What? In the World?
Jesus Christ provides for us the spiritual resources we need to overcome the world.
1. His joy-John 17:13.
It comes as a shock to some people that Jesus was a man of joy. We usually hear Him described as the “man of sorrows” (Isaiah 53:3). Of course, He was a “man of sorrows,” but He was also a man filled with the joy of the Lord. He experienced the deepest sorrows and the highest joys as He ministered here on earth. His heart was broken as He saw people destroying themselves with sin. His heart exulted as He saw God at work, saving the lost and making lives new. He had the sorrow of the shepherd, seeking the lost sheep, and the joy of the shepherd, bringing home the sheep that had been found.
Joy in life is not the absence of sorrow. The Arabs have a motto, “All sunshine makes a desert.” If God were to insulate us from sorrow, we would never grow or develop mature character. Heaven is a place of all joy and no sorrow, and hell is a place of all sorrow and no joy. But this present life is a mingling of the two. The fact that Jesus could have joy in the midst of sorrow is proof that we can experience this, too.
Jesus shares His joy with us. “These things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy made full in themselves” (verse 13). Jesus is always sharing something with us! He shares His love: “Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love” (John 15:9). He shares His peace: “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you …” (John 14:27). My love, My joy, My peace—”But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace …” (Galatians 5:22).
The Christian who experiences the joy of Jesus Christ will not be interested in anything that the world has to offer. When two people fall in love, they are not attracted to anyone else because they are fully satisfied with each other. When a husband or wife starts to find greater joy elsewhere, then trouble begins. Christian joy is a deepening relationship with Jesus Christ, in which we learn more about Him and about ourselves. The more we learn about ourselves, the more we see our own needs. But the more we learn about Christ, the more we see how He fully meets those needs. The joy of Jesus Christ does not depend on accidentals or externals. It is something we experience within and the circumstances of the world around us cannot take it away.
Christ gives us joy by transformation; the world offers us joy by substitution.
If a child breaks a toy, the mother finds another toy for him to play with, or the father goes out and buys a replacement. The child stops his crying, dries his tears, and is happy again. That is joy by substitution. You replace pain with pleasure. But there are some serious problems with this approach to life. For one thing, you may not always be able to get a replacement. Finding a new doll is one thing, but finding a new husband or wife, or replacing a lost arm or leg, is quite another. But there is an even greater problem: the philosophy of replacement tends to keep a person immature. It trains a person to live on substitutes.
Adults don’t usually carry dolls, but they have other toys, and they are quite adept at substitution. If life gets too unbearable, they can always substitute a few drinks for whatever worries them. A few hours of entertainment, perhaps even a “trip” or two on dope, will carry them along another day. Sex, spending money, traveling, even a family fight, become substitutes for facing and solving the real problem. People who live by substitution tend to be self-centered and immature. They don’t really learn how to deal with sorrow, pain, and disappointment, because they are always turning to a substitute.
Jesus illustrated this principle of transformation by using the image of a woman giving birth to a child. “Truly, truly, I say to you, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned to joy. Whenever a woman is in travail she has sorrow, because her hour has come; but when she gives birth to the child, she remembers the anguish no more, for joy that a child has been born into the world. Therefore you, too, now have sorrow; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one takes your joy away from you” (John 16:20–22).
This is a perfect illustration of joy that comes through transformation, not through substitution. The same baby that causes the pain also causes the joy. Jesus did not say, “Your sorrow will be replaced by joy.” He said, “Your sorrow will be turned to joy.” this is transformation. The very thing that brings sorrow to our lives, God transforms to bring joy. The world cannot bring about this kind of spiritual transformation, so the world depends on substitution.
Paul’s experience with his thorn in the flesh also illustrates this principle. Just as any of us would do, Paul first prayed that God would remove the thorn. It was a prayer for substitution. God did not remove the thorn, but He did give Paul the grace that he needed to transform that thorn from a weapon into a tool. “Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me” (2 Corinthians 12:9).
This kind of joy cannot be taken from us. Substitute joys are always in danger of being stolen or lost, but sorrows transformed into joys cannot be snatched from us. Why? Because these joys become a part of character. When a Christian learns to transform pain and sorrow into joy, he grows in his character; and that character cannot be taken from him. Only he can destroy his own character.
This principle helps to explain why the Christian has no interest in the substitute pleasures that the world offers. To borrow a popular slogan: we would rather have “the real thing.” We expect trials and sorrows, but we know that God will transform these sorrows into joys, if not today, at least when we see Him in glory. “Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison” (2 Corinthians 4:16, 17).
Wiersbe, Warren W. Prayer: Basic Training. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale, 1988. Print.
Comments