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Letting the Savior rule/reign brings Joy
Stanza 2 tells us:
Joy to the earth! The Savior reigns! Let men their songs employ;
while fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains, repeat the sounding Joy…
From ‘Receiving’ to ‘Reigning’
It’s one thing to receive Christ; but many who received Christ weren’t willing to let Him rule and reign; they wanted Him to do things their way, they weren’t interested in doing what He called them to do.
So also, today. What does this song mean when it says, “Joy to the earth, the Savior reigns”?
Rule and reign not always clear in a land such as ours that has never had a king or sovereign.
Webster defines Reign:
- Royal rule or authority; sovereignty.
- Dominating power or influence.
- To possess or exercise sovereign power or authority; rule.
- To have control or influence.
Webster defines Rule:
- To exercise dominating power, authority, or influence over; govern: to rule a kingdom.
- To exercise authority, dominion, or sovereignty.
The Bible tells us that ultimately Christ will rule or reign over everything and everyone, whether His subjects submit to Him or not; Christ will dominate creation/universe.
It makes practical sense to submit freely and willingly to the rule and reign of Christ, rather than to be forced at the end of time.
Those who benefit most from Christ’s rule and reign are those who joyfully embrace Him as their King, submitting to His Lordship, sharing the warm relationship He invites us into.
Someone has said that joy is the by–product of obedience; it’s worth a try!
Most everyone is more than willing to receive all the good things (the blessings) Christ wants to give us.
But we might not want Him to take charge of our money, ethics, entertainment, or the language we use.
We don’t want Jesus to be in charge of where we live, whom we date or marry, or what kind of career we choose.
In short, we all like Jesus just fine —the baby in a cute little manger—but in our quest for ‘happiness,’ we may be unwilling to let Him rule in our lives. And the first thing we lose is JOY.
Progressing from ‘receiving’ to ‘reigning’ is a tough thing for many people.
But if we ever hope to find real, lasting JOY, we must give up ruling our own lives and let Him take over.
Everything will sing with joy to the Creator
(Romans 8:19–21)
Isaac Watts wrote that “fields, floods, rocks, hills and plains will repeat the sounding joy.”
He meant just what this passage in Romans 8 says:
All creation was corrupted by sin, but Christ will liberate creation, and set it free; then all creation will worship Christ with joy.
NEXT TIME: Repentance is inexorably linked to JOY.
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