Sermon #21 Series: Who Is God?
Title: The Joy of God
Text: Deuteronomy 30:9
Date: Tuesday Evening - June 26, 1990
Introduction:
Joy is complacency, satisfaction, and
delight. And the Lord our God is so kind, gracious, and good to his people that
he makes joy a duty. He commands us to rejoice! “Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice” (Phil. 4:4).
He says, “Rejoice evermore” (1 Thess.
5:16). Paul tells us that God has given us the “joy of faith” (Phil. 1:25) and that our spiritual joy in Christ is
the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22). Joy is the commandment of God and the gift
of God. But did you know that joy is also an attribute of God, an essential
part of his character as God? As God is a God of holiness, justice, truth, and
grace, he is also a God of joy.
Let me show you three text of
scripture in which joy is attributed to the Lord our God.
1
Jeremiah 32:41 - Here the Lord God is proclaiming some of his blessed covenant
promises to his people (31:3, 31-34; 32:36-40). And he makes this the crowning
promise of his covenant grace: “Yea, I
will rejoice over them to do them good!”
2. Deuteronomy 28:63 - In Deuteronomy 28 Moses is declaring to Israel all
the blessings of God upon those who perfectly obey his commands. Those are
blessings which could never be won by any man, but Christ. And since Christ has
won them for us, by his obedience to God as our Representative, they are all
ours by faith in him. Read what God has promised to you (vv. 1-14), and rejoice!
In everything he blesses us!
In the latter part of the we read of
God’s curses upon all who transgress his law. The ungodly, those who will not
trust Christ alone for righteousness, standing upon their own merit, are cursed
and condemned in everything.
Then, in verse 63, we are told of
God’s joy. Now, read what the text says. As the Lord God rejoices in conferring
upon his elect the benefits of his grace, so he rejoices in pouring out upon
the wicked the punishment of his just wrath. Though “he delighteth in mercy,” and though judgment is his strange work,
it is his work, and he joys in it. God rejoices in the display of his justice
and holiness and in the display of his goodness and grace.
3.
Deuteronomy 30:9 - In Deuteronomy 29 and 30 Moses is giving us “the words of the covenant which the Lord
commanded.” In its ultimate fulfillment, this covenant and the prophecy of
these two chapters refer to the salvation of God’s elect in Christ.
·
Compare
Deuteronomy 30:6 with Philippians 3:3.
·
Compare
Deuteronomy 30:14 with Romans 10:8.
In
verse 9, we are told that the Lord God himself takes joy in the salvation of
his own elect in the Lord Jesus Christ, his Son.
Proposition:
Joy with God is an attribute of his
glorious Being. The joy of God is therefore eternal, infinite, perfect, and
immutable. It is not a conditional, fluctuating joy, but an immutable,
unchanging, unchangeable joy. Joy is God’s eternal complacency, satisfaction,
and delight.
Divisions:
Tonight, I want to show you four
things about The Joy of God.
1.
God rejoices
in himself.
2.
God rejoices
in all his works.
3.
God rejoices
in his Son.
4.
God rejoices
in his people.
I. First, it must be said that GOD REJOICES IN HIMSELF (1 Chron. 16:27).
In his Psalm of thanksgiving to God,
David said, “Glory and honor are in his
presence; strength and gladness are in his place.”
When God dwelt alone in the solitary perfection of his
glorious Being, when nothing else existed except in God’s infinite mind, there
was joy and gladness in his place. This needs to be recognized. God was perfect
without us from eternity. And being perfect, he was joyful in himself. The
point is this - God does not need angels, or men, or any other of his creatures
to give him joy, satisfaction, complacency and delight. God’s joy is in himself.
The three Persons of the Holy Trinity find joy in one another! It is right for
God’s joy to be in himself because God is Perfect. And God always rejoices in
perfection.
II. Secondly, because God always rejoices in perfection, we know
that GOD REJOICES IN ALL HIS WORKS (Psa.
104:31).
The psalmist declares, “The glory of the Lord shall endure forever:
the Lord shall rejoice in his works.” And the implication is that he will
rejoice in all his works forever (Rev. 4:11). Everything that God is doing, has
done, or shall hereafter do, is to him a matter of endless joy.
Though in his actions he appeared to
have regretted making man upon the earth (Gen. 6:6), because he changed his
course of action and poured out his wrath upon the fallen race in Noah’s day,
God himself did not change. He had not made a mistake. And even when he appears
to be, in our eyes, disgusted with his works, he never is. Every work of his
hand is perfect and always gives him joy.
A.
God takes joy in his works of creation (Gen. 1:31; 2:2).
God created the heavens and the earth
and all that is in them by the word of his power. And when he had finished his
works, he not only rested from them, but rested in them too. He looked over all
that he had made with joy, pleasure, and satisfaction, and pronounced that they
were very good.
But there is more - God still has joy
in his creation, otherwise, he would not uphold all things by the word of his
power. The fact that he maintains the universe in being is evidence that he yet
finds joy in that which he has made.
B.
The Lord also rejoices in all his works of providence.
When he speaks of his works of providence, our God says, “I will do all my pleasure” (Isa.
46:10).
The works of providence, when we
contemplate upon them, give us unspeakable pleasure and delight. Though God’s
ways and his works are past finding out, we see in providence the infinite
depth of God’s wisdom and knowledge, and rejoice (Rom. 11:33-36). And in that
day when all things are made manifest, when all things are revealed in their
true light, God’s saints will shout his praise with unending, everlasting joy
(Rev. 4:11).
But what delight, joy, complacency,
and satisfaction God’s works of providence must give to him!
·
The works of
providence are the works of his will and pleasure.
·
He sees and
knows their beauty, semetry, harmony, and connection.
·
He knows
perfectly the ends they shall serve - The salvation of his elect and the glory
of his name!
C.
And God particularly delights in the great work of redemption devised by his
infinite wisdom and wrought out by is dear Son.
Our redemption by Christ and salvation by the grace of God
through the almighty operations of his Holy Spirit gives joy to the triune God
(Lk. 15:7, 9, 22-24).
1. Our redemption and salvation by
Christ displays the great glory of God. In the cross of Christ we see the glory
of God’s...
·
Love and
mercy.
·
Grace and
truth.
·
Holiness and
justice.
·
Wisdom and
faithfulness.
2. God rejoices in his work of
redemption because it secures the salvation of his people, whom he loved with
an everlasting love.
This is what his heart was set upon
from eternity. This is what he resolved to do before the worlds were made. This
is the end for which he predestinated all things.
3. God rejoices in his work of grace
in the hearts of his people.
His work of grace in us is our beauty,
even the beauty of holiness, which the King greatly desires, by which we are
made all glorious within (Song of Sol. 4:9-10; Ezek. 16:6-14).
·
Imputed
righteousness.
·
Imparted
righteousness.
We
are God’s workmanship (Eph. 2:10), his poem, his masterpieces, in which he
delights. We are the work of his hands, curiously and mysteriously wrought by
him, in which he is glorified (Isa. 60:21).
III. Thirdly, GOD REJOICES
IN HIS DEAR SON, THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.
Without question, God finds joy in his Son as his equal in
the Holy Trinity, because Christ is himself God. But I want you to understand
that God’s joy, pleasure, delight, and satisfaction is in Christ as our
Mediator (Matt. 3:17; 17:5; Col. 1:18-19).
There is only one Man in all the
universe with whom God is absolutely, eternally, and immutably well-pleased.
And that Man is Christ, our Mediator.
A.
God is pleased with Christ’s obedience to Him as our representative to fulfill
all righteousness (Rom. 5:19).
B.
God is pleased with Christ’s blood sacrifice for the satisfaction of his
justice as our Substitute (Isa. 53:9-10).
Illustration: Manoah’s sacrifice - Judges 13:19.
C.
God is pleased with Christ’s intercession as our Advocate (1 John 2:1-2).
D.
And God is pleased with every sinner who trusts Christ as his Savior.
No one can please God by his works. But we who believe
please God by faith (Heb. 11:6). It is not our faith that pleases God, but
Christ the Object of our faith. And God is pleased with us in Christ, our
Mediator.
That brings me to my fourth point. God
is pleased with and rejoices in...
1.
Himself.
2.
All his works.
3.
His dear Son.
IV. And fourthly, THE
LORD OUR GOD REJOICES, DELIGHTS, TAKES PLEASURE AND FINDS COMPLACENCY IN HIS
PEOPLE FOR CHRIST’S SAKE.
That is astonishing. But it is a fact.
God takes pleasure in us, his people! We are his Hephzibah, in whom he
delights. We are his Beulah, to whom he is married (Isa. 62:4-5). Therefore, as
a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so the Lord rejoices over and takes
pleasure in us (Psa. 147:11; 149:4). Imagine that! In the works of the
covenant, God said, “Yea, I will rejoice
over them to do them good” (Jer. 31:41). And he does what he promised. He
rejoices over us because we are united to Christ by faith.
A.
God the Father rejoices in us as his covenant people from eternity.
B.
God the Spirit rejoices in us as the products of his grace.
·
He shows us
Christ.
·
He assures us
of our adoption.
·
He seals to us
the blessings of the covenant.
·
He preserves
and keeps us in grace.
C.
And God the Son rejoices over us as his own peculiar people.
1.
Christ
rejoiced over us before ever the earth was as the delight of his heart (Prov.
8:31).
2.
Christ’s joy
in us sustained him as he endured the ignominy, agony, and death of the cross
as our Substitute (Heb. 12:2).
3.
Christ
rejoices in the conversion of his redeemed ones (Lk. 15:3-5).
Every time a sinner is saved by grace,
it is to the Son of God “the day of the
gladness of his heart” (Song of Sol. 3:11).
4.
And in the last day we shall be to the Lord Jesus Christ, our dear Savior, his
joy and crown of rejoicing (Psa. 45:13-15; Jude 24).
Can you imagine the blessedness I am
talking about? The Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, our Savior, rejoices in
us! Sinners, though we are, being saved by grace, Christ finds in us a constant
cause for joy! He rejoices to...
·
Bestow upon us
the benefits of grace and the glory of heaven.
·
Make us a
prosperous, spiritually prosperous people.
·
Make all
things work together for our good.
Application:
God’s joy in us is full. It is
abundant and overflowing. It is hearty and sincere. And it will remain forever.
Our God has rejoiced in us. He now rejoices in us. And he shall forever rejoice
in us. We are the joy of our God. “The
Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over
thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing” (Zeph.
3:17).
If God so rejoices over us, surely we
ought to rejoice in him (Psa. 35:27-28).
Behold the Lord our God, and know
He is a God of joy!
To praise His name let every saint
His ransomed pow’rs employ.
Our God rejoices in His works
Of providence and grace;
They all reveal His wisdom and
His power and goodness!
Above all else God does rejoice
In Jesus Christ, His Son,
In whom His name is magnified
Who our salvation won!
God’s joy is in His people too,
Because we are in Christ;
Yes, we are pleasing to our God
By faith in Jesus Christ!
Sinners by faith in Christ become
The objects of God’s joy.
Oh, trust the Son of God today,
And please the God of joy!