{"id":4703,"date":"2021-12-25T14:54:36","date_gmt":"2021-12-25T14:54:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/?p=4703"},"modified":"2021-12-25T14:54:36","modified_gmt":"2021-12-25T14:54:36","slug":"christmas-jeer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/christmas-jeer\/","title":{"rendered":"Christmas Jeer"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201c…be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.\u201d (John 16:33)<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

This is the time of year when everyone talks about, sings about, and watches movies about having Christmas cheer. But if you were to ask an unbeliever in the world, what Christmas cheer is, or why we are supposed to have it, they won\u2019t have any substantial answer. You may receive empty platitudes or vague ambiguities about love for mankind, but that will be about it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But interestingly this undefined ambiguous Christmas cheer has begun to change into something else in our culture, particularly over the past couple of years. What we have seen is that Christmas cheer is turning into Christmas jeer. This is what happens when you can\u2019t give any substantial meaning to cheerfulness. If Christmas cheer is nothing more than cultural sentiment, then you should not be surprised when the sentiment changes with the culture.<\/span><\/p>\n

But what changed? Well it wasn\u2019t Jim Carey in green cosmetics and a Santa suit who slid down our chimney\u2019s and stole all our presents, but it does have something to do with a Grinch named Fauci. He\u2019s not green, but he is mean. He didn\u2019t steal all our presents but he did keep many from sharing them by convincing you that there is most definitely probably covid on the gifts from your unvaccinated redneck uncle from Arkansas. The fact that anyone still believes anything Bill Gates says and seriously canceled their Christmas plans to stay home alone again, tells me that Bill Gates and Grouchy Fauci are not the source of the problem. They are just the manifestation of it. The problem runs much deeper than a couple of nerds who have run a power play on all the jocks in the professional sports leagues getting them to wear masks and get vaccinated.<\/span><\/p>\n

The problem is that the Christmas cheer the world had went no deeper than the Christmas cheer of Buddy the Elf who famously said, \u201cThe best way to spread Christmas cheer is to sing loud for all to hear.\u201d The Christmas cheer that they had was nothing more than a sugar high from all the double sugar coated Christmas treats, and so they have crashed hard. The cheer the world had was brittle, and so it has broken. Indeed, the cheer they had was manufactured (just like all the Christmas treats) for a once a year celebration and then back to being a grouch.<\/span><\/p>\n

But as Christians this ought not to be how our lives and our cheer is characterized. Good Christian cheer is not brittle, weak, shallow, or easily snapped like a candy cane. It ought not to be something that just disappears as soon as Grouchy Fauci tells us something that sounds scary. Good Christian cheer is not something that is surface level and superficial. In fact, by definition, it is strong. The Bible says that the joy of the Lord is our strength. The joy of the Lord does not come and go with our circumstances, it is what makes us strong, and it is not for easy times that God made men strong, but for hard times. Christian celebrations at Christmas time should be an overflow of the joy and thankfulness we have had throughout the year. It is the joy of the Lord that strengthens the bones and makes us into strong people. Proverbs 17:22 says, \u201cA Cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So with whatever difficult days that we may have ahead of us, the way we will have strength to stand and strength to fight is to be the happiest people in the world. And not just any happiness, but the joy of the Lord. Mean and grouchy Christians, are not strong Christians. They might be jerks, but we must not confuse being a jerk with being strong. By definition, such Christians have bones that are growing more brittle by the day.<\/span><\/p>\n

But this Christian cheer is also not something that comes from within us. It is not something in ourselves that we have to release from within our being. Rather, it is something that comes from God, because God is happy. In fact, the main way in which we receive cheer from God is by the experience of having our sins forgiven. The Bible says, \u201cBlessed, or Happy, is the man whose sins are forgiven.\u201d This becomes very evident when we look at all the unhappiness of the world – we have a society of people who have all kinds of unconfessed and unforgiven sin. They are laden with guilt and shame. And what they and we all need, is the forgiveness of sins through God\u2019s Son. People who do not confess their sins and receive the forgiveness of Christ are or become angry, sad, weak, and unproductive people. Those who do confess their sins and receive free and full forgiveness from Christ, will grow in happiness, cheer, and strength.<\/span><\/p>\n

But notice also what Jesus tells us in John 16:33. He tells us to be of good cheer because He has overcome the world. The world before Jesus came was a much different world than we live in today. It was a world in which fallen angels and demons had a power and control that they no longer have with the advent and the enthronement of Jesus Christ. They held people captive and ruled nations. But when Christ came He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in Him. They no longer rule over nations and have authority. Instead all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Jesus as Jesus said after He rose from the grave. All the nations have been given to Christ as His inheritance as Psalm 2 tells us. He has overcome this world, therefore we are to be of good cheer. And since our cheer comes from the free forgiveness of sins and the fact that Christ has overcome the world, then that means it ought not be shaken when the world acts angry because it has been overcome.<\/span><\/p>\n

But how is it that Christ has overcome the world? Well, one way to answer that is to say that Christ overcame the world by giving. He gave Himself, He gave His life, He gave His blood, He gives free forgiveness, free grace, eternal life, without cost, and without price! Jesus has overcome the world with good, as it says in Romans that we do not overcome evil with evil, but we overcome evil with good. Jesus has taken the world by giving it everything. For God so loved the world, that He gave His Son\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

Now this is very interesting, because typically we would think that if you want to take something or have something then you have to take it, you have to go get it. But the way that Jesus took the world was by giving to it. And at a time when many people are giving gifts to one another, it is a good time to remember that gift giving only comes from the Christian worldview. And therefore, in giving gifts (and I\u2019m not talking strictly about material Christmas presents), Christians ought to be the most liberal (and here I mean the good kind of liberal). And one of the reasons that Christians ought to be the most giving people, is because the world is ours, and one of the ways we inherit the earth is by giving liberally – just as God gave His only Son and so saved the whole world. In 2 Corinthians 9 Paul makes a point about giving generously and cheerfully when he says, \u201c…whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully\u2026\u201d Then he says we should not give under compulsion or reluctantly, for God loves a cheerful giver. Many people think that giving is like throwing something in the trash, which it is, if it is reluctant or grumpy giving. But, if it is cheerful giving, it is like sowing seed in the ground, and God loves it. Proverbs 11:24 says this, \u201cOne gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want.\u201d If we are wise, we will understand that this is how God made the world to work. This means then that cheerful giving is a tool of dominion. If we want to take dominion of the earth, one important way in which we do that, is by outgiving the world. And this we do because God has out given anything we ever could by giving us His Son. And in Christ, Christ will always out give whatever we give, because He gives and never has less, therefore, neither do we.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201c…be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.\u201d (John 16:33) This is the time of year when everyone talks about, sings about, and watches movies about having Christmas cheer. But if you were to ask an unbeliever in the world, what Christmas cheer is, or why we are supposed to have it, they won\u2019t […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":685,"featured_media":4706,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1554,274,280,1649,1651,1650,1648,678,679,699],"class_list":{"0":"post-4703","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-cheer","9":"tag-christ","10":"tag-christmas","11":"tag-fauci","12":"tag-grinch","13":"tag-grouchy","14":"tag-jeer","15":"tag-jenkins","16":"tag-jesus","17":"tag-joshua","18":"entry"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2021\/12\/grinch.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4491,"url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/how-to-have-a-stout-heart\/","url_meta":{"origin":4703,"position":0},"title":"How to Have a Stout Heart","author":"Joshua Jenkins","date":"June 7, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cI have said these things to you in figures of speech.\u00a0The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech but will tell you plainly about the Father.\u00a026\u00a0In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"cheer\"","block_context":{"text":"cheer","link":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/tag\/cheer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2021\/06\/stout-heart.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2021\/06\/stout-heart.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2021\/06\/stout-heart.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2021\/06\/stout-heart.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":915,"url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/how-the-spurs-showed-me-the-gospel\/","url_meta":{"origin":4703,"position":1},"title":"How the Spurs Showed Me the Gospel","author":"Joshua Jenkins","date":"May 17, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The 2015-16 San Antonio Spurs were built to win a championship. Every Spurs fan had their sight's set on beating the mighty Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors, right out of the gate. San Antonio put up a 67-15 record over the course of the season that included a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sports"","block_context":{"text":"Sports","link":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/category\/sports\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6659,"url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/prayer-and-praise\/","url_meta":{"origin":4703,"position":2},"title":"Prayer and Praise","author":"Joshua Jenkins","date":"August 15, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Click HERE for sermon audio Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him\u00a0sing praise.\u00a014\u00a0Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him,\u00a0anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.\u00a015\u00a0And the prayer of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/08\/anointing-of-the-sick.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4284,"url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/the-image-of-the-invisible-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":4703,"position":3},"title":"The Image of the Invisible God","author":"Joshua Jenkins","date":"December 25, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Colossians 1:11-15 reads, \u201cMay you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Faith"","block_context":{"text":"Faith","link":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/category\/faith\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2020\/12\/mountains-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2020\/12\/mountains-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2020\/12\/mountains-scaled.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2020\/12\/mountains-scaled.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2020\/12\/mountains-scaled.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2020\/12\/mountains-scaled.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4634,"url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/about-that-brandon-guy\/","url_meta":{"origin":4703,"position":4},"title":"About That Brandon Guy","author":"Joshua Jenkins","date":"November 2, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"In recent times a phenomena known as \"let's go Brandon\" has been making the rounds. If you have no idea what I am talking about, a quick internet search will catch you up to speed. In short, it's an \"undercover\" way of saying \"f*** Joe Biden.\" Many Americans feel quite\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Culture"","block_context":{"text":"Culture","link":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/category\/culture\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2021\/11\/biden.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2021\/11\/biden.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2021\/11\/biden.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2021\/11\/biden.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2021\/11\/biden.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3775,"url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/of-the-increase\/","url_meta":{"origin":4703,"position":5},"title":"Of the Increase","author":"Joshua Jenkins","date":"June 1, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"In\u00a0my previous post\u00a0I discussed the key text of 1 Corinthians 15 that pushed me over the edge into embracing Postmillennialism. 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