The Kingdom of God Is....Part Four

      C.     Joy.

This is the third element that describes what the Kingdom of God is made up.

But the fruit of the Spirit is: love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

(Gal 5:22-23 MKJV)

           

Strong’s definition of the Greek word we translate as “joy” is “cheerfulness, calm delight, gladness (Strong’s Dict. #G5479).”

As Paul is outlining what the kingdom of God consists of he adds the phrase “in the Holy Spirit.”  The Amplified Bible puts it this way: “for the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking [what one likes], but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. (Rom 14:17 AMP)

In other words righteousness, peace, and joy are a package deal that comes from the workings of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  The Message Translation agrees with that:   “God's kingdom isn't a matter of what you put in your stomach, for goodness' sake. It's what God does with your life as he sets it right, puts it together, and completes it with joy.”

(Rom 14:17 MSG)

This is, as one would say, “The icing on the cake.”  This life in the kingdom is one marked by joy and delight.  This isn’t a somber, macabre, dreary march of endurance.  It is a joyous parade of life filled with destiny and hope.

The joy the Holy Spirit brings with Him enables us to persevere in the difficult places of life.  We learn that things in this life are temporal but that which God has for us is eternal.  We discover that we are eternal beings with a bright future ahead and that enables to continue on when things get tough and distressing.

Listen to Hebrews 12:2 from The Message:

Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we're in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: cross, shame, whatever. And now he's there, in the place of honor, right alongside God.  (Heb. 12:2 MSG)

Remember one of the words to define “joy” is delight.  “Delight yourself also in the LORD, and He shall give you the desires of your heart” (Psa. 37:4 NKJV).

Notice the progression as we experience God’s work of righteousness in our lives.  Right standing produces peace and peace produces joy.  We delight ourselves in the Lord and He delights in us.

The kingdom of God isn’t about rules and regulations.  That’s religion.  Religion looks for performance but God has never required performance.  He has always sought to make us functional.

What’s the difference between performance and function? 

Performance is like a train on the tracks.  As long as it runs on tracks it does just fine but once derailed it stops.  Look at the word:  Performance.  There are forms of bodies at the mortuary but there is no life in them.  There is no life in performance.  That’s what God was getting at when He said to Israel:  “For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.” (Hos. 6:6 NKJV)

Israel had reached a place that they thought God would be pleased with their rituals, their performance.  Tragically that led them to think they could bring their sacrifices to Him and then go down the street to the temple of the other gods and commit fornication with the prostitutes there.

Remember what they said to Moses at the Mount?  “Then they said to Moses, "You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die."

(Exo. 20:19 NKJV)

In essence they were saying “You go find out what the Lord wants us to do and we will do it.  Give us a set of rules to follow.”  That’s what performance is all about.  “Tell us what to do and we will do it.”

On the other hand if you look inside the word “function” you will see the word “unction.”  Webster defines this word in the following ways:

Unction:

“The act of anointing as a rite of consecration or healing: something used for anointing: ointment, unguent: religious or spiritual fervor or the expression of such fervor.”

The life of being righteous is a functional life.  It is a life “anointed” with God’s presence, power, and love.  As opposed to the train needing tracks to run on a functional relationship is like water that flows.  When there are obstacles, it finds a way around them.  Water seeks its own level.  It finds a way to move and it flows.

The word of God is full of men and women who had this kind of life.  Abraham, Moses, Joshua, David, Mary, Peter, Paul, etc.  Study them and see how they worked out their salvation with fear and trembling.  Do you see them performing for God or walking in a functional relationship?

God’s kingdom is about a relationship with Him that produces peace and joy and life.  Jesus made it very plain when He said, “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  There is a happiness and contentment that comes from being in the kingdom that nothing else can provide.

Think on this.  A minister once said to me, “If sin were our natural state it would agree with us more.”  We were designed to be temples of the Holy Spirit.  It was intended for us to be blameless and holy before the Lord.  The life of righteousness, peace, and joy suits our nature. 

It may seem inconsequential but the word function also has the word fun in it. God is a happy God and He wants His people to be happy.  “Happy are the people whose God is the Lord” (Psalm 144:15).  While it may not always be fun, life will God certainly leads to happiness and joy and fulfillment.

These three things, righteousness – peace – joy, are the core values of God’s kingdom and, thus, they should be ours as well.  The Word of God speaks of holiness as something beautiful.  Far too long things like righteousness and holiness have been misrepresented and misunderstood.  It is time that their true value and worth be celebrated and esteemed not only for the profit they bring to the believer but for the benefit of our Majesty’s kingdom.