is the good news, that a Saviour is born and this is to be of great joy to all the people. The joy that was set before all men is the same joy that was set before the Saviour of men, the Lord Jesus. In Hebrews chapter 12 verse 2 we read: “looking unto Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising shame, and hath sat down at the right hand of the throne of God .”
Jesus Christ our Lord, for the joy of man’s salvation, endured the cross and despised its shame. Why would any man reject this salvation, this opportunity to repent and through faith in Christ, His death and resurrection receive eternal life. God has set His joy before all men. His joy is that the wicked, the sinner should repent and live. He has made this joy manifest unto all men, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation (Hebrews 2:3).
Nothing can give joy outside of God. The joy is His. Joy is tied to His will and His will is a demonstration of His goodness, His magnanimity, His wisdom, His righteousness, His love. The will of God, the Sovereign LORD is for all men to come to the knowledge of Christ and be saved (1 Timothy2: 4). Salvation of men is the joy of heaven and the joy of earth. His will be done on earth as it is in heaven (Mathew 6: 10). So seeking for joy outside the will of God is futile and it shows a lack of understanding of what joy is.
Joy is a state of rejoicing and fulfilment, of satisfaction at seeing the travail of one’s soul such as when one finds that thing which he had long lost. The LORD God has set eternity in the hearts of all men (Ecclesiastes3:11), so our life long quest is eternal life. Our Lord Jesus depicted this in a number of parables, parable of the lost coin, parable of great pearl and parable of the lost sheep and of the prodigal son. In Luke chapter 15 verse 8 and 9 we read: “Or what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, does not light a candle and sweep the house and seek diligently till she find it? And when she has found it, she calls her friends and her neighbours together saying, rejoice with me for I have found the piece which I had lost.” Also we read in Mathew chapter 13: 44: “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field”. All men have sinned and have come short or lost the glory of God for the wages of sin is death. The glory of God, which pertains to life which man lost is like the lost coin. God provided the light, a Saviour, who has enabled man to recover the lost glory, like the lost coin in the parable. Salvation of souls therefore is joy to God and joy to man. God receives back His creation that was lost through sin and Man receives back the glory that he had lost because of his sin. The Mediator of this is our Lord Jesus Christ whom God has given and in whom man must repose faith in, to be saved.
God is a God of the living, so when man, that was once dead receives life which he once lost, he receives joy which is of God. That joy becomes his strength, his rejoicing, his sustaining force to continue in the new life which he has received. Joy becomes the fuel for the journey of the man who has been saved, is still being saved and who will be saved for it is he that endures to the end that will be saved. Joy unlike happiness cannot be diminished because it is of God and it ushers man into a community of love relationship with God. What shall separate us from the love of God which is in Christ (Romans 8: 35).
A man that remains in death because he has not reposed faith in the Saviour given by God cannot have joy because he is separated from the source of joy. He is yet to find what he had lost. Though he might try to substitute with drugs, pursuit of wealth and other ephemeral things, there is still a void in his soul. Every man’s quest is for eternal life, for God has set eternity in the hearts of all men . Just like a fetus in his mother’s womb cannot have nourishment from the mother without an umbilical cord, no more can a man still in his death state receive the nourishment, that is, the restoration of life from the God of the living without a Saviour. Heaven cannot rejoice with such a man who is yet to accept the Saviour and such a man cannot have joy in himself either.
The Psalmist prayed the LORD in Psalm 51 verse 12 to restore to him the joy His salvation. This should be the cry of everyone with no exception. Any religion that does not settle the issue of sin and make provision for the atonement of sin cannot be of God. The issue is sin and one need not go far, the evil and wickedness of men we see daily is a testimony of the sinful man and which has brought enmity between man and a holy God. God however has not created man in vain, He created man for His good pleasure and wants to redeem man back to Himself. Of a necessity, a Saviour must die to usher man into life from death, for the wages of sin is death. Just like a will is not in force without the death of the testator (Hebrews 9:17), so also man cannot be redeemed from the dead without the death of a Saviour.
Neither animals nor angels can substitute for man, for it is the soul that sins which dies. For this reason, Jesus Christ came in the likeness of the sinful man. God who made man in His own likeness took on the likeness of man to save man in his sinful state . A deep mystery which only God can pull off for with God nothing will be impossible. The redemption of man was a lavish of love, of grace in all wisdom and understanding (Ephesians 1: 7-8). Prophet Isaiah in chapter 61 echoes this joy at the salvation of God: “I am overwhelmed with joy in the LORD my God! For he has dressed me with the clothing of salvation and draped me in a robe of righteousness. I am like a bridegroom dressed for his wedding or a bride with her jewels.
From scriptures we see that joy is associated with salvation. In the story of creation, we read that on the sixth day, God created man (Genesis1: 26), the crown of His creation and rested on the seventh day. We also read in the book of Revelation chapter 13 verse 8, how God, before the foundation of the world, had slain the Lamb of God, a Saviour. God who knows the end from the beginning has seen that man will fall into sin, yet it did not deter Him from creating man in His own image and likeness. God made a provision before the world was created, before man was ever made. In wisdom and love God made a provision for the redemption of man. Why will any man omit this love and this wisdom to shun this great works of salvation. God did not create man to fall, for He made man in His own image and likeness, it was Man who exercised his free will to do despite to the commandment of the LORD even when he knew the consequences. But God is love and love does not count or hold on to wrong, God gave man a Saviour that through faith in Christ the Saviour, man will be redeemed from death. This joy of salvation God has set before us.
Salvation of man is the joy of the Lord. The LORD God has done all that He needed to do for man and rested and He will see the travail of His soul and be satisfied. Joy of salvation brings rest but it is the choice of man to draw water from this well of salvation or not.
It is only by faith in Jesus Christ that we can partake of this salvation and experience the joy of life and of rest which salvation in Christ brings. Prophet Isaiah declares this joy in Isaiah chapter 12 verse 3: “Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation”.
