Motivated by what Christ rejoiced in

Be motivated by what he rejoiced in. Notice that in Hebrews 12:2, Who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross. He rejoiced. What? He rejoiced? On the cross? Yes! He knew he would victor in the end. He did not lose sight of his mission. The joy that was set before him, was the joy of his own home coming. The joy of reunion with his Father. The joy of being crowned with honour and glory. The joy of having all things put under his feet. The joy of bringing many sons to glory. The joy of saying, Here am I, Father, of all that was given me, I have lost none. The joy of bringing you, dear believer, before the Father and say, Here is another sinner, Father, for whom I have paid the ransom. He endured for the joy that was set before him. And so, should we.

Dear believer, for you, the best is yet to come. You have the best of this world, because you have Christ. You have joy as the world does not know anything about. Far beyond every joy of this world, but the best is yet to be. You are on your way to be married to Jesus Christ forever, to be a perfect bride with the perfect Bridegroom. You may have heard of the young man, named William Montague of the last century, I suppose, a well-known illustration. He was blind and his father found a surgeon who might be able to do a surgery on him. They made an agreement two weeks before the wedding, because he was engaged. This young, blind man was engaged to a beautiful young woman, and he said, two weeks before the wedding, I have will undergo the surgery, because the bandages had to stay on for two weeks. He said, “Father, I want you to be the best man when I get married. I want you to come up and take the bandages away, as my bride walks down the aisle. If I can see, I want her to be the first thing I see. And that is what happened. As the bride walked down the aisle, the father came forward to take away the bandage. And William could see! And in that aristocratic audience, where no one is supposed to breathe a word at a wedding, he just blurted out when he saw her, You are far more beautiful than I ever imagined. That is what it would be like to be a Christian. One day to meet Jesus Christ, face to face. No more through a glass darkly. No more through sin-filled eyes in tears, but now perfected, holy, meeting the holy Saviour, gazing upon his beauty. Samuel Rutherford said, When I walked through the pearly gates, he will stand there with a soft cloth and wipe away every tear from my eyes, and I will embrace him, my well beloved. And you will say, with the Queen of Sheba, the half of it was not told me. The beauty and the glory of Immanuel. For the joy that is set before you. Run the race!¹

Joel Beeke