“Is God mainly happy or mostly mad?”

How a person thinks about God effects how they relate to God.  Ancient Israel’s King David wrote these words in Psalms 16:11, “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”

According to that scripture, God’s presence is a pretty joyful place!  It is a place that you’d want to be forever!  A ‘fullness of joy’ in God’s presence is the best news about the gospel.  If God was grouchy, then spending an eternity with Him might seem like a drag.  No one would want to spend eternity with an all-powerful, grump.  That would be miserable!

However, Jesus invites us to spend an eternity with a God who is wildly joyful.  Jesus told us the He lived and died so that God’s joy might be in us so that our joy might be full.  He says in John 15:11, “11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”

God has an unshakable happiness in Himself and in His eternal fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ.  That means God doesn’t rely on us in order to be happy or joyful.  He is filled with joy independent of any outside influence.  God’s joy stems from his own perfect glory and the fellowship He has eternally enjoyed with the Son and the Spirit.