What God has done for us. And to us.
Enjoying God: Part 1 (3)
But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You;
Let them ever shout for joy, because You defend them;
Let those also who love Your name
Be joyful in You.
For You, O LORD, will bless the righteous;
With favor You will surround him as with a shield. Psalm 5.11, 12
Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. Luke 2.10, 11
For and to
It’s safe to say that many—if not, perhaps, most—of us who believe in Jesus do not enjoy God as consistently as we might. We become harried and stressed because of the obligations and pace of our daily lives. We are distracted and self-interested, and we lack grace to edify others with our speech; instead, we mostly take them for granted and communicate as little as is necessary in any situation. We are seldom ready with a good word or eager to do a good deed. And we are inconsistent in seeking the Lord and His Kingdom.
Of course, this is not how we should live. That we know. But all this merely indicates what Paul understood, that although God has done a good work for us by saving us through faith in Jesus, the law of sin continues to work its harrowing high jinks in our soul (Rom. 7.19-23). And because working out our salvation in fear and trembling is hard (Phil. 2.12), it’s just too easy to settle into a “good enough” salvation and become complacent about the higher peaks and plateaus of life in Christ that Scripture sets before us.
Thus, we fall back on—amid our distractions, disappointments, and duties—what we know God has done for us in Jesus. And we find solace—if only temporary solace—and the strength to keep believing in Him and to content ourselves with a “good enough” salvation.
Good enough to forgive our sins and get us to heaven when we die. But not good enough for us to realize, with increasing continuity and confidence, the greatness of what God has done, not only for us but to us by saving us in Jesus.
For in His salvation, we are not merely forgiven people; we are new people (2 Cor. 5.17).
At work in us
God is at work within us by the Spirit He has sent into our soul. He is working to draw us into His pleasure—into His joy (Phil. 2.13). The scaffolding is up for the reconstruction of our soul and the remaking of our lives. The great Architect of our redemption has written His plans for us in exceeding great and precious promises which are sealed up in Jesus (2 Pet. 1.2-4; 2 Cor. 1.20), and which the Spirit works to unpack within us and express through us for the praise of the glory of God’s grace.
He has given us the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2.16). C’mon, say it: “I have the mind of my Lord Jesus!” We don’t have to be chained to wicked, selfish thoughts; self-doubt and self-condemnation need no longer prevail in our thinking; for we can know the thoughts of God residing and replacing in our mind every wrong belief we’ve ever considered. We can think like Jesus, plan like Jesus, understand the world and everything in it like Jesus, see others as Jesus does, arrange our days like an Emmaus stroll with the King. We have the mind of Christ, people! And there is great joy in realizing more of this great gift day by day.
Further, we have a new heart (Ezek. 36.26, 27). The Spirit has torn out our old, fleshly heart and replaced it with a new heart, a new spirit of our soul, on which He continually and increasingly writes the Law of liberty and love. The Spirit leads us to love God and our neighbors with greater fervor and consistency; to delight in God’s Word and feed on it joyfully; and to desire what is good and edifying for the people around us, and what is beautiful and true for our world. Our heart beats as one with the heart of Jesus! And the heart of Jesus is the heart of joy.
And the Spirit is refurbishing our conscience as well, setting as our new and defining priority to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness in everything we do. Whereas before our defining priority sounded something like, “What’s in it for me?”, now we want nothing more than to glorify God in every detail of our lives and to know His rule of righteousness, peace, and—yes—joy in the Holy Spirit, spreading throughout our Personal Mission Field, affecting everything and everyone and making all things beautiful, good, and new.
This is what God has done to us in making us new creatures. Yes, we are forgiven of our sins, and yes, we are going to heaven when we die; and the more we think about these blessings alone, the more we feel joy welling up within us.
But the more we experience the greatness of our salvation, the all-things-being-made-new-salvation of our soul and life, the more joy springs up before us in unlikely situations, in the midst of troubles and sorrows (which are not inconsistent with joy), as we are pursuing our daily work, amid everyday conversations, provoking us to good works, and emboldening us to talk freely and joyfully about Jesus.
All this spiritual restoration and renewal diffuses molecules of grace throughout our veins and arteries, bones and nerves, into every square centimeter of our bodies, establishing revitalizing grace for good words and good deeds in everything we do, transforming the joy we experience into the joy we express in a joyless world.
Our forever Defender
And what God has done for and to us, He will never revoke! “For I am persuaded,” wrote the apostle Paul (Rom. 8.38, 39), “that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Nothing. No one. No situation or adversity. Nothing. God has saved us, and He will keep and defend and bless us forever, as we read in Psalm 5.
Therefore, let us rejoice! Let us start our day with songs and prayers of joy. Let us thank God throughout the day for what He has done for and to us in our great salvation. Let us rejoice in every breeze or fragrance or joy that wafts across our soul.
And let us encourage our fellow believers, and every lost soul we can, to join us in enjoying God within the newness of His great salvation.
Search the Scriptures
1. Look at 2 Corinthians 5.17-21. How does Paul define our life in God’s salvation? What title do we bear? What is our job description? What’s the goal of all this?
2. Meditate on Psalm 5.11, 12. The psalmist seems to think that salvation leads to joy and joy leads to rejoicing and rejoicing leads to more joy. Explain.
3. What do we mean by salvation is God’s grace to us as well as for us? How would you explain this to a believing friend?
Next steps—Preparation: Assess the state of God’s work in your soul. Where do you need to improve?
T. M. Moore
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
How should joy affect our lives as Christians? Our booklet, Joy to Your World!, can show you how both to know more of the Lord’s joy and to invite others into it as well. Order your copy by clicking here.
Support for Scriptorium comes from our faithful and generous God, who moves our readers to share financially in our work. If this article was helpful, please give Him thanks and praise.
And please prayerfully consider supporting The Fellowship of Ailbe with your prayers and gifts. You can contribute online, via PayPal or Anedot, or by sending a gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, P. O. Box 8213, Essex, VT 05451.
Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from theNew King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
