The Joy of the Father
The Joy of Heaven
The Bible is very clear that there is Joy in heaven when a sinner repents. This is indeed a strange statement for it may imply emotionally heaven is gloomy until when one repents. No, God does not grow more joyful. We use human language to try to describe Gods actions. Don’t be mistaken heaven is a place of permanent Joy and God rejoices in all his works. Heaven rejoices in the works of God’s Grace; it rejoices that the Grace delivered in Jesus for salvation has been fully utilized by one who has repented.
Yet we cannot run away from the words used in this three parables: The Shepherd, the Woman and the Father are extremely happy. And states that this is how it happens heaven when the lost are found. What then is the joy of God in this regard?
- It is a Joy of Manifested Mercy
- The story of the three lost things shows the inability of human beings to make themselves good enough to make it into Gods family
- Human beings are broken species of life. Everyone born of a woman has been born and raised in Sin
- The only remedy is for the fallen humanity is the Mercy and Grace of God changes human destiny
- Divine Mercy is described as the expression of compassion and kindness in withholding punishment to one who deserves it.
- God “delights in mercy” and in every opportunity for its exercise.
- Apostle Selman states
- Any action taken motivated by compassion is called Mercy
- Mercy is compassionate treatment of those in distress; to show care and provide relief; to refrain from harming or punishing an offender
- Mercy is the expression of forgiveness and withholding punishment
- Mercy is also alleviating pain and providing relief from suffering
- Mic 7:18 Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love.
- Mercy is his name. His Character is that he is a merciful God.
- Psa 145:8 The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
- Psa 145:9 The LORD is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made.
- Psa 103:8 The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
- Exo 34:6 The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,
- Mercy anchors you in Christ so that you become the expression of His expectation regardless of your humanity (Selman)
- It is Joy of Recovered Possession
- Man was made for God but wandered away from God.
- Every repentance is the act of the wanderer being brought to the owner.
- If you notice the Father does not talk about the form or nature of the wanderer because only mercy can remedy that
- The Joy is founded on the fact that his lost possession has been found
- Therefore, the joy is the the repairing of the injury, the renewal of what has been defaced, the healing of the wounded
- When the Father looks at the change, he does so with delight and calls the whole universe to rejoice with him
- This is rejoicing in the Good that was not expected and underserving. — in delivering the undeserving with mercy the love of God shines out so brightly
- This is Divine Joy over Repenting Sinners that are repenting
- It is Joy Rooted in His Goodness
- Fall of human beings is so pervasive such that everyone born of a Woman is born and raised with this terrible weakness
- Therefore, human beings by themselves have no capacity to raise themselves up
- The nature of Man is that is intrinsically sinful
- The Joy of the Father is in the fact that he does not only have the capacity of delivering Mercy but he crowns the one who is now forgiven with His blessings
- He does not only pardon but he crowns with blessings.
- God’s nature is that He is good and everything he does is good
- The Father declares that put a Rob of Righteousness on Him; put a Ring of Sonship on him and give him Sandals declaring him not to be slave