Joy to the World and the "Already, but (not just) not yet!"

A Thought for Christmas Eve

(Photo by Ben White on Unsplash)

It is not uncommon to hear the phrase “Already, but not yet” in sermons. What pastors typically mean by this phrase is “The Kingdom of God/Christ has, in one sense, already come but in another sense, is not here yet.” Fair enough. We are able to live as followers of Christ now even though Christ has not yet returned in his fullness.

In my anecdotal experience, the phrase “Already, but not yet " usually communicates more about the “not yet” than the “already.” Pastorally, I understand this; it is hard to embrace the “already” in a world full of death, disease, and debauchery. It brings great comfort to focus on the glory of Christ’s future return rather than pain we experience now. With our hope primarily in the future, though, it is easy, in practice, to live as though the “already” is meaningless.

A future-not-now tendency can lead us to forget that the Kingdom of God has come and Christ is already reigning even if he is not yet reigning in his fullness. Growing up, most of the sermons I heard were about how Christ will reign; we didn’t get much on what he was doing right now.

Let us not forget that Christ is King of Earth now, and we owe him our allegiance. Christ is defeating his enemies now and we are part of his Kingdom strategy. Christ’s victory has already happened; we get to participate in the victory announcement. In other words, the “not yet” is a time of joy, waiting for our conquering king to return home from his battle, not for him to finally win the war.

Joy to the World

Chances are, you have either sung, or at least heard, Isaac Watts’ famous hymn, Joy to the World. What you may not have realized, though, is that this hymn is not originally a Christmas hymn. Watts originally wrote Joy to the World as a Christological (Christ-Centered) interpretation of Psalm 98 and Genesis 3. In other words, Joy to the World is originally a sung Christian Commentary on sections of the Old Testament.

Sometimes, we think of it as a Christmas/Advent song because it contains lyrics about joy and the coming of the king, both appropriate themes to celebrate at Christmastime. However, the song is not just about these things; if you really look at the lyrics, it is primarily about how Christ is currently ruling the world. Also contained in these lyrics is the command to bow down and submit to Christ's authority.

Most people know the first verse:

Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare him room,
𝄆 And heaven and nature sing, 𝄇
And heaven, and heaven, and nature sing

Notice that this verse is not really about baby Jesus; it is primarily about all people receiving their king. Let earth (all people) receive her king and let every heart prepare him room. If you take a moment to reflect on these lyrics, they are clearly not just about Christians celebrating the birth of Christ at Christmas.

Consider a few other important sections from the other verses (I’ll emphasize the relevant sections):

Joy to the world! the Saviour reigns;
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains
𝄆 Repeat the sounding joy, 𝄇
Repeat, repeat the sounding joy.

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
𝄆 Far as the curse is found, 𝄇
Far as, far as, the curse is found.

He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
𝄆 And wonders of His love, 𝄇
And wonders, wonders, of His love

This hymn, which interprets the Bible, claims that Christ is king now. It states that he is defeating sin and sorrow as far as the curse of sin is concerned, and it claims that he is making the nations, not just individuals, prove his lordship over all creation. If you think about it, the lyrics don’t have much to do with Christmas! Rather, Joy to the World is a hymn about the fact that Christ is reigning and ruling already.

But what about the Bible?

Okay, great. Some guy from the 1700s wrote a hymn about Jesus ruling now. So what?

My point here is that we ought to be far more concerned with the “already” than we are. Watts’ famous hymn is a glorious reminder of the truth of Christ’s reign (and one of my favorite hymns), a truth found consistently in the Scriptures. In other words, the Scriptures themselves constantly speak to the theme of Christ’s reigning already.

Here’s just a few sections:

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28, emphasis added)

Here, in the Great Commission, Jesus notes that authority has been given (past tense). He is not saying, “One day, I will come and take authority.” Rather, he is saying, “I already have the authority; now go tell people about it!”

Here’s another passage:

But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all. (1 Corinthians 15, emphasis added)

Here, in what is sometimes called the “resurrection passage,” St. Paul notes something interesting: Christ must reign “until…” That “until” is very important; it implies that Christ must do X until Y. In this case, Christ must reign until he has defeated all of his enemies.

Notice another important point: Death is the last enemy to be defeated. Logically, this means that Christ is defeating every other enemy before he destroys death. But when will he destroy death? At his return, of course! In other words, Christ is defeating those who stand against him before his return.

Now, let's combine the implications of the two passages: Christ has already been given all authority, and he commands his disciples to tell everyone about his rule and reign and how he is defeating every enemy that stands against him. In other words, “Joy to the world, the Lord has come. Let Earth receive her king!” 

From now on, as you sing Joy to the World at Advent and Christmastime, I pray you will remember that Christ is reigning already, not just “not yet.” May the joy of Christ’s reign fill our homes and our lives. O come, let us receive and adore our ruling and reigning king, Jesus Christ.