Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: JOY (12/07/17)
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TITLE: The Joy in the Cross | Previous Challenge Entry
By Allison Egley
12/14/17 -
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Who. Who? God. Who is like our God? He is the maker of heaven and earth. He is the Alpha and Omega, beginning and end. There is no one like God. He is so much more than we can ask or imagine.
For. For and not against. For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son. He sent His own Son to die for us. We were against Him, but He has always been for us. There is nothing we can ever do to repay Him.
The joy. Joy is not based on a feeling. It is not based on our circumstance. Rather, joy is often despite our feelings and circumstances. It is above the human confines of emotion and situation, and based on the hope that we can have only through Christ. The joy of the Lord is my strength.
Set. Placed. Required of. Jesus knew what would be required of Him. He knew that He was leaving the perfection of heaven for the broken, hostile earth. He is despised and rejected... a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
Before. Yet to come. Jesus knew what was to come in the cross. But He also knew what would come after the cross. He know the victory and He know the final victory that is still yet to come. He would make beauty from ashes. He has turned our mourning into joy.
Him. Jesus. Born of a virgin. The angels brought good news of great joy and the shepherds responded with joy.
Endured. Persisted. Pressed on. Jesus could have saved Himself from the cross. Many wondered why He did not, and mocked Him. But Jesus knew why. He endured for you. For me. For anyone who chooses to believe. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God.
The cross. The joy of Christmas starts with a baby and His earthly ministry ends with the victory over the cross. But that’s still not the end. It continues until the final victory. The end? Oh no. The joy of Christmas is just the beginning.
There is joy in Christmas, but there is also joy in the cross.
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Note: All scripture is from NASB, unless otherwise noted.
Revelation 22:13
John 3:16 (NKJV)
Nehemiah 8:10
Isaiah 53:3 (NKJV)
Jeremiah 31:13
Luke 2:10
John 1:12
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