Theologian Michael Reeves joins us again from the UK, filling in this week for John

Piper.

And today's question is rather simple, it's profoundly important, but the question

itself is rather simple.

Michael, how do we pursue our happiness in Jesus?

First, I'd want to say this is important, pursuing our happiness in Jesus that joy in Christ

isn't an optional extra.

And we were made to share the father's eternal pleasure in his son.

The father's always delighted in his son, eternally found pleasure in him, and we were

created to share the father's sweet pleasure in his son.

To love Jesus is to be made more like God himself, more like the father.

So this is important.

Now I confess personally that wasn't a message that I knew well when growing up.

It was a young Christian.

I think the message that I thought the gospel was was, I am a sinner.

Christ dies for my sins in order to buy me heaven, which meant I was grateful to Christ

for redeeming me from hell and bringing me to heaven, but the real reward of the gospel

I believed was heaven, not Christ, not God himself.

And that changed personally for me through reading Jonathan Edwards.

And I was torn by his description of the hypocrite in the religious affections where he says

that's a good description of the hypocrite that you are using God to get something else.

Your delight is not in God himself, the one we're made for.

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