The Joy Set Before Christ!

The ultimate expression of Christ's joy in His redeeming work at Calvary is expressed in Hebrews 12:2, where we are exhorted to look unto Jesus, "the author and finisher of our faith; Who for the joy set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame; and is set down on the right hand of the throne of God!"

All of our faith in the Gospel is wrought first and last in Christ! He is the Alpha and Omega, the genesis and completion of all our trust in His promises to save us from our sin.

Christ is the basis and ground of our faith, indeed, the Cause of our faith, wrought in us by the Holy Ghost. Even our faith, which Christ is the author and finisher of, is God's gift, and not of our own self-generation or maintenance.

All that we hope for, the deposit of our faith, is fulfilled in and by Christ: His saving us, His blood justifying us, His mighty work in us, transforming us into His image, and His raising us up from the dead.

Christ was motivated at Calvary by the joy that was set before Him! That joy, we have described in glorious detail – a joy in our rescue, in His carrying out the duties of that priesthood which God appointed to Christ by an unchangeable and everlasting oath.

But Christ also joyed in His promised resurrection found in Psalm 16 and other places, the promised exaltation which took place when He ascended to glory, and the glory of His sacrifice that forever took away our sins.

Because that joy was anticipated by Christ, He endured the cross, and counted its shame and humiliation as nothing to compare with!

That is a remarkable truth, since the cross was no mere pro-forma event. It was the most detestable terror that any man could imagine.