Did you know that God
commands us to be glad?
"Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires
of your heart." (Psalm 37:4)
1) God created us for his
glory
"Bring my sons
from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth,... whom I
created for my glory" (Isaiah 43:6-7)
God made us to magnify his
greatness - the way telescopes magnify stars. He created us to put his
goodness and truth and beauty and wisdom and justice on display. The
greatest display of God's glory comes from deep delight in all that he
is. This means that God gets the praise and we get the pleasure. God
created us so that he is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied
in him.
2) Every human should live
for God's glory
"So whether you
eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God"
(1 Corinthians 10:31).
If God made us for his
glory, it is clear that we should live for his glory. Our duty comes
from his design. So our first obligation is to show God's value by being
satisfied with all that he is for us. This is the essence of loving God
(Matthew 22:37) and trusting him (1 John 5:3-4) and being thankful to
him (Psalm 100:2-4) It is the root of all true obedience, especially
loving others (Colossians 1:4-5).
3) All of us have failed to
glorify God as we should
"All have sinned
and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).
What does it mean to
"fall short of the glory of God?" It means that none of us has
trusted and treasured God the way we should. We have not been satisfied
with his greatness and walked in his ways. We have sought our
satisfaction in other things, and treated them as more valuable than
God, which is the essence of idolatry (Romans 1:21-23). Since sin came
into the world we have all been deeply resistant to having God as our
all-satisfying treasure (Ephesians 2:3). This is an appalling offense to
the greatness of God (Jeremiah 2:12-13).
4) All of us are subject to
God's just condemnation
"The wages of sin
is death..." (Romans 6:23).
We have all belittled the
glory of God. How? By preferring other things above him. By our
ingratitude, distrust and disobedience. So God is just in shutting us
out from the enjoyment of his glory forever. "They will suffer the
punishment of eternal destruction and exclusion from the presence of the
Lord and from the glory of his might" (2 Thessalonians 1:9).
The word "hell" is
used in the New Testament twelve times - eleven times by Jesus himself.
It is not a myth created by dismal and angry preachers. It is a solemn
warning from the Son of God who died to deliver sinners from its curse.
We ignore it at great risk.
If the Bible stopped here in
its analysis of the human condition, we would be doomed to a hopeless
future. However, this is not where it stops...
5) God sent his only son
Jesus to provide eternal life and joy
"Here is a
trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came
into the world to save sinners..." (1 Timothy 1:15)
The good news is that Christ
died for sinners like us. And he rose physically from the dead to
validate the saving power of his death and to open the gates of eternal
life and joy (1 Corinthians 15:20). This means God can acquit guilty
sinners and still be just (Romans 3:25-26). "For Christ died for
sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring us to
God" (1 Peter 3:18). Coming home to God is where all deep and
lasting satisfaction is found.
6) The benefits purchased
by the death of Christ belong to those who repent and trust him
"Repent, then, and
turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out" (Acts 3:19).
"Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved" (Acts
16:31).
"Repent" means to
turn from all the deceitful promises of sin. "Faith" means
being satisfied with all that God promises to be for us in Jesus.
"He who believes in me," Jesus says, "shall never
thirst" (John 6:35). We do not earn our salvation. We cannot merit
it (Romans 4:4-5). It is by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). It is
a free gift (Romans 3:24). We will have it if we cherish it above all
things (Matthew 13:44). When we do that, God's aim in creation is
accomplished: He is glorified in us and we are satisfied in him -
forever.
Does this make sense to
you?
Do you desire the kind of
gladness that comes from being satisfied with all that God is for you in
Jesus? If so, then God is at work in your life.
What should you do?
Turn from the deceitful
promises of sin. Call upon Jesus to save you from the guilt and
punishment and bondage. "All who call upon the name of the Lord
will be saved" (Romans 10:13). Start banking your hope on all that
God is for you in Jesus. Break the power of sin's promises by faith in
the superior satisfaction of God's promises. Begin reading the Bible to
find his precious and very great promises, which can set you free (2
Peter 1:3-4). Find a Bible-believing church and begin to worship and
grow together with other people who treasure Christ above all things
(Philippians 3:7).
The best news in the world
is that there is no necessary conflict between our happiness and God's
holiness. Being satisfied with all that God is for us in Jesus magnifies
him as a great Treasure.
"You have made
known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your
presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand." (Psalm
16:11)
Scriptures References
Jesus replied: "`Love
the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with
all your mind.'" (Matthew 22:37)
This is love for God: to
obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone
born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome
the world, even our faith. (1 John 5:3-4)
Worship the LORD with
gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the LORD is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his [1]; we are his people, the sheep
of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with
praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. (Psalms 100:2-4)
...because we have heard of
your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the
saints—the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up
for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of
truth, the gospel... (Colossians 1:4-5)
For although they knew God,
they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their
thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although
they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of
the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and
animals and reptiles. (Romans 1:21-23)
All of us also lived among
them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and
following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature
objects of wrath. (Ephesians 2:3)
Be appalled at this, O
heavens, and shudder with great horror," declares the LORD.
"My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the
spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns
that cannot hold water. (Jeremiah 2:12-13)
But Christ has indeed been
raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
(1 Corinthians 15:20)
God presented him as a
sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to
demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins
committed beforehand unpunished—he did it to demonstrate his justice
at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those
who have faith in Jesus. (Romans 3:25-26)
Now when a man works, his
wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. However,
to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked,
his faith is credited as righteousness. (Romans 4:4-5)
For it is by grace you have
been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift
of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
and are justified freely by
his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. (Romans
3:24)
"The kingdom of heaven
is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it
again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that
field. (Matthew 13:44)
His divine power has given
us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of
him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has
given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you
may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the
world caused by evil desires. (2 Peter 1:3-4)
But whatever was to my
profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. (Philippians 3:7)
Appearances of the word
"hell" in the New Testament
But I tell you that anyone
who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone
who says to his brother, `Raca,' is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But
anyone who says, `You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell.
(Matthew 5:22 Jesus speaking)
If your right eye causes you
to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one
part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.
(Matthew 5:29 Jesus speaking)
And if your right hand
causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to
lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.
(Matthew 5:30 Jesus speaking)
Do not be afraid of those
who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One
who can destroy both soul and body in hell. (Matthew 10:28 Jesus
speaking)
And if your eye causes you
to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter
life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of
hell. (Matthew 18:9 Jesus speaking)
"Woe to you, teachers
of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea
to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as
much a son of hell as you are. (Matthew 23:15 Jesus speaking)
"You snakes! You brood
of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? (Matthew 23:33
Jesus speaking)
If your hand causes you to
sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two
hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. (Mark 9:43 Jesus
speaking)
And if your foot causes you
to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to
have two feet and be thrown into hell. (Mark 9:45 Jesus speaking)
And if your eye causes you
to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God
with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, (Mark 9:47
Jesus speaking)
But I will show you whom you
should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to
throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. (Luke 12:5 Jesus
speaking)
In hell, where he was in
torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his
side. (Luke 16:23 Jesus speaking)
The tongue also is a fire, a
world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person,
sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by
hell. (James 3:6 James speaking).
For if God did not spare
angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy
dungeons to be held for judgment; (2 Peter 2:4 Peter speaking)
