Do you have joy in your heart? Are you really happy? A true Christian should be one of the happiest people in the world. But if a Christian isn’t happy, then the next question to ask would be, “What’s the matter with his religion?” Many Seventh-day Adventists have left worldly things behind, but have failed to acquire those things which are spiritually necessary to take their place.
Many people do not know why man was created; however, Christ’s Object Lessons tell us why.
“Through disobedience to God, Adam and Eve had lost Eden, and because of sin the whole earth was cursed. But if God’s people followed His instruction, their land would be restored to fertility and beauty. … As in obedience to His natural laws the earth should produce its treasures, so in obedience to His moral law the hearts of the people were to reflect the attributes of His character. Even the heathen would recognize the superiority of those who served and worshiped the living God.
“ ‘Behold,’ said Moses, ‘I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the Lord my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it. Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.” …’ ” Deuteronomy 4:4–6.
“The children of Israel were to occupy all the territory which God appointed them. Those nations that rejected the worship and service of the true God were to be dispossessed. But it was God’s purpose that by the revelation of His character through Israel men should be drawn unto Him. To all the world the gospel invitation was to be given. Through the teaching of the sacrificial service Christ was to be uplifted before the nations, and all who would look unto Him should live. …
“God desired to bring all peoples under His merciful rule.” Now notice the next two sentences: “He desired that the earth should be filled with joy and peace. He created man for happiness, and He longs to fill human hearts with the peace of heaven.” Op. Cit., 289, 290
Man was created for happiness.
The framers of the Constitution of the United States were not ignorant when they determined that everyone has the right to pursue happiness. The question is, How can happiness be successfully pursued? The religion of Christ produces the greatest joy that human beings can experience, and if we do not have happiness, there is something wrong with our religion.
So, where do we go to find the greatest happiness?
“We must fall upon the Rock and be broken before we can be uplifted in Christ. Self must be dethroned, pride must be humbled, if we would know the glory of the spiritual kingdom. The Jews would not accept the honor that is reached through humiliation. Therefore, they would not receive their Redeemer. He was a sign that was spoken against. …
“In the light of the Saviour’s life, the hearts of all, even from the Creator to the prince of darkness, are revealed. Satan has represented God as selfish and oppressive, as claiming all, and giving nothing, as requiring the service of His creatures for His own glory, and making no sacrifice for their good. But the gift of Christ reveals the Father’s heart. It testifies that the thoughts of God toward us are ‘thoughts of peace, and not of evil.’ Jeremiah 29:11. It declares that while God’s hatred of sin is as strong as death, His love for the sinner is stronger than death. Having undertaken our redemption, He will spare nothing, however dear, which is necessary to the completion of His work. No truth essential to our salvation is withheld, no miracle of mercy is neglected, no divine agency is left unemployed. Favor is heaped upon favor, gift upon gift. The whole treasury of heaven is open to those He seeks to save. Having collected the riches of the universe, and laid open the resources of infinite power, He gives them all into the hands of Christ, and says, All these are for man. Use these gifts to convince him that there is no love greater than Mine in earth or heaven. His greatest happiness will be found in loving Me.” The Desire of Ages, 57
Even in this world, most people recognize that there is no happiness without love. Until you have a loving relationship with your Creator, you will never experience the greatest happiness that you can enjoy. So, if you do not have happiness, you must wonder what your relationship with your Creator is.
Our Creator is the only source of true joy and happiness. You will not have true joy or happiness if you are not connected to Him. “You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Psalm 16:11. Before they sinned, Adam and Eve knew that their relationship with Jesus Christ was the source of their joy and happiness. But fallen man is deceived, believing that Adam’s joy was in Eve and Eve’s joy was in Adam.
“The sacrifice demanded by their transgression revealed to Adam and Eve the sacred character of the law of God; and they saw, as they had never seen before, the guilt of sin and its dire results. In their remorse and anguish they pleaded that the penalty might not fall upon Him whose love had been the source of all their joy; rather let it descend upon them and their posterity.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 66
In the book Confrontation, we read the account of how the devil and the angels who followed him were cast out of heaven. Mrs. White explains that being in charge of the angels outside of heaven was completely different than being in charge of them inside of heaven, and the devil found that he had lost his joy, and the angels had lost their joy as well. With their joy gone, there was only contention and bitterness as they fought among themselves. They discovered the hard way the real source of joy, and that they no longer had access to it.
Today, many people are empty, searching for something they can’t see, but know they must have. To prevent them from finding the true source of joy, the devil keeps them totally occupied with worldly things that are of no value to the soul. Some will find relief from this emptiness in the things of this world, but these things are spiritually empty, and being excited is not the same as being happy.
To be truly happy, you need to know the source of happiness and where to find it. There is a saying that “Home is wherever your mother is.” Our spiritual home—heaven—is wherever Jesus is. Inspiration tells us, “It was heaven to be in His presence.” The Ministry of Healing, 18. What makes heaven so heavenly? Jesus is there.
Before the disciples knew Jesus, they thought of heaven as a place somewhere in the sky beyond their sight, but after He ascended to heaven, “What a source of joy to the disciples to know that they had such a Friend in heaven to plead in their behalf! Through the visible ascension of Christ all their views and contemplation of heaven are changed. Their minds had formerly dwelt upon it as a region of unlimited space, tenanted by spirits without substance. Now heaven was connected with the thought of Jesus, whom they had loved and reverenced above all others, with whom they had conversed and journeyed, whom they had handled, even in His resurrected body, who had spoken hope and comfort to their hearts, and who, while the words were upon His lips, had been taken up before their eyes, the tones of His voice coming back to them as the cloudy chariot of angels received Him: ‘Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.’
“Heaven could no longer appear to them as an indefinite, incomprehensible space, filled with intangible spirits. They now looked upon it as their future home, where mansions were being prepared for them by their loving Redeemer. Prayer was clothed with a new interest, since it was a communion with our Saviour. With new and thrilling emotions and a firm confidence that their prayer would be answered, they gathered in the upper chamber to offer their petitions and to claim the promise of the Saviour, who had said, ‘Ask, and ye shall receive.’ ” Heaven, 67, 68
Heaven is real because Jesus is real and wherever Jesus is will be heaven.
The good news—is a little fuzzy.
Jesus had died, was resurrected, and had ascended to heaven to minister before the Father on our behalf. Now, the disciples had good news to proclaim—the gospel of Jesus Christ. They talked of Jesus all the time, so much so that the people began to call them Christians. They preached that Christ was the Messiah, having come in human form to save them from their sinfulness. They preached of His humiliation and of the wicked hands that took Him and crucified Him; of how He had risen from the grave and ascended into heaven. They told the people that He was standing in the presence of God as man’s advocate and that He would soon come again with power and great glory to take His people out of this world to the place He had prepared for them. This gospel turned the world upside down, and the world and those in it have not been the same since.
The Bible describes Jesus as:
- The Chiefest among ten thousand (Song of Solomon 5:10)
- Altogether lovely (Song of Solomon 5:16)
- The Source of all true pleasure and satisfaction (1 Corinthians 8:6)
- The Giver of every good and perfect gift (James 1:17)
- The Author of every blessing (Proverbs 10:22; Ezekiel 34:26; Numbers 6:24–26)
- The One in whom our hope of eternal life is centered (John 10:28-30; 1John 5:11; John 3:16)
- The One who alone can cure the disease of sin and transform the character of man (1John 3:8; James 4:12; 1 John 1:9)
The disciples understood what Adam and Eve had understood at the beginning. They understood that Jesus is the real source of joy and happiness. But sadly, there is so much unhappiness in the lives of so many people because they do not know the Source of happiness; they do not know where to find Him, therefore, they have no connection with Him.
Not only do people have a fuzzy idea about the love of our Lord and Saviour, but they also have an indistinct and deluded idea about God the Father. Satan has been working for millennia to deceive people into thinking that Jesus isn’t real, or perhaps He might have been a good man but not our Saviour. And he plants doubt into the minds of men about God’s true character. Instead, he mixes his own evil attributes with God’s righteous ones, and as a result, man becomes so mixed up that he turns away from God and looks to the devil to be his benefactor. But, praise God, we have been given the words of Inspiration that prove just how false this idea is.
“Many conceive of the Christian’s God as a being whose attribute is stern justice—one who is a severe judge, a harsh, exacting creditor. The Creator has been pictured as a being who is watching with a jealous eye to discern the errors and mistakes of men, that He may visit judgment upon them. In the minds of thousands, love and sympathy and tenderness are associated with the character of Christ, while God is regarded as the law-giver, inflexible, arbitrary, devoid of sympathy for the beings He has made.
“Never was there a greater error. Nature and revelation alike testify of God’s love. It is from Him that we receive every good gift. He is the source of life, of wisdom, and of joy. …
“It is transgression of God’s law that has brought woe and death. … God made man perfect and holy and happy; and the fair earth, as it came from the Creator’s hand, bore no blight of decay nor shadow of the curse. … God cursed the ground for man’s sake. … The trials that make his life one of toil and care, were appointed for his good, as a part of the training needful in God’s plan for his uplifting from the ruin and degradation.” Bible Training School, November 1, 1908
Helping others.
There is a way, available to every son and daughter of Adam, to have greater joy in this life than anything the devil can offer. Astonishingly, very few Christians have a clear understanding of this.
“Whoever succors the poor, or sympathizes with the afflicted and oppressed, or befriends the orphan, is brought into closer relationship with the pitying Saviour. He who is the Source of all blessing, has granted to men the privilege of becoming partakers of the divine nature, and in their turn, of diffusing blessings to their fellowmen. This is the highest honor, the greatest joy, which it is possible for God to bestow upon men. Those who thus become participants in labors of love are brought nearest to their Redeemer.” The Home Missionary, July 1, 1891
Only by being a blessing to our fellowmen are we able to experience the great joy that God wishes to give His children.
“He who refuses to become a laborer together with God, the man who for the sake of selfish indulgence ignores the wants of his fellowmen, is withholding from himself the richest blessings that God could give him.” Ibid.
Bliss or dissatisfaction.
I have met many dissatisfied people. Without sin, there would never have been an unhappy person. All dissatisfaction and unhappiness are a consequence of sin. Before sin entered the world, there was no unhappiness in the garden of Eden. A literal translation of the word Eden means garden of delight and bliss. There was constant joy and happiness within its boundary branches, but sin brought problems to all.
However, in spite of sin, God shows His people that if they will but follow Him, they will find joy, happiness, and satisfaction.
“In the arrangements for the education of the chosen people, it is made manifest that a life centered in God is a life of completeness. Every want He has implanted, He provides to satisfy; every faculty imparted, He seeks to develop.” Education, 41
God has promised completeness to every Christian. The devil seeks to engender doubt regarding this promise. He brings terrible problems and troubles that snatch away our happiness. But God has promised that He will provide whatever we need to endure these experiences. He reminds us that we can have faith in Him, and that even if following Jesus may cost us worldly things, following Him will secure us a place that will abound in joy and happiness forever.
“Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life.” Matthew 19:29
“Whatever crosses they [God’s people] have been called to bear, whatever losses they have sustained, whatever persecution they have suffered, even to the loss of their temporal life, the children of God are amply recompensed.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 180
The God we serve is a wonderful God. We may lose everything in this life, just as Job did, but God will restore happiness and satisfaction to us throughout eternity that nothing in this world can compare to. If you get to know Him, you will love Him.
We need to know Christ.
The reason that people are sad is because they don’t know Jesus or His Father.
“The life in which the fear of the Lord is cherished will not be a life of sadness and gloom. It is the absence of Christ that makes the countenance sad, and the life a pilgrimage of sighs.” Ibid., 162
“When the light of heaven shines upon the human agent, his countenance will express the joy of the Lord within. It is the absence of Christ from the soul that makes people sad and of a doubtful mind.” The Seventh-day Adventist Commentary, Vol. 5, 1144
A short time before He was to be crucified, Jesus told His disciples that He would soon be going away and that this would bring them great sorrow. However, they would see Him again, filling their hearts with joy and happiness no one could take away. It was their relationship with Christ that caused the disciples to be both sorrowful and later joyful.
God has great plans for our happiness.
This world is not our home, yet God tells us we have a specific work to accomplish here. Our future will be in heaven. No matter what the troubles and difficulties of this life may be, it is God’s plan that we will have an eternity to contemplate a place filled with great joy and happiness.
A few facts about heaven.
- The Bible says, “They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat. … My elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.” Isaiah 65:21, 22. We will have work to do in heaven and will find pleasure in doing it.
- “I shall know just as I also am known.” 1 Corinthians 13:12, last part. “The loves and sympathies that God has planted in the soul will find truest and sweetest exercise.” Education, 306
- Jesus is there. Heaven is not so much a place as an atmosphere. Heaven is where Jesus is. If Jesus is in our hearts, we are filled with a heavenly atmosphere.
- “In our life here, earthly, sin-restricted though it is, the greatest joy and the highest education are in service. And in the future state, untrammeled by the limitations of sinful humanity, it is in service that our greatest joy and our highest education will be found.” Ibid., 309. To be part of the joy and happiness of heaven, which is found in service, our greatest joy here on earth will be in service to God and our fellow man.
- Our home here should be a reflection of our home in heaven. “There must be no angry words spoken in the home, no seeds of coarse, common talk sown in your children’s hearts, or they will have no confidence in you when you speak in meeting. God help us to have the peace of Christ in our hearts, that we may teach our children the way of life and peace! We may have a little heaven to go to heaven in, if Christ breathes upon us His Holy Spirit.” The Review and Herald, April 21, 1891
If our homes are more like purgatory than heaven, how can we hope to see heaven? “Parents, make your home a little heaven on earth. You can do this, if you so choose. You can make home so pleasant and cheerful that it will be the most attractive place on earth to your children. Let them receive all the blessings of the household. You can so relate yourselves to God that His Spirit will abide in your home. Come close to the bleeding side of the Man of Calvary. Those who are partakers with Him in His sufferings will at last be partakers with Him in His glory.” Manuscript 77, 1902. By receiving the Holy Spirit into our homes, we will have a little bit of heaven here.
“We must let Christ into our hearts and homes if we would walk in the light. Home should be made all that the name implies. It should be a little heaven upon the earth, a place where the affections are cultivated instead of being studiously repressed.” The Review and Herald, June 22, 1886
Love is freely expressed.
In heaven, the angels love one another, and this love is freely, openly, and often expressed. They work together. They have companions. Sadly, there are many so-called Christian homes today where love and affection are not expressed. And yet, we claim to be getting ready to go to heaven. If we receive the Holy Spirit, the Lord will put love in our hearts for our families. But if there is no love in our hearts for our families, then we must go to the Lord seeking to be converted, allowing the Holy Spirit to change us and give us a new heart so that we can love our families and our fellowman. Anything less than this makes us pretend Christians, playing at religion.
“Our happiness depends upon this cultivation of love, sympathy, and polite courtesy to one another. The reason why there are so many hard-hearted men and women in our world, is because true affection has been regarded as weakness, and has been discouraged and repressed. The better part of the nature of those of this class was perverted and dwarfed in childhood; and unless rays of divine light can melt away their coldness and hard-hearted selfishness, the happiness of such is buried forever.” Ibid.
Just like Jesus.
“If we would have tender hearts, such as Jesus had when He was upon the earth, and sanctified sympathy, such as the angels have for sinful mortals, we must cultivate the sympathies of childhood, which are simplicity itself. Then we shall be refined, elevated, and directed by heavenly principles.” Ibid. Friends, the Lord intended that our homes would be filled with free, open, and frequent expressions of affection, love, and sympathy, with courtesy and politeness. Do we treat each other with gentleness so that our homes become a little heaven to go to heaven in?
If your home is more like purgatory than heaven, bring your loved ones to the family altar and pray that each one will be converted; ask for the rays of divine light to come into each heart, melting away the cold selfishness that dwells there. Do you know Jesus? Are you trying to copy His character in your home with your loved ones so that your home will be a happy place? Home should be the happiest, most heavenly place on earth for every family member. Only then are we ready to go to heaven.
Pastor John J. Grosboll is the Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church in Wichita, Kansas. He may be reached by email at historic@stepstolife.org or by telephone at 316-788-5559.