Joy in God’s Goodness

Introduction

Read Genesis 21:1-7

Genesis 21:1–7 (ESV)

The Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did to Sarah as he had promised. And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him. Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, Isaac. And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. And Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh over me.” And she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”

We see that Abraham and Sarah are now filled with laughter. Not the laughter of disbelief and skepticism, but rather the laughter of joy and life. Their joy and laughter are stemming from who God is and the life that He has brought to them through who this child represents.

And this account is for more than just Abraham and Sarah. This account, while it focuses on what God has done for them, is really a reminder of what God has done and continues to do in the life of His people. We see the Joy that He desires to give to all those, who like Abraham and Sarah, respond to God in Faith.

It is the joy that all people are looking for, but none will find outside of Christ.

Find Your Joy in the Greatness of God

Abraham and Sarah and filled with joyful laughter because of who God is. We once again see God reveal Himself to His people through what He has done for Abraham and Sarah. And we see first and foremost that God is good.

God is Good Because…

God is Faithful

Abraham and Sarah learned that God is faithful. “The Lord visited Sarah as He had said…” “The Lord did to Sarah as He had promised…” “Sarah conceived and bore a son which God had spoken to him (Abraham).”

God kept His Word.

What does it mean that God is faithful? It means that God ALWAYS keeps His Word. When He speaks, it is as good as done because He will never go back on what He has promised.

Abraham and Sarah may have had to wait 25 years, but God was not ever going to go back on His promise.

God is faithful to keep His promises.

Some Promises:

Sin always brings death

Romans 6:23 (ESV)

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

God’s love never ends

Psalm 100:5 (ESV)

For the Lord is good;

his steadfast love endures forever,

and his faithfulness to all generations.

God has promised to save those who trust in Him.

John 3:16 (ESV)

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

God has promised to sanctify and complete the work He has started in His people.

Philippians 1:6 (ESV)

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

God has promised to work for the good of His people, for those who love Him.

Romans 8:28 (ESV)

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

This promise actually gives context and purpose to God’s faithfulness. God is faithful to the ultimate good of His people. Which means He does not necessarily give us everything we want, but everything that is good for us. Sometimes His faithfulness says yes to our requests. Sometimes His faithfulness says no to our requests because He has something even better for us in the end. And sometimes, His faithfulness says not yet. But regardless of His answer, God is always faithful to work for our good and for His glory even when we don’t fully understand.

There may be times like Abraham we might be tempted to forget and disbelieve His promises, but we only rob ourselves of the joy God desires for us to have.

Abraham brought hardship and difficulty in his life when he distrusted God’s Word. But God never gave up on His promise to Abraham even when Abraham was unfaithful to Him.

2 Timothy 2:13 (ESV)

if we are faithless, he remains faithful—

for he cannot deny himself.

If you want to experience the joy of the Lord, remind yourself of His promises and even how God has proven His faithfulness to you in the past. You might be walking through a time when the Lord feels far off and that He has forgotten you, but remind yourself of what He has done and continue to give thanks to Him even when you don’t know what He is doing. Paul tells us even in our worry and anxiety to give thanks when we present our supplications and concerns to Him because we know God has already purposed to work for our good even if we do not see it yet.

Philippians 4:6–7 (ESV)

do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

God is Powerful

God also showed His power to Abraham and Sarah. God overcame Sarah’s barrenness and the old age of both Abraham and Sarah. They were not simply barely past child bearing age. Abraham and Sarah were well beyond any natural ability to give birth to a child. God did the impossible by bringing life to the reproductive systems of both Abraham and Sarah. And God gave Sarah new life to be able to nurse and nurture a newborn child in her old age.

There was no doubt that this was a miracle that only God could accomplish. There is, even today, no medical technology that could accomplish what God did for this couple.

In the same way, God is always good to continue to show His power in our lives.

God is still displaying His Omnipotent power in our weaknesses.

God has called us to do things that feel hard and impossible for us. He calls us to do things that go against our natural abilities and comforts.

Maybe God is calling us to share the gospel with someone and we don’t know what to say or afraid we might mess it up. We need not fear because we have the Holy Spirit with us who will help us know what to say in those times. He can give us the courage and the boldness that we need to overcome our fear and weakness.

Maybe we feel we are too old for God to use us in certain ways. We begin to think, “I’ve served my time. I’m too old now to be of service.” If there’s anything we can learn from this account is we are never too old for God to use us. God gave Abraham a child at 100. God called Moses to lead His people at 80 and used him for 40 years in that ministry. If you are still breathing, God wants to and can use you to serve Him and He may have your most important tasks ahead of you yet.

Of course, God also used people in their youth that others would have thought impossible. Like David’s brothers thought he was ridiculous when as a teenager he came and challenged the giant Goliath when everyone else was terrified of him. God’s power was displayed through David’s youth, his lack of size, and his weakness. Paul told Timothy to never let anyone look down on him for his youth, but rather to set an example for the believers in speech, faith, life and love because Paul knew God was powerful enough to use him in spite of his youth and lack of experience.

Whatever we think our weaknesses are, God can and will use us because He is powerful. And we can find joy when we submit to God’s powerful goodness in our lives.

God’s Timing is Perfect

Finally, what we must see is that God’s timing is always perfect. This is hard for us because when God has promised something to us, we usually want to see the fruit and results of that promise as soon as possible. We are living in the microwave generation where we want everything right now.

And yet, the best things in life do not come from the microwave or the fast food lane. The best things in life take time.

Abraham and Sarah had to wait 25 years from when God initially made His promise to them. And we have seen their failure in the time they were waiting because the waiting can be hard. But God’s timing is always perfect. God was waiting for a time to bring their son that there would be no mistaking that only God could make this miracle happen. If it had happened sooner, they could have just seen Isaac as simply another child rather than the child of God’s promise. And God used that time of waiting to continue mature and sanctify Abraham and Sarah. They have learned many lessons about what it means to trust and follow God, and the pain that comes from failing to trust Him like we ought. But they also experienced God’s mercy in those times of failing too. All these lessons would have been missed had God brought Isaac to them early.

In the same way, God often has us waiting for His perfect plan to be fulfilled. God never comes early nor late. His timing is always perfect, even if we don’t feel like it is. God is working for our good in the timing.

I began to respond to the call of ministry back in 2001. God used me to serve our local church from 2001 to 2006 as a youth ministry intern. But during that time I was actively searching for a youth ministry position. My wife and I prayed for God to open up a door, but nothing ever came of it. During that time, my wife’s parents had moved from Clovis, NM to Oxford, MS in 2003. In 2006 we felt led to move to MS to see what doors God might open there. I continued to look for a youth ministry position to no avail. However, in 2007, a pastor asked me to consider being their children’s minister. It wasn’t what I was looking for and I was kind of nervous about it at first. But after praying about it, God gave us a peace about that position and we ended up finding a greater joy than we would have imagined. God’s timing was perfect and led us to a place that was better than what I was looking for. And if God had given us what we wanted sooner than what He had planned, we would have missed out on the joy He wanted us to have. God’s timing worked out for our good and for His glory.

Find Your Joy in the True and Better Isaac

The reason why the birth of Isaac has brought so much joy is not simply because an old couple finally got their wish for a child, although that was part of it. But there’s a deeper joy and laughter that is going on in this birth because this child is actually pointing us to a better and truer Isaac, a better and truer joy and laughter. This child points us to the birth of the One who Will bring us everlasting Joy!

Jesus is the Promised Child

Genesis 3:15 (ESV)

I will put enmity between you and the woman,

and between your offspring and her offspring;

he shall bruise your head,

and you shall bruise his heel.”

Isaiah 7:14 (ESV)

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

God has kept all of His promises concerning the Christ and we know He is faithful because Jesus has come for us. God was and is faithful to give us the Child who is God with Us and the one who would crush the head of the serpent that seeks to harm and destroy God’s people. If God is faithful in this then He is faithful in all things.

This is why Paul writes:

2 Corinthians 1:20 ESV

For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.

Because of Christ, all the promises of God are fulfilled in Him. We cannot have true joy apart from who Christ is and what He has accomplished for us!

Jesus is the Fulfillment of God’s Gracious Power

Just as God showed His power in Abraham and Sarah’s life by doing the impossible, by giving them a child in their old age, so God has displayed a greater power by sending Jesus.

God restored life to Abraham and Sarah’s bodies and reproductive systems, something that could not be done naturally. But even in this, God used the natural process of a man and woman coming together to produce a child.

Yet, God did something even more impossible through Mary, for this child was produced, not by the seed of a man, but by the power of the Holy Spirit. There was no coming together of man and woman, but God simply used Mary as the vehicle through which God would bring this promised Child.

Jesus Himself is the display and presence of God’s awesome and gracious power in our lives. Because not only would God bring Jesus into the world through a woman alone, this same Jesus would display God’s power by dying for sin and then coming back to life never to die again.

And now this Jesus is the One who promises to be with us as we go to make disciples of all nations. It is His power on display when we accomplish all God has called us to do in our weakness.

The Promised One (A 10-week Bible Study): Seeing Jesus in Genesis (Teaching Chapter: How Will I Know I Am Loved?)

When we read this story, we must recognize that it is not simply about Abraham and Sarah and the miraculous birth of Isaac that God has accomplished. This promised child was always meant to point us toward another promised child. Seeing God’s power at work in Sarah prepared God’s people to trust that another woman who cannot possibly conceive because she has never even been with a man will in fact conceive by the power of God. Sarah’s questions about how this could happen point us to another mother who cannot understand how she will conceive. Just as God assured Sarah by asking, “Is anything too hard for God?” the angel will say to the virgin Mary, “For nothing will be impossible with God” (Luke 1:37).

Jesus Came at the Right Time

Abraham and Sarah had to wait 25 years for God to fulfill His promise. They learned God is always faithful to His promises even if it means waiting longer than they would have expected. God brought Isaac at just the right time for them.

So, God fulfilled His promise to send the Savior at just the right time. It would be thousands of years from the time of Genesis 3 to the sending of the offspring of woman to crush the serpent’s head. Even from the time of Isaiah, from the promises for the Messiah God gave to him, there was about 700 years to the fulfillment of those prophecies.

And yet, Christ came at the fullness of time.

Galatians 4:4 ESV

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law,

Christ came at a time when the world was ready for the message of good news and when the good news would easily spread to the nations.

The Roman Empire: the peace that was sustained, the Roman road system, the receptivity of the nations to who Christ is.

Christ came in the fullness of time.

God is still working at bringing Christ to those who need to know at just the right time. When He calls you to share the gospel, He is doing so at just the right time for them. Whether they receive or not, the seeds of the gospel are being planted at just the right time for God knows where they are and what they need.

Perhaps, God has brought you here for just this time to hear of and experience the joy that is found in Christ alone. You are not here by accident. God in His sovereign grace and wisdom has drawn you here and there may be someone today who is ready to receive the gift of Christ today!

Find Your Joy in the New Birth

God brought life from death in Abraham and Sarah

Finally, we see there is joy to be found in the life that Christ has come to bring.

God gave new life to Abraham’s and Sarah’s bodies.

Romans 4:18–19 ESV

In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb.

And yet, God brought life back to their bodies so that the child of Promise, Isaac, could be born. God’s goodness brought the joy of laughter by restoring their bodies to life to fulfill His promise to them.

God brings a new birth to those who look to Jesus

Conversely, God brought the birth of Jesus to bring life back to His people. Because of Jesus, we who are dead in sin can be born again and have a new life.

Jesus told Nicodemus: John 3:3

John 3:3 ESV

Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

The only way we can be with God is by receiving the new birth that God wants to give to His people. And just as you did nothing to contribute to your first birth, so you can contribute nothing to your second birth.

Your physical birth and life was given to you as a gift by God through your parents. And so our second birth must be received as a gift from God, received only by faith. You cannot receive it by marking off a religious check-list, by doing all the right things. This new birth is received the way Abraham and Sarah received their child, by faith in the Power, Faithfulness, and Goodness of God.

John 3:16 ESV

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

So just as God brought life to Abraham’s and Sarah’s body so that Isaac, their joy and laughter could be born, so now Jesus, the true and better Isaac, has been born so that God can bring new and abundant life to our dead and sin-filled spirits.