The Blessed God

"The glorious gospel of the blessed God" (1 Tim. 1:11)

The glory of God is to a large extent tied up with his happiness. That’s why Paul said “the gospel of the glory of the blessed God.” “Blessed” means happy. Paul was entrusted with good news, news about the glory of the happy God. He is infinitely, perfectly, fully, and eternally happy. When we “bless God,” we are not adding some joy to him, but simply saying what is in fact the case. He is blessed. Our only hope is to share in that blessedness, that happiness. And that is what the gospel is about.

As John Piper has put it, “No one would want to spend eternity with an unhappy God.” If God was unhappy, there would be no glory to see and enjoy, and there would be no gospel to share and no hope to rejoice in. That is to say, there would be no Christianity. Our religion rests entirely upon the happiness of God and his willingness to let us in on it. The hope of the one who follows Christ is to hear these words in the end: “Well done, good and faithful servant. . . . Enter into the joy of your master” (Mt. 25:21).

God’s happiness is wrapped up in the love he has to his Son. Thus, what makes heaven glorious and what makes us ultimately happy forever is our participation in the love God has for his Son. Jesus said it this way, “I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and love them even as you loved me” (Jn. 17:23). Our happiness, our hope, the gospel, the glory of God, and the perfection of heaven – it is all wrapped up in God’s love to his Son.

Do you love him? Then ask yourself this: Do I listen to him? Is it his voice that I love to hear? (Jn 10:27) Do I seek him in prayer and in his word? Do I follow him? Do I strive to obey him? (Jn 14:21,23-24) May Christ claim our affections above all others, may the love of Christ control us!