The Joy Set Before Him

Wednesday, December 14, 2011 Posted by Debbie Legg

For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2)

I’m trying to get my mind around that. For the JOY set before Him, He endured the cross.

Jesus agreed to suffer and die an agonizing death because of JOY. He could see the cross ahead of Him, but He could also see the joy on the other side. He weighed all of His options (while sweating drops of blood) and decided that the joy was worth His suffering, His pain, His sorrow, His being forsaken by His Own Father.

That must have been some joy.

What could possibly be so joyous as to make The Cross worthwhile?

The joy of reunion. The joy of celebration. The joy of communion. The joy of relationships made perfect. The joy of eternity “at the right hand of the throne of God,” Heaven with His Father.

And Heaven with us, you and me.

Knowing that He would be spending eternity with us, His Beloved, made not only his crucifixion bearable, but also His entire thirty-three years as a human being. Think what a hassle, what a tremendous inconvenience, what a PAIN it must have been for God to become human. He Who Created the Universe was born…you know, “the normal way,” birth canal and all. He learned to walk and talk and tie his sandals. He was hungry and thirsty and tired. He learned how to keep from smashing his fingers with a hammer and wash his clothes and sleep with a rock for a pillow. For The God of Heaven to come to Earth as a MAN… talk about a pain. Talk about suffering.

The cross, and Jesus’ very human life, was worth it for the joy of spending eternity with you.

The joy set before us is the eventual reality of spending eternity with Him.