The Price of Our Joy

No one has ascended into heaven except He who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.  And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life.
--John 3:13-14

Have you ever given up something you wanted, so someone else could get what they wanted?  Maybe you said no to hanging out with your friends because you knew someone else really wanted to talk.  Maybe you didn't accept an exciting opportunity you were offered, and waited for someone else to jump on it, without even acknowledging that they were taking what you wanted for themselves.  Maybe you gave up your morning of sleeping in because someone needed help moving, or doing yard work.  I've done something along all of these lines before.  But let me tell you, what Jesus gave up to give us eternal life makes any sacrifice I've ever made seem not even worth mentioning.

Jesus descended from heaven.  Do you have any idea how wonderful heaven is?  I wish I knew.  I only will know when I get there, and I want to be there more than anything.  But once I am, I'm sure of one thing.  I won't want to come back here.

Now imagine what it was like for Jesus to leave.  If the joy of heaven is the presence of God, Jesus had been reveling in that joy since before the beginning of time.  He willingly left it all, confining Himself to space and time and suffering.  In many ways, His life was miserable even by our standards.  But imagine those trials from the perspective of living in paradise for all of eternity.  I will never understand the depths of Christ's perfection, so I'll never realize just how much He suffered.

And Jesus carried the awareness of what He had given up with Him even to the end.  John 13:3 tells us that, when His hour had come, Jesus knew that "He had come from God and was going back to God."  Finally, after enduring the worst trial imaginable, Jesus would be on His way back to the Father's side--this time to sit down and remain forever, glorified.

I am so thankful to Jesus for the sacrifice He made.  He gave up heaven for decades of a grueling earthly existence, so that I could enjoy heaven, with Him, forever.  I can barely believe that He would sacrifice so much for me.  I am in awe of the depth of joy I get to experience for eternity, and the price it took to buy that future for me.