JC Blog

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit" ( Galatians 5:22-25 ). As believers the fruit of the Spirit has been deposited in our born again spirits. The fruit listed in Galatians 5 is Jesus' character and His nature. As believers our spirits are identical to Christ Jesus ( I John 4:17 ). Therefore we have His joy the moment we believe. By living after the Spirit instead of the flesh, this joy will be evident in our lives. It will overtake us, it will overflow out of us and it will be apparent to everyone around us. We don't have to wake up moaning about the day ahead, instead we can wake up and look forward to life because of Jesus lives inside us.

What a wonderful truth to know we have been made like Jesus. As he was anointed with joy for the task at hand, we too can experience this incredible joy every day, every moment of our lives. All we need to do is look at Jesus. "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart" ( Hebrews 12:1-3 ).

Tomorrow we look at Hebrews 1:10-12; Jesus is Eternal and His Rule will Never End

It is not by chance that Jesus was full of joy; there is a reason for it. From the same passage of scripture that is quoted in Psalm 45, comes the answer, “you love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy” (Psalms 45:7). Hebrews 1:9 makes it clear that this verse is about Jesus. The reason He was anointed with joy far above anyone else is because He loved righteousness and hated wickedness.

The Amplified Bible gives a great definition of righteousness versus wickedness; “You have loved righteousness [You have delighted in integrity, virtue, and uprightness in purpose, thought, and action] and You have hated lawlessness (injustice and iniquity). (Hebrews 1:9a Amp). There is a stark contrast between these two extremes. However Jesus’ love of righteousness went beyond possessing this viewpoint, it propelled Him to act. He knew we were hopeless without Him because sin had destroyed any chance we had of being reconciled to God. His love of righteousness compelled Him to destroy sin and lawlessness in one act on the cross. Then he freely offered this righteousness to mankind. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (II Corinthians 5:21). Now through Christ we are holy and blameless. “For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation” (Colossians 1:19-22).

This is why Jesus was anointed with the oil of joy far above His companions, because His love of righteousness compelled Him to act on our behalf to remove sin, shame and its effects on mankind. His gift of grace was far superior than the effects of the fall. “But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification” (Romans 5:15-16). It was reconciling the world back to God that brought Jesus such joy. We are so valuable to Him that He gave up everything so we could be saved.

This is why I believe most portrayals of Jesus aren’t accurate. He wasn't unapproachable, he wasn't unfriendly, and He wasn't somber. He was full of life. He was full of joy. He was full of love. I am sure He woke up every morning knowing He was one day closer to dying for us, conquering sin and death in the process. The anticipation of the cross must have given Him so much joy, knowing we would be reconciled back to God forever, I'm sure that made every day a good day for Him!

Tomorrow we look at Part 3: Jesus Has Given Us His Joy

“You have love righteousness and hate wickedness: therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy” ( Hebrews 1:9 )

When I was a young adult, several of the local churches in town got together to pass out the ‘Jesus Film’. They did fundraisers and church members sponsored the purchase of these videotapes. Then they spent a Saturday walking through neighborhoods delivering movies to everyone’s doorstep. It was a small part of a larger operation that happened on a national level. I also remember coming home from work that day to find one of these movies on my own doorstep.

I eventually watched this movie and it was well done. It presented the gospel in a clear and accurate way. But the thing I remember most about this video and the many others like it that have been made, is that Jesus is always presented as somber, aloof, distant and unfriendly. He walks around teaching and healing the sick, but you never see him smile. The way he is portrayed makes him seem unapproachable. To me, this is not an accurate picture of the Savior while on earth.

Scripture backs this up. Psalms 45:7 prophesied that Jesus would be anointed with the oil of joy beyond anyone else who ever lived. This is the passage that Hebrews is quoting about Jesus. He was anointed with joy. This means he was happy, glad, approachable, caring and let’s face it; Jesus would have been a blast to be around. I feel sure he walked around with a smile continually on His face. He probably hugged and kissed His disciples every morning. I know He made them laugh, feel special and loved. He saw the crowds come to him and had compassion on them. He would stand from morning to night teaching, healing and blessing them. Jesus drew people to Him because He was so full of life, they had to find out what it was about. He was like no one they had ever seen before.

Over the next three days we will look at Hebrews 1:9 to understand why Jesus was anointed with Joy. We will look at the purpose it served and why is it still important for us today.  

Tomorrow we look at Part 2: Why Jesus was Anointed with Joy