Joy—true joy—is definitely a good thing. Indeed, it’s what everyone is seeking. The Gospel of the Kingdom offers joy because it makes access to the eternal God a real experience, here and now. Today’s excerpt from The Gospel of the Kingdom is from pages 60, 61:
“Joy, it appears, is not determined by what we can see in our immediate environment. Instead, joy is a condition that attaches to knowing the Lord and being able to see past what is seen in order to engage what is not seen. This is part of what gives joy its great appeal: it is not attached to changeable circumstances but to fixed realities and eternal verities in which we participate by grace through faith.
“[T]he ability to know joy – in spite of any untoward circumstances or conditions – is dependent on the extent to which one actually knows the Lord and is intimately engaged in a relationship with Him. Habakkuk declared that [come what may] he would rejoice in the Lord and in His salvation, which he experienced as strength, security, and safety. The experience of joy associated with knowing the Lord thus depends on the extent to which we know the experience of His salvation. If salvation is for us only a ‘by-and-by’ experience, then we may struggle to know joy amid the trials that we must endure as we await translation to eternal glory. On the other hand, if salvation is an experience of living in the Kingdom of God, where we know the hope of glory, experienced and expressed, as a daily reality, then our joy will be more constant and full because our relationship with the Lord will be as much for the ‘here and now’ as for the ‘then and there.’”
For reflection or discussion
1. What do we mean by saying that some people regard salvation as a “by-and-by” experience?
2. What does the Gospel of the Kingdom offer, both for the by-and-by as well as the here-and-now?
We have to stop thinking of the Gospel as offering forgiveness and eternal life only. It surely entails those things; but the Kingdom of God and the joy that comes with knowing Him can lead us to a fuller and more joyful experience of our great salvation. Order your copy of The Gospel of the Kingdom from The Ailbe Bookstore. And share today’s podcast with a friend. Get together and discuss it, and pray for one another, that you might know more of the joy of the Lord.
T. M. Moore
