Romans 5:11, Finding True Joy in God

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Romans 5:11 And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.

The sixth blessing of being a child of God is joy in God. It describes an attitude of confidence in God, to rejoice in, glory in, boast in the stability of life with God. The psalmist testified of this joy in God as he made God the centre of his devotion:

Psalm 16:5-11 The LORD is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot. 6 The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage. 7 I will bless the LORD, who hath given me counsel: my reins also instruct me in the night seasons. 8 I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. 9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope. 10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. 11 Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

Life with God dispels fear and anxiety. We can trust in His care, provision and protection. When we are unable to rejoice in our circumstances, we can rejoice in the Lord under those circumstances. We can rest in His love and meditate upon His goodness. It brings strength to our soul.

—This joy is not the “fleshly happiness” of the world – going to parties, eating a good meal, buying a new car, striving for a promotion, getting a pay increase. Notice this world that we live in goes for entertainment and thought that is “joy”. To be entertained for 2 hours in a comedy in the movies, we thought, that is “joy”.

Biblical joy is not the entertainment kind of happiness. We lived in this era of the television, big screen entertainment and the Youtube. People who do not have true joy go for entertainment, they look for a substitute. It is not a lasting substitute. Even the church today has caught the entertainment bug. Worship services are transformed into mega entertainment shows.

Entertainment began as silent movies in the pre-war I era, came as an escape for the troubles in times of war and economic depression. It seeks to replace the living and true God, Jesus Christ, the source of true joy in America, a “Christian” nation. Remember Charlie Chaplin (16 April 1889 – 25 December 1977), the English comic actor and director of silent films. It is interesting how the silent movies were termed “the American Tower of Babel” that gel the migrants coming to America speaking different languages. Inadvertently, it provides an escape from confronting a life without knowing the living and true God and the true state of our depravity.

In 2008, Martin Sieff, in a review of the book Chaplin: A Life, wrote: “Chaplin was not just ‘big’, he was gigantic. In 1915, he burst onto a war-torn world bringing it the gift of comedy, laughter and relief while it was tearing itself apart through the First World War. Over the next 25 years, through the Great Depression and the rise of Hitler, he stayed on the job. It is doubtful any individual has ever given more entertainment, pleasure and relief to so many human beings when they needed it the most”. Alas, this temporal escape inadvertently result in a hangover, like the intoxication of liquor.

Thank God for giving us true joy in God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.