How Can I Be Happy? | Love Is Content | Seventh-day Adventist

In today’s message, we explore the question, “How Can I Be Happy?” The biblical answer to that question is surprisingly simple. 1 Corinthians chapter 13 is the Holy Spirit’s attempt at opening the horizons of our understanding to what the Lord is really like. The biblical principle is that “by beholding we are changed.” Join us as we explore the wide-open country known as “the land of contentment.” It’s a land that operates on principles that are pretty much upside-down to the way things work in this world. Just like the other aspects of God’s agape love this land of contentment is a fascinating place. Also, just like the other aspects of God’s agape love it brings to us a little bit of heaven right here on earth. By God’s grace, may you come away from today’s study blessed and encouraged in your walk with the Lord. 

In our current series on God’s agape love, we’ve established that His love is unconditional. God’s love is truly a no-strings-attached kind of love. It’s a love that loves the unlovable. It reaches the unreachable.

It touches the untouchable. It teaches the un-teachable. It reasons with the unreasonable. It’s a love that goes far beyond anything, that makes any kind of rational sense.  

It’s a love that doesn’t look for value in us. It’s a love that makes us valuable. God loves us with a love that places more value on us than He does on Himself.

When we start talking about God’s heart of agape love we are talking about an infinite subject. But that’s okay because the Lord has an eternal plan for each of us. And throughout the ceaseless ages of eternity, our fascination with God and His love will only deepen.

The reason more people aren’t fascinated by God’s goodness is that they know so little about Him. 1 Corinthians chapter 13 is the Holy Spirit’s attempt at opening the horizons of our understanding to what the Lord is really like. And the biblical principle is that by beholding we are changed.

2 Corinthians 3: 18 says, “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

Last weeks’ message was “Love is Patient and Love Is Kind”. We found the Greek word for “patience” is a compound word meaning “slow” “heat”. Did your temper try to heat up on you this last week?

Of course, it did. Was your patience tried this last week? Of course, it was.

And was the Jesus who lives in your heart by faith able to reveal more of His patience in your life? Again, we’re not talking about perfection. But was there some improvement?

And again, this is not about improving our salvation. This is not about improving our standing with God. It’s about living out this unearned, undeserved standing that we already have with the Lord.

Now, as for me, our Church website was down for 4 days this last week. And let me tell you, it’s a good thing I just preached a sermon on patience or my week could have been a train wreck! But, by God’s grace, it wasn’t.

Did you have an opportunity to share God’s kindness toward you with someone this week? Of course, you did. And brothers and sisters, that’s something the Jesus who lives in us is constantly wanting to do.

He’s wanting us to allow the glorious fruit of His Spirit, which is love, to be revealed in our daily lives. Loving the way Jesus loves makes no sense to the world. But they can’t help but be fascinated by it.

The agape love of Jesus turned the world upside down 2,000 years ago.

And it’s going to happen one more time. Not if, maybe, or we hope so–it’s going to happen.

And when all the world finally has an opportunity to see what God’s heart of agape love is really like it’s going to divide the world into just two groups of people. Those who embrace the Lord and accept His agape love for them and those who don’t.

As we get closer and closer to the end of time one theme is going to come to the forefront. One issue is going to supersede all others.

Let’s look at what Paul says in I Corinthians 13: 2-3.

“…Though I…understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith…but have not love, it profits me nothing.”

So, we can have “all knowledge” including all spiritual knowledge. That means we can know the books of Daniel and Revelation frontwards and backward. And we can even have mountain-moving faith. But if all of that knowledge and all of that faith isn’t rooted and grounded in God’s agape love, then it’s nothing in the Lord’s sight.

Okay, Paul, you’ve got our attention. And so, what’s God’s agape love actually like? And Paul says, “I’m so glad you asked.”

Love is patient; love is kind. That’s what God’s love is like. And now, here’s what His love isn’t like. Love doesn’t envy. Love is content. Love rejoices when others get grace poured upon them. Love doesn’t resent others for being treated better than they deserve.

Why? Because we realize that God’s grace has already been poured out on us in its fullness. We realize that we’ve been treated better than we deserve. And love, loves it, when others get to experience this unearned, undeserved favor that we know we have with God.

The land of contentment is a wide-open country that the Lord would have us each take-up residence in. It’s a land that operates on principles that are pretty much upside-down to the way things work in this world.

And just like the other aspects of God’s agape love, this land of contentment is a fascinating place. And just like all the other aspects of God’s agape love, it brings to us a little bit of heaven right here on earth.

In His earthly ministry, all that Jesus ever physically possessed was literally just the clothes on His back. And yet, He was the most content Person to ever walk the planet.

And why is that?   Because Jesus knew His Father’s heart of agape love. Jesus built His entire life on His Father’s love for Him. And He wanted nothing more than His Father’s love to be revealed in Him and through Him.  

Everything that Jesus did was focused on just one thing. And that was to show His Father’s love to a dying world. Every miracle He performed was an act of love. Every moment of teaching was an act of love. Every confrontation that He didn’t shrink from was an act of love. The whole focus of Jesus’ time here on earth was centered on showing His Father’s love to humanity.

In the final two sentences of His final prayer with the disciples, Jesus summarizes the whole purpose of His earthly ministry.

Let’s look at that in John 17: 25-26. “O, righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You, and these have known that You sent Me. 26 And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”

The whole purpose of Jesus’ earthly ministry was to show us the Father. So that, we would then allow the Father’s love to rule the day in our lives.

In Verse 26 Jesus’ prayer to the Father was “…That the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”

As I mentioned last week, this isn’t about self-improvement. It’s about Holy Spirit empowerment.

Colossians 1: 27 says “…Christ in you, (is) the hope of glory.”

Jesus living His resurrection life in us is our only hope of glory. And what is amazing is that Jesus lived His life the way that we are called to live ours.

In John 5: 30 Jesus said “I can of Myself do nothing….”

Jesus was completely dependent upon the Father for everything. He voluntarily laid aside the prerogatives of His divinity to live life as we must live it. And if Jesus could of His own self do nothing, then how much more are we completely dependent upon the Lord for everything. 

There’s a story of a grandpa who was visiting his daughter and his toddler grandson. The young boy had done something wrong and was to be confined to his playpen for a certain amount of time.

When the young boy saw his grandpa he reached out his arms and        said “Grandpa out, grandpa out.”

It was only natural for the grandpa to want to lift the little fellow out of his predicament. But the mom stepped back into the room and said

“No Johnnie, you are being punished.”

Now, what was a grandpa to do? The child’s tears were pulling on the grandpa’s heartstrings. But the mother’s firmness in correcting her son was also not to be taken lightly.

But love found a way. The grandpa couldn’t take the youngster out of the playpen so he got in there with him.

That’s what Jesus has done for us. But Jesus didn’t just get into our playpen–our earthly world. He actually took on our humanity. And in doing so, He put Himself in a place where He could actually help us.   The only way Jesus could get us out of the playpen was by uniting His divinity with our humanity.

So that He could be the 2nd Adam. So that He could represent each of us. So that everything that He would do could be counted as if we were the ones doing it.

That’s the Gospel. That’s the Good News that will make it to the ends of the earth and prepare the way for Jesus’ soon return.

Let’s look at that in Romans 5: 18. “Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life.”

Paul says, “…Through one man’s offense judgment came to all men        (that is all mankind), resulting in condemnation.” That’s the bad news, and it’s really bad. And it’s totally unfair. Before we were even born, someone did something wrong and that resulted in us being under condemnation.

And here’s the thing, brothers and sisters, we have to understand how bad the bad news is before we can begin to appreciate how good the Good News is. Because the Good News is the exact opposite of the bad news.

Thankfully, the verse doesn’t stop there. Paul goes on to say, “Even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men (all mankind), resulting in justification of life.”

And brothers and sisters, let’s be very careful here. Let’s just let the Bible say what it’s saying and, by God’s grace, believe this Good News

is actually as good as the Lord tells us it is.

In the light of God’s unconditional love, we recognize that each member of the human family is God’s favorite. What Jesus has done for us–He has done for everyone else. And in His unconditional love for us, God isn’t waiting for us to choose Him before He chooses us.   And our belief doesn’t cause us to be saved. Believing the Good News just connects us to the salvation that Jesus accomplished for all humanity 2,000 years ago.

Let’s look at 2 Corinthians 5: 19 again. “… God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

The world has already been reconciled back to God. God isn’t imputing people’s trespasses to them. That’s because Jesus had all of our trespasses imputed to Him. And now, the Lord has committed to us this amazing message of reconciliation.

And this Good News will make it to the ends of the earth and prepare the way for Jesus’ soon return. And how can we be so sure?

Matthew 24: 14. “This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.”

There’s a program these days called “The voice”. In one part of the program, the judges’ chairs are turned away from the contestant who’s performing. If they like the performer, they turn their chair around.

Brothers and sisters, if we ever doubt whether God has turned His chair toward us all we need to do is look to the cross. Because at the cross, God is calling out to us saying “I have chosen you.” “I’m going through this because in My eyes you are worth it.” “I can’t imagine spending eternity without you.”

“Place your faith in what I have already done for you.” “Believe that I love you with an everlasting love.” “Let My love for you be the focus for your entire existence.”

“Rejoice in My love for you.” “Glory in My love for you.” “My love for you isn’t going anywhere.” “You can deny it.” “You can ignore it.” “You can downplay it.”

“But that’s okay because My love for you will be still be waiting.”

“My love is patient and My love is kind.” “And My love doesn’t envy.” “Because when you have My love in your heart–you realize you already have it all.”

Brothers and sisters, when we realize how much our Lord actually loves us literally everything else in life is just gravy on top of that.

Brother Michael Perchez has told us about the homeless man at the park there in Ontario. Every time he would see Mike the man would say, “Has anyone told you today, how much Jesus loves you?”

What a great question. Because it’s something we need to be hearing every day. The entire Christian life is simply our response to Jesus’ love for us.

And so, there is nothing that we need to be hearing more. And nothing that we need to be sharing more than the Good News of just how deeply, and consistently and unconditionally the Lord is loving on us.

Because everything else in our Christian experience springs out of that.

Brothers and sisters, that’s how we can rejoice when others get blessed. When there’s a spirit of competition and rivalry we don’t rejoice when others do better than us.

And here’s the thing:  our greatest challenge with envy is going to be in the area we are most interested in. Athletes envy other athletes.   Writers envy other writers. And yes, pastors envy other pastors.

Now, I’ve never been envious of someone who is good at knitting. But when I hear about another pastor’s success it can be a totally different story.

Envy keeps us from entering into other people’s joy. It’s a scarcity mentality. We worry that we aren’t going to get our share of the pie.

Our share of the love. But brothers and sisters the Lord’s got a whole warehouse full of pies.

The Lord’s love for us can never be exhausted. But what can get exhausted is our recognition of the Lord’s love for us. And there is no more dangerous thought for us to entertain. Because everything in the Christian life flows out of our understanding and appreciation of God’s unconditional love for us.

  1 John 4: 19 says, “We love him because he first loved us.”

And so, when there is a problem with our response to God. And let’s face it, none of us are perfect in our response to God. But when there’s a problem in our response we can always know what the real problem is.

The real problem is that somewhere we are having a disconnect with God’s love for us. The level of our love for the Lord is always and only limited by our understanding and appreciation of His love for us.

And so, where should our emphasis always be? It needs to always be on continually basking in God’s love for us. That’s where the power is.

That’s where the joy is. That’s where Romans 5: 5 starts getting expressed in our daily lives.

Let’s look at that. Romans 5: 5. “Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

The Holy Spirit and the love of God just go hand in hand. If we are trusting in Jesus as the exclusive source of our salvation, then we have the Holy Spirit. And the love of God has been poured out into our hearts.

As believers, the Lord has appointed each of us to be conduits for His love. Again, God isn’t expecting us to produce His love. He just wants us to be channels that His love can flow through.

And since this love all comes from God. And since we all have the same access to the same infinite source. There’s no reason for envy.

There’s no reason for jealousy.

Now, our human love is limited in so many different ways. But God’s love knows no limits. When an infinite God of love is allowed to reveal Himself in the lives of obviously limited human beings. People can’t help but take notice. Because they know, something supernatural is going on. Something that is not of this world is happening.

Jesus put it this way in John 13: 35. “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

And since our love for one another is all based upon our understanding and appreciation of God’s love for us. There is no thought that should be more central to us than knowing we are loved with an everlasting love.

Brothers and sisters, when that’s the foundation of our lives we’re building for eternity.   We’re building on something that’s going to stand the test of time. We’re building on something that is going to prepare us for the storms of life.

And here’s the thing. There are just three places we can be when it comes to the storms of life.  We’re either in the midst of a storm.   We’ve just gone through a storm. Or there’s a storm on the way.

Jesus put it this way in John 16: 33. These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

Jesus gives it to us straight. He says, “In the world, you will have tribulation…” It’s not “might, maybe, or perhaps.” “In the world, we will have tribulation.” No question about it. Then, there’s that great “contravening conjunction.”But be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

Again, there’s the Gospel. We are to rejoice because Jesus overcame the world. And He did that while representing us. And so, in the Lord’s eyes, we too have overcome. Jesus’ victory is our victory. Jesus’ resurrection is our resurrection to new life.

That means we’ve all got great cause for rejoicing. Envy is what keeps us from experiencing that joy. With envy we not only want our grass to be greener, but we also want other people’s grass to shrivel up and die.

It was envy that caused Cain to kill his brother Abel. It was envy that caused Joseph’s brothers to sell him into slavery. It was envy that caused Moses’ own brother and sister, Aaron and Miriam, to rebel against him in the wilderness.

It was envy that caused King Saul to try to kill David and ultimately caused him to lose his kingdom. And what about the Pharisees? Were they evil men? No, they were the pastors and religious teachers of their day.

And so, how did they end up rejecting Jesus? How did they end up bringing about the death of their own long-awaited Messiah?

Matthew 27: 17-18 gives us the answer. “…Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release to you? Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?” 18 For he knew that they had handed Him over because of envy.”

We don’t usually think of Pilate as being a real spiritual guy. But even Pilate could see what was going on. He realized that it was all because of envy that the religious leaders were wanting Jesus to be killed.

Envy is based on a myth. Envy is based on this false idea:  “I need to have something I don’t already have in order to be happy.” Envy looks at others and says, “Why do they get to enjoy that?” “What did they do to deserve that?” “I should have what they have.”

But gratitude says, “Why do I get to enjoy all of this?” “I don’t deserve what I have.” “I don’t deserve to be treated this well.”

Gratitude totally flips the script on our mental outlook.

James 1: 17 says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.”

Every good gift has a heavenly origin. These gifts all come down from “the Father of lights” with whom there’s no variation. He gives to all,  the same limitless measure, pressed down and shaken together. So that we all struggle to have room enough to receive it.

In Matthew 20 Jesus told the ultimate parable about envy and gratitude. I’m sure we’re all familiar with it.

Early in the morning some workers were hired and agreed to work for $100 for the day. At 9 o’clock, noon, and 3 o’clock more workers were hired. The boss said the same thing to each new group in Matthew 20: 4 “You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.”

And again at 5 o’clock the boss went out and hired more workers. Quitting time was 6 o’clock. At the end of the day, the boss said in Matthew 20: 8 “Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first.’

Amazingly, out of the generosity of his heart, the boss gave the workers who started at 5 o’clock 100 bucks. The same amount he had agreed to give the guys who started at 6 am.

Now, obviously, this boss was out to make a point. When those 6 am guys saw the 5 pm dudes getting $100 they thought, “Wow, we really going to get paid well today.”

But when it was their turn, they got $100 just like the boss had agreed to give them. Needless to say, they weren’t thrilled about that. They felt like they were being ripped off.  

But the only reason they felt like that is that they were comparing themselves with the 5 pm workers. They felt like they deserved more because they did more work.  

Now, when it comes to the Gospel the reason God can’t give us more than others is because we’ve all already been given the same un-earnable, un-deservable gift. It’s a gift that is actually completely unfair.

Jesus is the only one who really deserves that gift because Jesus did all of the work! But, brothers and sisters, we have a very gracious, kind-hearted Boss in heaven. He has given each of us something we could never labor for or work to achieve. The greatest gift of all is the gift of salvation. It’s the gift that love bought for us.  

An elderly Christian man was in the hospital. And he knew he didn’t have much time left. A friend came to visit him. The man said, “Before you arrived, I just had 3 other visitors.”

The friend said, “Oh, really?” “Who were they?”

“Well, the first was Faith. But I had to say goodbye to Faith. Even though Faith has been good company to me ever since I first trusted in Jesus. But in the place where I’m heading, I won’t be needing my old friend Faith. Because in the place I’m going, faith will be lost in sight.”

“I also had to say goodbye to another good friend:  Hope. Hope helped me through many battles and distresses. But in the place where I am going, I won’t be needing my old friend, Hope. Because in the place I’m heading, that which I have hoped for, for so long, will actually come to fruition.”

“Now, my third friend is completely different. My third friend is Love. Love linked me to God and to my fellow human beings. Love comforted me and encouraged me on my journey like nothing else. But I can’t say goodbye to my old friend, Love. Because in the place where I am going Love will be perfected.”

And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.