We would be wise to ask not just “what does He require?” or “what will He
permit?” but “what does He love? What delights His
heart?”
Happily the truth about God’s heart, His
delight and pleasure, is plainly stated in the New Testament. (In each of the
verses I’ll quote below, the verb “to be well pleased” is used – eudokeo. I’m highlighting it in red. And
notice that in each case, it is God who is “well pleased.”)
1. God delights in His Son. He loves and cherishes
the Lord Jesus Christ above everyone and everything. And a voice came from
heaven, "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased” (Mark 1:11;
cf. Matthew 3:17; 17:5; Luke 3:22). It is impossible to please God and foolish to
think that you could be “right with God,” without worshiping and serving His
Son. As Jesus Himself said, “If God were your Father, you would love me (John
8:42).
2. He delights that His Son entered the human race. For
it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him
(Colossians 1:19, NASB). Jesus Christ was and is fully and completely God – in human
flesh. The incarnation was not only the plan of the Father, but His joy.
3. He delights to pour out His love upon merit-less,
hopeless, hell-bound sinners – to choose them when they could never choose Him,
and to make them His own. And He does so long before they were ever born. But when
he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased
to reveal his Son to me... (Galatians 1:15-16).
4. He delights to save those sinners – people like you
and me – through a message that seems foolish (the Greek word is moronic) to the world’s wisdom. For
since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it
pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe (1
Corinthians 1:21). The gospel message that Jesus died in the place of sinners is nonsense to some people. But not only is this message of grace the power of God for salvation, but it brings pleasure to God.
5. He delights to give His kingdom to His children. “Fear not, little flock, for it is your
Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32). Notice that we, His sheep, are given not just a few blessings apportioned to us. We are given the kingdom. All that Christ inherited by His death, burial, resurrection, ascension and session to the right hand of God is ours, too, in Him.
One more thing: God’s “good pleasure” is not just a statement of His love but also of His determination. God's "good pleasure" means His sovereign decree, His purpose that will be realized. His delight is also His will.
(I also wrote about the Father's love for the Son in Beloved Son.)
