CHRIST’S JOY NOW AVAILABLE TO US
What is this joy that resides in Christ? Isn’t it the continual, irrepressible joy that He shares in fellowship with the Father? As Jesus prayed in anticipation for His return to the Father, He prayed that we might become one in this same fellowship. And by being one in fellowship with the Father, Son and Spirit, we might share in their mutual joy.
The apostle Paul wrote that believers are to “be filled with the Spirit” (Eph. 5:18), “walk in the Spirit” (Gal. 5:16), and so bear the “fruit of the Spirit” (Gal. 5:22-23). One of the chief attributes of this “fruit,” second only to love, is joy. This joy comes from being in union with the Spirit.
The apostle John also wrote about this fellowship of joy. In his first epistle, he wrote, “That which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete” (1 John 1:3-4).
What is this joy? It is the joy of being in fellowship with the Father, Son and Spirit. It is being held in the embrace of the One who made us, died for us and now offers to live in us.