Joy and the Face of God
A New Beginning • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 5 viewsJoy and being in the presence of God. The neglected face of God
Notes
Transcript
Ever see a child smile?
What do you feel?
What makes you feel that way? — Develop
We might tend to forget that joy is relational and connects directly to our relationship with God.
1 Praise the Lord. Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise in the assembly of his faithful people.
2 Let Israel rejoice in their Maker; let the people of Zion be glad in their King.
3 Let them praise his name with dancing and make music to him with timbrel and harp.
4 For the Lord takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with victory.
5 Let his faithful people rejoice in this honor and sing for joy on their beds.
This is the word of God…
We ask, “Why does joy so often allude us?”
Maybe it alludes us because we ignore the presence of God!
The Face of God
The Face of God
When we think of the face of God we may remember — John 1:18
18 No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.
20 But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.”
This where we get our understanding that no one has seen God except the Son
The closest I have found is Moses
21 Then the Lord said, “There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock.
22 When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by.
23 Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.”
I mean that is well, he never saw His face
No wonder the face of God is neglected in the church
How then can I say that joy is missed because we neglect the face of God?
What if I told you that being in the presence of God is to experience the face God?
Our Search for Joy
Our Search for Joy
We talked during advent that joy in scripture is expressed — Develop a little
Jim Wilder co-author of the book The Other Half of Church considers himself a nerotheologian.
Combining the study of the brain with the study of theology
Jim Wilder, “Our brain desires joy more than any other thing.”
As we go through our day the right side of our brain is scanning people looking for who might be happy to be with us.
Joy is everywhere is scripture, with its synonyms — 1,700 times
Combined with happy — 2,000
That is awesome, but what does that have to do with the face of God?
Joy and the Face of God
Joy and the Face of God
As I have read and searched this idea in Scripture I find that something has been missed.
Scripture teaches that we find joy in the presence of God, but there is something more…
11 You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
The word “presence” — the proximity of someone understood in the terms of the face, with the implication of being in front of them.
What does that understanding do to the verse?
The Psalmist is saying — Lord you fill me with joy when your face looks at me!
Diving deeper we can see scripture teaching us the idea of God’s face looking at us!
Consider another example, the Aaronic blessing that God taught the priests to give to Israel, that I give to us each week:
24 “ ‘ “The Lord bless you and keep you;
25 the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;
26 the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.” ’
Two phrases:
“the Lord make His face to shine on you…”
“the Lord turn His face toward you…”
Sounds like the neurological definition of joy…
Dr. Allan Schore defines joy neurologically as a fundamental, embodied state vital for brain development, originating from the right hemisphere’s attuned connection with others, especially caregivers, through facial cues like eye contact, serving as a powerful, resilient foundation for healthy identity, attachment, and emotional regulation, distinct from felling happiness.
Dr. Schore learned from his research what God has been saying all along…
God designed our brains for joy and He wants us to live in the glow of His delight.
The blessing is expressing joy we can paraphrase the blessing — “May you feel the joy of God’s face shinning on you because He is happy to be with you.”
We see then that it brings God joy when His people enter His presence.
6 Surely you have granted him unending blessings and made him glad with the joy of your presence.
The word for word translation from the Hebrew — “You have granted blessings unending, made happy with the joy of your face.”
Do you see the connection now?
The face of God brings us joy, because we know in our spirit that our father turns to look at us with the light of face, he smiles at us leans in and listens to what we have to say, this brings us joy and a smile on our face!
Conclusion
Whatever may be going on in our life our Abba, or Father, is glad to be with us!
Joy then becomes a strong bond and secure foundation in our relationship with God.
Practicing being in the presence of God our brain remembers our connection with Him.
Making it easier to find our way back to Him.
So get before God daily — show them the bulletin
In the presence of God we can bask in the light of His face shinning on us and fill us to overflowing with joy.
Before God daily! There is no other was to say it!
