ATTN: Here’s my aim on Sunday mornings through the preaching of the word. Imagine you are by a river and you see a person floating down the river asking desperately for help. You are a good swimmer and so you go and grab this person by the neck and rescue this person. But a few minutes later you see another person floating down the river again drowning. You again jump into the water to save this person. But soon another person is found in the water and this happens again and again. Now, what should occur to you? There is something or somebody up the river that is causing these people to fall into the river and float down the river. So, you need to go upstream and find out what’s causing this. And if there is indeed an evil person that is throwing people down the river, you need to deal with that person who is the source of the problem.

That is what we try to do with our gospel messages. It may seem like the topics we choose to talk about on Sundays are irrelevant to our immediate lives, but we are really trying to get to the source of the problem and that is not seeing or loving Christ. Now, I do think it’s totally valid and we also do it time to time dealing with topics like: 5 ways to improve your marriage, 7 ways to get financial stability, or 6 ways on how to have a better self-image or 10 things you can do to deal with loneliness and singleness. But if we helped you improve your circumstances but did not get to the very source of these problems, then we have done you disservice. At As One, we believe every problem in our lives is caused by sin, and technique or know-how is not ultimately going to solve our sin problem. Only Christ preached through the gospel could reverse the curse called sin.

And the focus of the book of Galatians is to bring the Galatians back to becoming god-reliant, changed by the gospel rather than becoming self-reliant, changed by the law. And last week, we said that the key to this kind of change is faith. Faith is believing and receiving rather than earning and working. But what motivates our faith? What will keep us in the faith in the long run? V. 13-14, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us – for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree’ – so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.” What Paul is trying infuse into the heart of Galatians is joy. Joy of being forgiven by Christ, joy of being freed by Jesus, joy of having eternal life in Jesus, and therefore living for Jesus not to earn His love but because we find joy in Him.

ILL: Whenever I go away for an extended period of time and come home, my kids jump into my arms and hug and kiss me. Now, what if at that moment I asked them why they are doing that, and this is what they said: “Well, it is our duty to do that since you provide for us and buy us gifts.” Or “Well, we think you deserve it since you are our father and the Bible says we are to honor you.” Wrong answers. What is the answer I want to hear? “We are just happy to see you, daddy!” In other words, they find joy in me. That is what I want to hear. I believe that is the way God wants us to be with Him. We go to Him in worship and daily devotional time not out of duty or even because He deserves it but because we delight in Him. Ps. 16:11, “11You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”

Today, I just want to make two statements that are perhaps counterintuitive, but I believe biblical about joy since it is the motivation to stay in faith. 1. Christians are happier than being anything else. 2. God desires what we desire more than us.

1. If you are a Christian, you are happier than being anything else.

Being a Christian means that we have found the great treasure and in joy, we gladly give up anything else in order to keep the source of joy which is Christ. Matt 13:44, “44“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”

            So often, living the Christian life seems to be an exercise of will-power. We are told to deny ourselves, restrain ourselves from the evil things of the world. “See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.” Christian life is a bunch of don’ts! But what joy comes from not doing a bunch of things? Imagine gritting our teeth and saying to Christ, “It brings me no joy to live the Christian life, but because I want to go to heaven in the end, I will keep my faith and do good and be good. But what I really want to do is live for the world.” That is not how Jesus described the Christian life. “In his joy” he went and sold all that he had because he knew what he was getting was so much more and better than what he was letting go! He was letting go of a fake pearl necklace for the real one. He saw Christ and joy he could have in him and therefore, he gladly let go of everything else in order to have that Christ.

I’ve heard from especially the young people that one reason that they hesitate in becoming a Christian is that once they become a Christian, their life will become boring. As Christians, they can’t do the kind of things that brought them joy – like sleeping around, drinking parties, multiple partners, dirty jokes, etc. In other words, becoming a Christian, they will be less happier than staying an atheist. If they become a Christian, then life will be dull, boring, and miserable, but that’s the price you pay for getting into heaven, so I guess it’s worth it in the end…

But that is emphatically not the Christian life the Bible describes. Jesus said, “if any man would come after me, he must deny himself, take up the cross daily, and follow me.” But follow Him where? Where was He going? He was going to the Father – the eternal home where joy abounds. Right before Jesus was captured, He said, “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” John 15:11

Now, you may argue, “But that is still joy in the future. Yes, long time from now, when you are dead, you will be in heaven and there you will have joy, but here on earth, what joy is there?” Two responses to that: 1) Human beings are such that we get happy now when we know we will be happier in the future. Would it make a difference on your mood if you knew that you had $20 million waiting to be deposited into your account 20 years from now? If that money was guaranteed, would that not change your mood even today even though nothing would change financially right now? Yes. It’s called hope – Hope in future grace. Hope makes us happier. 2) Not only are Christians happier because of the future grace, but also because of the present praise. What I mean by that is that we know who to give praise to when we are a part of something great or something ecstatic. Our joy gets complete when we express it especially to the one who is the source of it. For example, last Wednesday, I was the watching the World Series game 7 between the cubs and the Indians. It was a great game. I am not a fan of either team, but I appreciate great games. It was a nail biter to the end and when the Cubs finally won after a 108 year drought, I was thanking God. why? Because I believe it was God who scripted it. If He doesn’t not let a single bird fall from the air, of grow the lilies of the field that no human will ever see, or have the nver number of hair numbered on our heads, then I know that where that baseball goes in the sovereign control of God. Now, depending on your theology, you might not believe that, but even if you don’t believe that you can thank God for a good athletic game or a great piece of music and it will enhance your joy. Our joy gets complete when we express it

2. God desires what we desire more than us.

Let me be blunt. God wants us to be sexually satisfied more than us. God wants us to be satisfied by food more than us. God wants us to be happy! Infinitely happy! God is the happiest being there is. Ps 16:11, in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” In joy, God created the world. In joy, God created human beings to share His joy because joy only increases as you have more beings rejoicing in the same thing – the reason why we go to the ball games to scream together with ten thousand others!

It is wrong to think Christianity is about being solemn, hushed, gray-toned, and boring as long as we are holy. Someone recently asked me if I still stand by my statement as weddings, “God wants you to be holy rather than happy.” I don’t stand by that statement any more. Because I realize that they are the same thing. Being holy is being happy. The holier we are, the happier we are. Being holy simply means becoming like God. But how was God? How did Jesus paint holiness? By supplying more wine at a wedding so that the wedding party would go on! By killing a calf and having a feast because a sinner has returned home! And ending the very last book of the Bible with the marriage feast of the Lamb where food and wine will never run out! And Paul has picked up on this. He says not to become slaves to traditions and solemn gatherings to make them seem holy when their hearts are not in it. But rather, receive, trust, and rejoice in the God who saved them and made them His children even though they didn’t deserve it.

So, God wants us to be happy. Then, why does the Bible tell us to refrain from sexual immoralities, lewd jokes, gossipping, desiring to be rich, or even keeping a wrong company? Because God wants us to be happy. If we did those things, God knows that we won’t be happy for long. It’s the same reason why we tell our girls to brush their teeth when we come home from a long trip and all they want to do is go straight to bed. We want them keep their teeth for a long time so that they can enjoy many good food for a long time. In other words, we want them to be happy.

God wants us to have intimacy and companionship with our spouse and that is why He is against adultery.

God wants our future marriage to be special and ecstatic and that is why He is against fornication – single people to sleep around because if they sleep around before they get married, nothing will stop them from sleeping around after they get married.

God wants us be about the community and be others-focused because that is when our understanding of God is increased along with our joy because God is a community – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

= But one thing I want us to know is that really the source of joy is in God. Joy will flow through all these means – what I call means of grace – but if we try to find joy in them, we will eventually be disappointed. We must find the source of joy, which is God. In other words, our source of joy is not our children. God’s joy flows through them but they are not the source.

What are some means of grace (where we find joy?)

1. the word of God. This tells us directly about God, the source of our joy.

We make a mockery out of Jesus’ sacrifice for us if we try to pay for it by our good works. The only right way to respond is to rejoice in it, be grateful and live our lives worthy of the sacrifice that was made. If I sacrificed my daughter’s life to save you, the worst insult is for you to say, “Let me pay you back for your daughter’s life. How much will be enough for you? ” The only right response is, “Thank you. Thank you. I did not deserve your daughter’s life. But I’m going to live my life worthy of your daughter’s death. I won’t waste it. I will make you proud.”

1. People. (Relationships. Love)

C.Nature. (God’s handy work. God is the artist)

1. Esthetics (Art, music. movies)

Trace joy through these means back to God!