Introduction
Are you letting the busyness of life, especially around Christmas, steal the joy that God intends to be non-negotiable in you? The central teaching I want to press into your heart is this: the joy of Christmas is not only that Jesus was born, but that He was born so that, by believing in Him, we can be born again and live with joy right now (John 3:16; John 3:3). We all have “non-negotiables” in our traditions, things that make it feel like Christmas. But Advent reminds me that God has non-negotiables that make Christmas true: love, hope, peace, and joy. And today we’re looking at joy through the lens of what many call the greatest verse in Scripture:
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
Main Points
Are you letting the busyness of life, especially around Christmas, steal the joy that God intends to be non-negotiable in you? The central teaching I want to press into your heart is this: the joy of Christmas is not only that Jesus was born, but that He was born so that, by believing in Him, we can be born again and live with joy right now (John 3:16; John 3:3).
We all have “non-negotiables” in our traditions, things that make it feel like Christmas. But Advent reminds me that God has non-negotiables that make Christmas true: love, hope, peace, and joy. And today we’re looking at joy through the lens of what many call the greatest verse in Scripture:
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
Advent Joy Is Not Optional
It’s easy to get overwhelmed by good things, shopping, programs, gatherings, expectations, and still lose the heart of the season. But Advent is God’s way of calling me back to what must not be lost.
- Love is explicit: “For God so loved the world…” (John 3:16).
- Hope is embedded: “should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
- Peace is clarified immediately after: God didn’t send His Son to condemn the world, but to save (John 3:17).
- Joy is not a seasonal accessory, it’s part of the gospel’s design for the believer’s life.
So I’m not chasing joy as an emotion I might stumble into if circumstances cooperate. I’m receiving joy as a gospel reality: God has acted, God has given, and whoever believes can live as someone who will not perish.
God Announced Salvation Through Birth
One reason joy is inseparable from the Christmas story is that God chose to reveal His salvation plan through new birth. Isaiah prophesied it like a birth announcement:
“For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given…” (Isaiah 9:6)
That’s stunning when you consider how many people imagine God: distant, abstract, untouchable, beyond comprehension. But the living God entered our world as a newborn child. Birth itself teaches us something: it often comes through real pain, yet it ends in overwhelming joy.
Jesus even used childbirth as a parable for sorrow turning into joy:
“A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow… but as soon as she has given birth… she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy…” (John 16:21)
And the angels declared what kind of event this was:
“Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy… for there is born to you… a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:10–11)
So yes, we rejoice that Christ was born. But we must keep going, because the gospel is not merely history to admire, it is power to experience.
John 3:16 Answers One Burning Question
John 3:16 doesn’t float in isolation. Jesus spoke it to answer a question that reached deep into the soul. Nicodemus, religious, trained, respected, came at night, and Jesus went straight to the heart:
“Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3)
Nicodemus asked what many still ask:
“How can a man be born when he is old?” (John 3:4)
That’s the tension behind John 3:16. Jesus wasn’t just giving Nicodemus a slogan; He was revealing the only way a person moves from perishing to everlasting life: a new birth from God through faith in the Son.
Jesus Was Born So You Could Be Born Again
Here is the joy at the center: Christmas is about Christ’s birth for your rebirth.
Even our hymns preach it if we listen closely:
- “Born that man no more may die”
- “Born to raise the sons of earth”
- “Born to give them second birth” (Hark! the Herald Angels Sing)
John’s Gospel says it plainly:
“As many as received Him… to them He gave the right to become children of God… who were born… of God.” (John 1:12–13)
So when I believe the love of God shown in the giving of His Son, I’m not merely adopting a religious mindset. I’m receiving life, life that does not perish.
And this is where joy becomes present tense, not just a future promise:
“Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” (1 Peter 1:8–9)
In hard days, I can pray a simple prayer that cuts through the fog: “God, thank You that I was born again.” That is a joy no circumstance can cancel, because it rests on salvation, not situation.
Your Present Advent: Waiting For Others’ New Birth
Advent isn’t only looking back as if we don’t know Jesus came. Advent is also looking forward, waiting with expectation for what God will do next.
The prophets had their Advent. Peter says they searched and inquired about the grace that would come (1 Peter 1:10). But now we live in a different “waiting” season: we are waiting for Christ to come again, and creation itself is waiting:
“The earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.” (Romans 8:19)
This means my current Advent includes a holy longing: Who will be next to be born again? This is why heaven celebrates repentance:
“There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents…” (Luke 15:7)
So I want you to think about your life through this lens:
- the spouse you’re praying for
- the child who is far off
- the family member who seems hardened
- the neighbor you genuinely love
Part of your Advent is waiting for the day they step into the life of God, when they come up out of the waters of baptism, when they confess Jesus as Lord, when they become a “revealed son of God.” For parents especially, there is a joy even greater than watching your child’s first birth: seeing your child’s second birth.
Rejoicing Like The Friend Of The Bridegroom
At the end of John 3, John the Baptist gives us a picture of mature, gospel-shaped joy. His disciples are worried because people are leaving to follow Jesus (John 3:25–26). But John refuses jealousy and turf wars. He knows his role:
“I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before Him.” (John 3:28)
Then he describes himself as the friend of the bridegroom, the best man, who prepares the feast and rejoices when the groom arrives:
“The friend of the bridegroom… rejoices greatly… therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled.” (John 3:29)
This is discipleship joy: not building my own kingdom, not clinging to attention, but gladly helping people meet Jesus. When others go to Christ, my joy isn’t threatened, it’s fulfilled.
Conclusion
Joy is woven into the Christmas story because God’s rescue came through birth: Christ was born, and by faith in Him, we are born again. John 3:16 is not only a message of love, hope, and peace, it’s a declaration that you can live right now with unshakable joy because you have everlasting life in the Son.
And until Jesus comes again, my Advent continues: I wait, I pray, I witness, and I serve, listening for the Bridegroom’s voice and rejoicing each time another lost one is found.
Father, thank You for loving the world so deeply that You gave Your only begotten Son. Thank You that in Jesus we do not have to perish, but can receive everlasting life. Lord, restore our joy, not a shallow holiday happiness, but the deep joy of new birth and salvation. Teach us to rejoice with joy inexpressible as we believe in Christ, even when circumstances are heavy. And as we wait for Jesus to come again, give us compassion and holy expectancy for those in our lives who are not yet born again. Use us like John the Baptist, faithful, humble, and full of joy as we prepare the way and point others to Christ. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Conclusion
Joy is woven into the Christmas story because God’s rescue came through birth: Christ was born, and by faith in Him, we are born again. John 3:16 is not only a message of love, hope, and peace, it’s a declaration that you can live right now with unshakable joy because you have everlasting life in the Son.
And until Jesus comes again, my Advent continues: I wait, I pray, I witness, and I serve, listening for the Bridegroom’s voice and rejoicing each time another lost one is found.
Closing Prayer
Father, thank You for loving the world so deeply that You gave Your only begotten Son. Thank You that in Jesus we do not have to perish, but can receive everlasting life. Lord, restore our joy, not a shallow holiday happiness, but the deep joy of new birth and salvation. Teach us to rejoice with joy inexpressible as we believe in Christ, even when circumstances are heavy. And as we wait for Jesus to come again, give us compassion and holy expectancy for those in our lives who are not yet born again. Use us like John the Baptist, faithful, humble, and full of joy as we prepare the way and point others to Christ. In Jesus’ name, amen.