“Then I was beside Him as a master craftsman; And I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him, Rejoicing in His inhabited world, and my delight was with the sons of men” (Proverbs 8:30-31).
What did the Father do with the fullness of joy He couldn’t contain? He focused His joy on Jesus. Jesus received His Father’s joy, and He was filled with so much joy He couldn’t contain it either. As we discussed, Jesus, having more joy than He could contain, expressed His joy by rejoicing. As Jesus was rejoicing, He desired for more people to rejoice with.
“Then I was beside Him as a master craftsman; And I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him, Rejoicing in His inhabited world, and my delight was with the sons of men” (Proverbs 8:30-31).
Not content to restrict heaven’s party to just a few participants, Jesus decided to enlarge the guest list so he could rejoice with more people. But in order to do this, He needed to create something more than a magnificent planet inhabited by plants and animals. He needed to create people; people in His own image could fully appreciate the joy of the Godhead. He had to craft a special class of beings that were fully equipped first to receive, and then to express, His joy. This is great news for the human race! We exist because the Godhead had so much joy they couldn’t contain it, and so we were designed as the object of God’s joy. You and I were designed to be enjoyed by God.
Marriage is an earthly example of this heavenly reality. When husband and wife express joy for one another that they cannot contain, the natural result is a child is conceived. The only way husband and wife can share their joy is to enlarge their family. So, a child is conceived in their image to extend this irrepressible joy beyond marriage to family.
Overflowing love needs something to love, and overflowing joy needs a person to enjoy. So, Jesus looks at us and says, “but my delight is with the sons of men” (Proverbs 8:31). Jesus focuses all His joy on us! The human race is the object of the Lord’s delight. This truth is so amazing that it seems too good to be true, right? But it gets even better. Since delight is the Lord’s original sentiment towards us, we don’t have to earn it or work for it. It was the Lord’s idea to create us for His own delight.
Joy was the Lord’s motive in creating you, and joy was the Lord’s motive in redeeming you: “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 has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2).
When Jesus was enduring the pain of the cross, He was not just focused on His pain; He was focused on what He would gain. Christ’s death removed every obstacle that blocked relationship between Him and the ones He has delighted in since creation! So, you were created as His delight, and He overcame the pain of the cross as He focused on you as the source of His delight. You were the joy that was set before Jesus! His motivating force at the cross was the joy of relationship with you!
Jesus focused on you as His source of joy. Now, you are free to focus on Him as your source of joy! That is why Hebrews 12:2 starts out, “looking unto Jesus.” As we discover we are His joy, then looking at Him brings us joy. God’s motive in His epic plan of redemption was to restore our relationship to His original intent. And the original intent was mutual joy between you and Jesus.
We declare revelation breaking though as you see and know Jesus is focused on you as His source of joy. Now, you are free to focus on Him as your source of joy!
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