The Good News of Great Joy: Rediscovering Christmas Through the Lens of Biblical Joy

The Christmas season arrives each year with its familiar rhythms—twinkling lights, festive gatherings, and the comforting traditions we've come to cherish. Yet beneath the surface of holiday busyness lies an invitation to something deeper, something the first Advent proclaimed as "good news of great joy for all people."

Joy: A Deeply Christian Word
Joy saturates the pages of Scripture. The word "joy" appears 179 times in the Bible, while "rejoice" shows up 161 times. This isn't coincidental—joy is woven into the very fabric of the Christian faith. It's not merely a seasonal sentiment or a fleeting emotion tied to circumstances. Rather, joy represents something profoundly theological: a settled delight in the soul, a deep gladness rooted not in what happens to us, but in who God is and what He has done.

Augustine, one of the early church fathers, captured this beautifully when he wrote that true joy is "to rejoice to you, in you, and for you." God Himself is the source of our joy, and this joy is inseparable from His presence.

Created for Joy
The story of joy begins in Genesis. When God crafted the world, He looked at His handiwork and repeatedly declared it "good." When He created humanity in His image, He called it "very good." This wasn't the assessment of a distant deity checking boxes; it was the delight of a Creator reveling in His work.

God placed Adam and Eve in a garden overflowing with abundance—trees laden with fruit, beauty in every direction, the gift of companionship, the invitation to participate in creation itself. God designed pleasure. He invented taste buds and sunsets, the changing seasons and the warmth of friendship. The boundary He set wasn't the mark of a cosmic killjoy but the loving protection of a Father who had already given extravagantly.

We were made for joy. From the beginning, God intended for His creation to experience delight in His presence and to find pleasure in the world He had made.

Joy Beyond Circumstances
Here's where we must make a crucial distinction: joy and happiness are not synonyms. Happiness is circumstantial—we're happy when our team wins, when we receive good news, when life goes according to plan. But joy transcends circumstances. As one definition puts it, joy is "delight that is settled in the soul."

This matters because life rarely cooperates with our happiness. The Christmas season, for all its cheer, can be brutally difficult for many. Grief over lost loved ones intensifies. Financial stress mounts. Broken relationships ache more acutely when everyone else seems to be celebrating.

The gospel doesn't ask us to paste on fake smiles or pretend everything is fine. Instead, it offers something more profound: the possibility that Christian joy and pain can coexist. The Apostle Paul embodied this tension when he wrote, "sorrowful, yet always rejoicing" (2 Corinthians 6:10). Jesus Himself was called "a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief" (Isaiah 53:3), yet He was also the most joyful person who ever lived.

Think of joy as a house with many rooms. At different seasons of life, we find ourselves in different rooms—sometimes happiness, sometimes grief, sometimes pain. But whatever room we occupy, we remain in the house of joy because we are united with Christ.

Joy in Unexpected Places
Some of the most powerful displays of joy emerge from the most unlikely circumstances. Consider the single mothers in a Dominican village who had been abandoned and abused, yet worshiped with exuberant, joyful praise. Or Johnny Erickson Tada, who became a quadriplegic at seventeen yet discovered "a God who is thunderous, full-throttled joy spilling over."

How is such joy possible? Because joy isn't something we manufacture through positive thinking or emotional manipulation. Joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, supernaturally produced in us when we abide in Christ. It flows from His presence, not from our circumstances.

The Good News of Great Joy
This brings us to Luke 2, where angels announce to terrified shepherds: "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:10-11).

What makes this news so joyful? Jesus Christ—the eternal Son of God—entered our world as a vulnerable baby. God became Emmanuel, "God with us." The One who had been prophesied and longed for was actually born. Sin had separated humanity from God in the garden, but now God Himself was breaking through the darkness as the light of the world.
In Jesus's life, death, resurrection, and ascension, the relationship severed by sin is restored. We are no longer slaves to sin. Forgiveness is real. Condemnation is lifted. Guilt and shame no longer define us. We are invited into life—abundant, eternal life.

And here's the scandalous beauty: this good news is for all people. Not just the religious elite or the morally impressive. All people. The invitation extends to everyone.

Abiding in Joy
When we put our faith in Christ, we are united with Him and caught up into the loving communion shared by the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is the key to joy—participating in the love the persons of the Trinity have for one another. We were designed for this relationship, and it's in His presence that we find fullness of joy.

So how do we grow in joy? We spend time with the most joyful person who ever lived. We abide in Christ. We trust Him, cling to Him, wait on Him. We remember that the One who came at the first Advent to seek and save the lost is the same One who promises to return and restore all things.

This Christmas, may we rediscover the good news of great joy—not as a seasonal sentiment, but as the settled reality of those who have been found by the God who is joy itself.