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Truth, grace and righteousness bring Joy
Stanza 4 tells us:
He rules the world with truth and grace, and makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness, and wonders of His love…
Christ rules and reigns with truth
“Un–truth” (yes, I made up that word) demolishes joy, and replaces it with grief, frustration, injustice, mourning, fear.
The Bible is very clear about the importance of truth regarding our joy or sadness.
One hero of World War II did not receive the deserved recognition for his heroism. For many years the truth was ignored, justice failed (perhaps because of racism).
But the truth would come out, and he would be recognized for his bravery. On March 23, 1945, Edward A. Carter, Jr., the son of missionaries to China, was crossing an open field in Germany when he was wounded five times.
But Staff Sergeant Carter continued to advance, and when eight of the enemy tried to capture him, he killed six, took two prisoner and brought them back for interrogation.
Edward Carter, who had also served as a personal guard for General George S. Patton, was never acknowledged by his country for that heroic day.
But on January 13, 1997, his son received our nation’s highest honor, the Congressional Medal of Honor, earned by his late father, more than 50 years after that courageous day.
The truth had come out, and Carter’s family joyously accepted a nation’s belated gratitude for one of its brave–but–neglected heroes.
When truth triumphed, there was a sense of lasting joy in the hearts of Edward Carter’s family, and also in the hearts of all Americans who cherish patriotism, regardless of race or social class.
As the Christmas carol, “Joy to the World” says, Christ rules the world with truth.
There’s good reason why Paul referred to the “belt of truth” in Ephesians 6, when he looked for a metaphor to describe how the full armor of God provides such effective spiritual protection for the soldier of Christ.
Christ rules with truth, and that’s reason for JOY
Christ rules in our hearts with grace
Grace defined: “All God’s blessings that we do not deserve and cannot earn.” As John 1:16 explains, From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another.
This is how Christ the King chooses to rule and reign: He gives one blessing after another, none of which we deserve, and none of which we could ever pay for or earn.
He is a King who delights to give us priceless gifts, and He takes great pleasure in seeing our joy when we open those gifts and accept them from our loving King.
The rule and reign of Christ is one of grace—no other king has ever ruled in this way.
Once we understand this ‘grace’ Kingdom of Christ, who wouldn’t be willing to be His devoted subject?
Christ rules the entire world with the glories of His righteousness
The righteousness definition of “Right living according to God’s Word” is included by Isaac Watts in this joyful Christmas Carol.
Christ the King rules with truth and grace, and all life is governed by His absolutely pure righteousness!
As God the Son, Jesus Christ was and is perfect—no sin (not even an impure thought) ever clouded His mind, words or actions.
He is Truth, Grace and Righteousness, the perfect example for us and the only One ever pure enough to bear someone else’s sins.
This perfect balance of truth, grace and righteousness promises to open the way for more JOY in our lives than we’ve ever experienced before.
God’s greatest JOY for you and yours this Christmas!
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