I AM HIS JOY

I listened to a great talk the other day. It's called "The Joy of God" by David Arcos. I found it off the Mosaic podcast (Erwin McManus' church). Anyway, David Arcos made many good points in his super encouraging talk, but the one thing that stuck out at me the most was his explanation of Hebrews 12:2

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

David Arcos suggested that this joy that motivated Christ was His love for us people. You and me. Because Jesus delighted so much in us, it gave Him so much joy that He had the strength to endure the cross. We give Him that much joy. It's like saying,

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for [insert your name here] set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

I'd always interpreted that verse to mean that Jesus was so looking forward to being reunited with the Father that He endured the cross. But I now realize that's a skewed perspective. As if the work of redemption was just a piece of dirty work that needed to get done, and then Jesus could enjoy Himself with His Father and the Holy Spirit forever. Those He would save were merely beneficiaries of His act of mercy and they'd just show up in heaven and join them one day. That's not His view of us though. He came out of love, not duty.

The Trinity is absolutely positively head-over-heels in love with US! We are His joy.

I am His joy.

Wow.