On the 3rd Sunday of Advent we light the pink candle that represents joy!
What greater joy than to receive the promise of the Savior!
"These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full." John 15:11
"...Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."
Hebrews 12:2
Jesus is telling us that when His joy remains in us, our joy will be full. Then in Hebrews we read about the joy set before Him (Jesus) that would allow Him to endure the cross - the pain and the shame of it - that's the kind of joy in Him that should be in us.
What kind of joy was in Jesus that He could endure the cross?
What was that joy?
I believe that joy was providing a way for us and the Father to be reconciled. He endured the cross because He knew it would provide the way for us back to the Father. He became the Way. It gave Him joy to know what would be accomplished through the cross.
This is the joy that should remain in us and cause us to be full!
We have a Way back to the Father.
Our sins have been forgiven and we stand in the righteousness of Christ, that we may have access to our Father.
"Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."
Hebrews 4:16
THAT, my friends, is joy!!
So, we light this candle at Advent time because we know the manger is not the end of the story. Jesus became God incarnate so He could finish the story at the Cross of Calvary that His joy would remain in us, and our joy would be full!
Joy, unspeakable joy, is ours!
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