John Flavel shows Christ as our fountain of true joy: secured for his people by his humiliation and his exaltation. By humiliation, Flavel means the incarnation – Christ’s birth, ministry, and death – by exaltation he means the four stages of resurrection, ascension, intercession, and His return in judgment.

Flavel shows this twofold act (humiliation and exaltation) is the foundation of our joy because through them Christ has removed our debt and secured our inheritance. “The believer knows,” says Flavel, “that however sweet his communion with Christ is in this world, yet that communion he will have with Christ in heaven will far excel it.”