Joy of the Lord

Joy in the world that God the Father created

Genesis account - day by day

Day one - Light and darkness -v4 -And God saw that the light was good

Day three - Water and dry land - v10 - And God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters He called seas; and God saw that it was good

And the plants, bearing seeds and trees bearing fruit - v12 - 12 And the earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit, with seed in them, after their kind; and God saw that it was good

Day four - sun and moon and stars; day and night; seasons - v18 - ...and God saw that it was good

Day five - fish and birds, and God blessed them and told to multiply - v21 - and God saw that it was good. 22 And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”

Day six - Land animals, all kinds of creeping things, after their kind - v25 - and God saw that it was good.

And then the crown of His creation - man - made in God’s image - all the rest was only good, and unlike God

Genesis 1:26-31 = Very good

Appears God was pleased with all that He had created

Creation was God’s divine perfect plan - in all ways

He was pleased

It glorified Him

and He rejoiced in it

He was happy - full of joy

And shouldn’t we be full of joy living in it?

Recent experiences brought this revelation into focus for me

Walking in the yard

Seeing Noelle’s twins

Clouds drifting by on a clear sunny day

Having time with my family - given by God

Sunsets and sunrise

Watching Sheila’s healing

Everything that happens around us can be a source of joy for us

Music

Conversations

Word of God

I believe all of it is a source of joy for God, so why not us?

Shouldn’t we be happy with all that He has done? has given?

Picture of God

How often do we view Him, or see a picture in our minds, of a loving but sometimes austere God

The law, with it’s requirements, impossible to keep them

Judging our actions day by day

Keeping track of our deeds and our words

And just keeping everything running and on schedule

Has to be exhausting!

Frustration with His people and their failures

But God is not like us

Perfect in all His ways

Not surprised by anything in all of His creation

Completely balanced in all of His attributes

And one of those is joy

Despite of what is happening around Him

His joy and happiness - doesn’t sound just quite right, does it?

1 Tim 1 - speaks of God in a way seen nowhere else in the Word (and 1Tim 6:15)

In both of these cases, Paul uses the word blessed to describe God

We often hear of blessing God, but that is a different word

Blessed is the same word that Jesus used in the beatitudes to describe the children of God

And it means fortunate or happy; full of joy

God is the Gospel: Meditations on God’s Love as the Gift of Himself God’s Happiness is a Great Part of His Glory

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” And so on

So in Tim, Paul is using this same word to describe God as a happy God

Which is wonderful for us - who would want a grumpy God?

And His joy is perfect - just like all of His other attributes

So whatever happens, He is still joyful

So we can translate 1 Tim 1:11 as “the glory of the Happy God”

Since His glory is infinite, His joy must also be infinite happiness

Infinitely happy - beyond our greatest imagination - and that’s glorious

And that’s the greatness of our Gospel

So if our God is a happy God, how does that affect the way we live day to day

We are called to live as God does

Be perfect, as God Himself is!

And part of that is joy

Parable of the talents speaks to 3 men who were given talents by the Master (Mat 25) 23 “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave; you were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master

Jesus is inviting us to spend eternity with a joyful God

It doesn’t tell us if they were happy using their talents, but hopefully they were

And as we use our talents for God’s glory (as Jesus did), our reward will be joy such as God has

And God’s greatest joy is in His Son, and in all that His Son did, which includes the creation

And so should ours

And of course, Jesus Himself also was full of joy

English Standard Version Chapter 12

2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

On this earth, we won’t have that perfect satisfaction and joy - because 3 things prevent

Nothing here is great enough to satisfy the deep longings of our hearts

And we lack the strength and ability to treasure what we do have or experience here

And of course, our joys here will all come to an end

But God!!!

His gospel - the gospel of the glory of the blessed, joyful, happy God - can get us closer to that point

New American Standard Bible Pauls Apostolic Ministry

For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

And as we draw close to Him, we can enjoy Christ with the happy enjoyment of the Father

Focusing on Him, our happiness and our joy should become greater, since He is greater than this world

That’s also why we are given the Holy Spirit

His fruits, working in us include God’s Joy (Gal 5:22)

Romans 14:17

New American Standard Bible Principles of Conscience

17 for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

Romans 15:13

New American Standard Bible Self-denial on Behalf of Others

13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

So whatever is going on, whatever problems or successes may occur, whatever happens to our hopes and wishes and plans

We can look to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith

To the Holy Spirit

To all that God has done for us

From creation and life; to the world around us

Enjoying whatever we experience in life

To salvation and the great peace of forgiveness of sins

And dwell in the joy and happiness that comes from God

The fruit of our gospel, the gospel that tells of the glory of our happy God