Realizing God delights in you

The Message That Draws Others To Christ

By Rev. Dan Hutchinson

Have you ever noticed that Jesus says some pretty crazy things?

Sometimes I read the words of Jesus, and I take them in, but I don’t always process what they mean. Take, for example, Luke 15:7. Jesus has just told the parable of the lost sheep that is found by the shepherd. He then states, “Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over the ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.”

Just think about that for a moment. What is it that brings joy to heaven? What is it that causes the sphere of God’s goodness and glory and presence to break forth into songs of praise? What brings delight to the heart of God?

I love the use of the word “joy.” As I read this from Jesus, the image that comes to mind is the smile on my kids’ faces when I come home from work. They are usually out in the back yard at that time of evening, or in the kitchen and living room, but when the door opens and they realize that I have come home, there is a shout of joy followed by the pitter patter of little feet as three little persons come pell-melling into my arms. They rejoice because Dad is home. (Hanna and I talk about how it really is not fair that the parent who is away gets a far better response than the parent who is with them hour after hour!)

What strikes me is that this same joy that a child takes in their parent’s return, the joy that we see in spouses reunited after time apart, in the picture of a soldier returning from serving on the front lines, together with loved ones at last, that all of these, in some small way, give us a glimpse into Heaven’s joy! The delight of heaven is the return of the sinner into the family of God!

Let me offer two thoughts on what this means for us.

First, it means that God delights in you! Each of us here is a sinner saved by grace. There are no exceptions. In this, heaven delights! In you, God rejoices! God rejoices like a father whose son has returned after years away. God rejoices like a child who delights in the family being together.

And my encouragement is to take joy in the One who takes joy in you! Delight yourself in the Lord, says the Psalmist. Commit your way to Him! Take joy in the cross of Christ. Let Christ’s death and resurrection, this incredible gift of love, be your joy, your delight, your strength, your confidence, and your hope.

Yet second, this also means that God delights in the people around you. God’s deep desire is to see sinners returning to the One who made them. God’s deep desire is to heal the broken, to restore the destitute. God’s deep delight is to see strangers becoming children through faith in Christ.

The invitation is for us to delight in the things that delight God. The challenge is to have our hearts and desires shaped and molded so that they look like the heart and desires of our God.

C.S. Lewis puts it this way: “The Church exists for nothing else but to draw men into Christ, to make them little Christs. If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, even the Bible itself, are simply a waste of time.”

This is why we are here. This is why God has placed us in our communities, in our places of work...we are here to be His witnesses. We are here to draw people into Christ. We are here to invite others to know and step into the joy of heaven! This is the holy privilege of the church.

I am honored and blessed to pursue this calling together.