Good Pleasure part 3
Have you ever the phrase, "A happy wife equals a happy life"? Well, in this case, when we're talking about a happy God, it's more "Happy kids equal a happy heavenly Father." I cannot, for the life of me, figure out why people are so interested in an angry, distant, taskmaster of a God who is always just waiting for us to mess up so He can get us. That sounds horrible to me. And it doesn't line up with Scripture either. Even when people talk about the "Old Covenant" God... guys... He went to great lengths to set up a system of animal sacrifice in order to keep His people OUT of trouble. And then, you know, He gave His only begotten Son. The true lamb of God that took away the sin of the world. He didn't want us to keep sinning, and keep needing it to be covered with the blood. He wanted the blood to run through OUR veins. He wanted us to experience HIS life. Look at 1 John 3:9, "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God." That, to me, kind of settles the "sin issue." Which is why I wrote a book called "The Sin Issue" (availabe now on amazon.com). We need to stop struggling with things that Jesus already dealt with. He took care of it so we don't have to mess with it. And you can bet that's a big part of why He's so happy. You can bet taking away the sin (unbelief) of the world by giving us something (someONE, Himself, Love) to believe in is a big part of His good pleasure. No true father wants to see his children struggle. I always tell my son, "Do your very best, and then if you need it, I'll help you." And that's only because "in the natural" it's important to have a bit of self-sufficiency. I want him to be able to thrive in his life. Our heavenly Father takes it even a step further. He wants us to call on Him in EVERYTHING. He wants us to do EVERYTHING in conjunction with Him. 1 Corinthians 3:9 says it like this, "For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building." Or, in the Amplified Bible, "For we are fellow workmen (joint promoters, laborers together) with and for God; you are God's garden and vineyard and field under cultivation, [you are] God's building." Co-laborers with Christ. We don't have to do anything--ANYTHING--on our own. And, in fact, we shouldn't. It's His good pleasure to give us the Kingdom. He did that. Accomplished His mission. He always wanted to be our God and for us to be His people. That's how it is now, because of the cross. That's where we're at today. IN the Kingdom, because we ARE the Kingdom. Working hand in hand with God. Letting God work with OUR hands. Not trying to be like Him, but letting Him be Himself in us, and through us, and as us. And in that way, being OUR true selves! If you want to experience Jesus's abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of love... you have to trust in Him. You have to let Him live His own life in you. Nobody can live Jesus's life except Jesus. When He does it in us, we can experience and enjoy it. We can experience His good pleasure--you are His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. We can be as happy as He is!