24 Words - Happiness

This is the fifteenth (I know I'm way behind) of 24 blog 'thoughts' throughout June (and July!) as part of a challenge to honour my sister Anna Murray who died on 20th October 2019. You can read my reflections on my sister here and watch a film I made about her here. If you want to donate to Pancreatic Cancer UK you can do so here. These posts will be short 'thoughts' rather than detailed blog posts.  So far we have looked at the words rest, steadfast, hope, mercy, lament, providence, grieve, lockdown, prognosis, covenant, preaching, wilderness, mission, disclosure and now I want to look at happiness.

We often think of our own happiness but have you ever thought of the happiness of Christ?  What makes Christ happy?  I was really struck by reading this quote from the Puritan Thomas Goodwin in 'The Heart of Christ': '...his (Christs) own interest, both in that of our salvation is the purchase of his blood, and also that his joy, comfort, happiness, and glory are increased and enlarged by showing  grace and mercy, in pardoning, relieving and comforting his members on earth, under all their infirmities.'  Jesus doesn't just want us to come to him because it vindicates his atoning work but because the bestowing of mercy is his very heart.  Goodwin even goes so far as to say that Christ gets more joy and comfort than we do when draw near to him for forgiveness.

We see this in Hebrews 12 v 2 'Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.'

What was the joy set before him?  The joy of seeing his people redeemed.  The ultimate high priest was bridging the gap between God and humanity.  As Dane Ortland says in 'Gentle and Lowly' 'It was the joyous anticipation of seeing his people made invincibly clean that sent him through his arrest, death, burial, and resurrection.  When we today partake of the atoning work, coming to Christ for forgiveness, communing with him despite our sinfulness, we are laying hold of Christ's own deepest longing and joy.'

Sometimes we think that must be cautious in drawing too much on Christs mercy.  But as Ortland asks 'would a father with a suffocating child want his child to draw on the oxygen tank in a measured and reasonable way.'  Our problem is that we don't take Christ seriously when he offers his love and forgiveness.  He rejoices in mercy and pardon and surely this is the greatest encouragement to come.