Does God’s Happiness Depend on Mine?

Ask Pastor John

Desiring God

John Piper, Unknown, 163859, Pastor, Ask, Theology, Desiring God, Religion & Spirituality/christianity, Christianity, Religion & Spirituality, Questions

4.8 • 3.8K Ratings

🗓️ 19 January 2018

⏱️ 11 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

When one sinner repents, God and his angels rejoice in heaven. Does that mean that God’s happiness depends on ours?

Transcript

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0:00.0	We close the week with an important question from a listener named Anthony in San Diego.
0:09.8	About whether God's happiness is contingent on our happiness, and it'll make sense here
0:14.8	in just a moment.
0:15.8	Here's the email.
0:16.8	Hello, Pastor John.
0:17.8	Thank you for taking my question.
0:19.1	I am very curious to hear your thoughts on the following quote I found in J.I. Packer's
0:23.6	book, Knowing God, a classic.
0:27.2	Their Packer writes this.
0:29.6	God was happy without humans before they were made.
0:32.3	He would have continued to be happy had he simply destroyed them after they had sinned.
0:37.4	But as it is, he has set his love upon particular sinners, and this means that by his own free
0:43.1	voluntary choice, he will not know perfect and unmixed happiness again, until he has brought
0:50.0	every one of them to heaven.
0:52.3	He has in fact resolved that henceforth, for all eternity, his happiness shall be conditional
0:59.5	upon hours.
1:00.5	Okay, so that last line, his happiness shall be conditional upon hours.
1:07.5	It's tough for me to swallow.
1:09.1	I think I understand what he's saying, but I would love to hear your take on this.
1:13.2	How would you take this line, Pastor John?
1:15.7	That quote from Packer is found on page 125 in my edition of Knowing God.
1:23.6	And I mentioned it just because I'd like every one of our listeners to read Knowing
	...

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