Christians are new creatures who find their joy in Christ alone. The chief aim in their life is to glorify God and enjoy Him, or to put it in other words, it is to glorify God by enjoying Him. If God is nothing to you, chances are, you are not even a Christian. For the mark of a Christian is that He has come to know God in Christ Jesus and has started tasting His glory. Such a person cannot help but be joyful in Christ. Now it would be naive to say that this is always the case in our life. There is a battle involved and sometimes even genuine believers sink into a joyless, mere duty bound, sort of ritualistic Christian life.
What do we do in those times?
That is precisely what John Piper tries to answer in the book "When I don't Desire God?". Piper also preached on this during the Desiring God regional conference of 2005, which was based on this book. He explains some foundational matters regarding the Christian life, describing it essentially as one of enjoying God. Piper considers it an “apostolic mission” to help Christians find their joy in Christ. He quotes Paul from 2 Corinthians 1:24 and Philippians 1:25 to justify this claim.
For those who have been skeptical about John Piper and his stress of finding joy in God, this sermon is a very good introduction to his theology. At the beginning of the message, Piper gives 4 clarifications on what he is not doing. He says,
1. I am not coming with a health-wealth-prosperity gospel. I am not here to tell you that Christ will make you healthy, wealthy and prosperous in this life so that you can have joy. No that’s not my message. I am here to tell you that Christ will give Himself to you so that you do not need health, wealth or prosperity in order to have joy. But you can have so much invincible joy in the durable Christ that you can give up health, wealth and prosperity in the sacrifices of love, if God so calls.
2. I am not here to put the icing of joy on the cake of your Christian life. Joy in Christ is the cake and not just the icing.
3. I am not on a mission to put your joy above God's glory. Rather I am on a mission to put your joy in God's glory. God is most glorified in you, when you are most satisfied in Him.
4. I am not on a mission to make you feel good about yourself. I am on a mission to make you feel so good about the greatness of God that you forget about yourself and live a life of love making others glad in God.
The sermon is specially recommended to all Christians who need sound encouragement to find their joy in Christ. If one does not find one’s joy in Christ, then one will find it in sin. So beware of taking this battle for our joy in Christ as a light matter.
