As we get older, weathered by time, there is a growing temptation to embrace bitterness and regret as we’re slowly weighed down by life’s disappointments. We all come into the game with expectations, and the way life works, it seems that typically things don’t go the way we thought they would. The words of Jesus, “Remember your first love,” can haunt us like the Ghost of Christmas Past chasing down Ebenezer Scrooge.

We know if we’ve grown a little cold. We don’t feel as light as we used to. Joy used to come easily. We feel selfish at times. Like the world owes us a little something. We feel like we’ve given and given and given, and where is the return? We can easily forget that our full reward is in a world yet to come. 

But where did joy originally come from? How did we feel so light when we were young? It will be good for us to remember our foundation. To remember the foundation of Jesus. Why was Jesus anointed with the oil of gladness (Hebrews 1:9)? To discover this, we remember the words that were spoken through a torn open heaven at the Jordan River:

“You are my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.” (Mark 1:11)

Are these words for Jesus alone? Or does Jesus share these words with us? The way I understand the gospel is that we are “in Christ.” And He came to this world to share His relationship with the Father with us. “You sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me” (John 17:23). 

The Father loves us even as He loves Jesus. The pleasure and delight that the Father feels towards the eternal Son is the same happiness He feels over you. Don’t believe me? Test it out. Ask the Father how He feels about you. Get past all your own stuff, all your own mistakes, confusion, and your own disappointment with yourself. You’ll find that the Father is holy. He’s not like you. His joy is unstoppable. His emotions don’t go up and down like yours do.

His love for you has never changed. His pleasure over you was always sourced in His own trinitarian nature of happiness. God is a happy God and His happiness overflows toward the creatures He made. And so, the baptism of Jesus wasn’t merely the only begotten Son’s foundation. It was your foundation, too. You are His beloved son or daughter in whom He is well pleased. And if you are having a hard time receiving the Father’s pleasure as easily and freely as Jesus did, you might not totally understand the nature of the gospel. 

And that’s okay. Let me help you…

The love, joy, and pleasure of God comes to you freely through the person and work of Christ; not through what you can do or can’t do. Yes, even after years and years of walking with God, the gospel remains the same. He is happy with you through His Son Jesus. That’s real. You are the work of His hands and He is pleased with His own artistic creation: you. 

This isn’t some new-age/self-centered false gospel. This is the good news of the New Testament. God so loved the world that He gave His only Son. The nature of God is to give Himself to you freely, even in your weakness. 

So I encourage you today, remember your foundation. Remember that the God of the universe freely smiles over you today. Not because of what you have or haven’t done. But because of His own gloriously generous and happy nature. If you’re feeling peace as you read this, it’s because you might be hearing the good news for the first time in a while. So let’s remind each other of this good news as often as we can. 

People are downcast and feel like failures. Such are the heads Jesus came to lift up. When our eyes look up, we see the joy of Jesus shining through His smiling teeth. We feel the healing power of His love. And that’s how hearts come alive. That’s how hearts become loyal to Him. Because of His eternal goodness.

Selah.