In wishing our readers a happy and a joyous Christmas we are thinking of many verses of Scripture. We mention three of them just now:

“BLESSED (Happy) IS THE MAN TO WHOM THE LORD WELL NOT IMPUTE SIN.” Romans 4:8.

“THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS NOT MEAT AND DRINK; BUT RIGHTEOUSNESS AND PEACE, AND JOY IN THE HOLY SPIRIT.” Romans 14:17.

“NOW THE GOD OF HOPE FILL YOU WITH ALL JOY AND PEACE IN BELIEVING THAT YE MAY ABOUND IN HOPE THROUGH THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.” Romans 15:13.

In these verses we read of the true happiness, of righteousness, of peace, of hope and of joy. In all three verses God is mentioned. True happiness, righteousness, peace, hope and joy come from God. “Every good and. perfect gift is from above.” God is not a merchant. God is a gracious King. He is the God of all grace. The blessings mentioned in these verses are not for sale. Man has nothing with which to purchase them. So far as spiritual riches are concerned, the natural man has no earning capacity. He needs none. God longs to give to man every spiritual blessing that He holds. God is a Great Giver. Man is a poor receiver. Spiritually speaking, every man is a bankrupt in Adam, but he may be a multimillionaire in Christ, for God has blessed believers with all spiritual blessings in Christ.

Many, who know little or nothing of the rich spiritual blessings, may be very grateful to their Creator or Supreme Ruler for temporal blessings and offer thanks for good health, food and raiment, a good income, a nice home and some splendid friends. But they are unacquainted with the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Truly many in this land are enjoying many of the by-products of Christianity and still shut out the Christ for whom there was no room in the inn.

God’s Word declares that the man without Christ is without hope. Ephesians 2:12. If an eternity of darkness and despair is before the hopeless sinner, how can he know anything of true happiness or true peace or true joy?

Speaking of joy we are at once reminded of Hebrews 12:2, “Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross despising the shame and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

What a glorious fact! What-blessed good news! God’s Son came down from heaven and God’s Son went back to heaven. He paid a thirty-three year visit to man’s temporary home, this earth. What a reception was His! What disgraceful and cruel treatment the Creator received from His creatures! Truly He was the man of sorrow and acquainted with grief. But for the joy that was set before Him He went to Calvary. There on the cross the sinless eternal Christ for us made peace with God; there He suffered for sin to bring us to God; there He bare our sins in His own body on the tree; there He provided a positive Divine righteousness for us and then He went back to heaven having obtained eternal redemption for us. All of these facts are declared in the Word of God.

“Happy is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.” If our sins were charged to Christ on the Cross, and we by faith have made Christ ours, our sins have been forever put away. No happy Christmas without the knowledge of the good news. How can man be happy with all of his sins charged against him and the wrath and judgment of God waiting for him?

If we have been delivered from the power of darkness and translated into the Kingdom of the Son of God’s love, God’s own righteousness is ours, the peace of God that passeth understanding is ours and the joy of the Holy Spirit is ours. This is the only true joy. No better wish can we ask for you than Romans 15:13: Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Spirit.”

“Fill you”. “Abound in Hope”. Fill you with joy and hope. The God of hope must do this. No one else can do this for you. Believing is your part. Believing comes through the hearing, the reading, of God’s Word. To be filled and to abound is enough to make any believer have a happy Christmas and an every day happy life. It is by the power of the Holy Spirit and the redemptive work of our Lord Jesus Christ.

For more articles by Pastor J. C. O'Hair, visit the J. C. O'Hair Online Library.