God’s Good Pleasure is Related to the Earth, Man, and Christ being Revealed in us

The desire of God’s heart, God’s good pleasure, is what makes Him happy; the Bible reveals that God is happy with the creation of the earth, the creation of man, Christ’s incarnation, His baptism, His resurrection and glorification, our return to Him as prodigal sons, and when His Son is revealed in us.

Again and again, in the Bible, we see that God is happy concerning certain things. He has a heart’s desire, a good pleasure, and we do well to trace throughout the Bible to see what is the desire of God’s heart, what makes Him happy.

Actually, if we know what makes God happy and if we understand why is He happy concerning that thing, we will live a life in the center of His heart’s desire, a life that is for the satisfaction of His heart.

There are at least seventeen items in the Bible that make God happy, and in this blog post, we will focus on some of them.

Our God is very emotional; He is not made of marble or wood, with no feelings or emotions – He loves certain things, and what makes Him happy also makes us happy, for we’re made in His image and according to His likeness.

God is Happy with the Creation of the Earth because His Kingdom will be Set up on the Earth

The first thing that we see concerning God’s good pleasure, what makes Him happy, is in Genesis – He was happy with the creation of the earth, for He knows that His kingdom will be set up on the earth (see Job 38:4, 7; Matt. 6:10; Rev. 5:10; 11:15; 21:1; Zech. 12:1).

In Job 38 we are told that the sons of God rejoiced when the earth was created; the angels sang and shouted together for joy when the earth was made.

This is because God Himself is happy with the creation of the earth, for it is on earth that He will set up His kingdom (Matt. 6:10; Rev. 11:15).

God makes us, His people, a kingdom and priests to our God, and we will reign with Him on the earth (Rev. 5:10).

The earth is here for the Lord to reign through and with His overcomers.

In Rev. 11:15 there is an exclamation, The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever.

The earth is now under Satan’s usurpation, but God’s purpose is related to the earth, for He wants to use man (a creature) to deal with Satan (another creature) and recover the earth for God.

The creation of the earth makes God happy because the kingdom of God will come on earth, and we as His overcomers will reign with Him as co-kings.

No matter how we feel right now, we need to be full of joy, for the Bible as God’s autobiography tells us what our ending is: we will be married with Christ forever and ever, and we will reign with Him as His co-kings!

No matter what ups-and-downs we have, no matter how much we fail today, our ending is glorious, for we will be the wife of Christ, we will be united with Him in life, mingled with Him in nature, and incorporated with Him to be His home even as He is our home, and together we will dwell in the new earth with the new heaven, ruling and reigning with Him! Hallelujah!

God’s eternal kingdom will not be on Mars or on the moon; it will be on earth, for His good pleasure lies here for eternity.

God is Happy with the Creation of Man because Man Expresses Him with His Image and Represents Him with His Dominion

God is happy with the creation of man; for each of the items that He created, He said “good” (Gen. 1:4, 10, 12, 21, 25), but for the creation of man, He said “very good” because man had God’s image and had been given God’s dominion for the glory of God and the kingdom of God (vv. 26, 31; Isa. 43:7; Matt. 6:10, 13b). Hallelujah!

When God says that something is good, this thing is much higher praise than we saying that it is good.

In Gen. 1:31, however, the Lord said, “very good”; what was very good in His eyes was that man was created in His image and according to His likeness to express Him and represent Him.

For man to be created in God’s image means that we bear His image and are made as a vessel to be filled with God to such an extent that we become His corporate expression.

As we are filled with the divine life day by day, we will reign in life (Rom. 5:17) so that we may exercise His dominion on the earth; in this way, we represent God with His dominion to be His co-kings.

Man is the delight of God’s heart; God loves the earth which He created because it was prepared for man in whom He delights.

Isa. 43:7 says that God created us, formed us, and made us for His glory; we were personally and corporately created, formed, and made for the glory of God.

Glory is the radiant expression of God; when we enjoy Him and are filled with His life, we express Him corporately.

Hallelujah, God created us as vessels to contain Him as the incomparable treasure (Rom. 9:21-23).

He is the treasure in our earthen vessels, and our vessel is being conformed to the treasure within us to express it and manifest it for God’s expression and representation.

When we are filled with God to overflowing, we become vessels of mercy unto honor and glory, for we are filled with the God of mercy unto fullness, and this results in honoring God and in glory to God. Hallelujah!

God is happy with the creation of man because man cooperates with God for the accomplishing of God’s good pleasure. It is man who can fulfill God’s purpose – man mingled with God and one with God; man is for and in God’s good pleasure!

Thank You, Lord, for creating us in Your image and according to Your likeness for Your good pleasure and delight. We open our vessel to You, dear Lord, and we come to You to be filled with You. Fill us with Yourself and saturate us with all that You are so that we may express You in Your image and represent You with Your dominion. Amen, Lord, may our vessel be filled to overflowing with God so that we may become the corporate expression of God on earth, thus fulfilling God’s heart’s desire, God’s good pleasure!

God is Happy with the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, the first God-man, who Fulfilled God’s good pleasure

When God Himself became a man, when the Lord Jesus was born in humanity, there was great joy in heaven; God is happy with the incarnation of Christ, for this One fulfils God’s good pleasure (Luke 2:9-14).

Christ is wonderful – altogether a wonder, incomprehensible, inexplicable, something beyond quantifiable human understanding.

As we read the Bible concerning Christ, we need divine revelation; we’re not here for mere information and mental understanding but to get more revelation that changes our life.

Jesus Christ is the Wonderful Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Eternal Father, and the Prince of Peace to be the unique Governor, and the government of the Triune God is upon His shoulder (Isa. 9:6-7).

If we bear some responsibility and feel that we’re being weighed down, this is because we need to pass these responsibilities to the One who can bear them. Christ bears the responsibility for the kingdom of God, for the church life, and for everything we do in our Christian life.

Christ is our Savior and our Emmanuel, the God-man, the One who is united, mingled, and incorporated with man (Matt. 1:21, 23; John 14:9-11, 16-20).

There are three words that describe our relationship with God: we are joined to Him in life, mingled with Him in nature, and incorporated with Him in person.

We have a union with Him in the divine life, our human nature is being mingled with His divine nature, and we are being incorporated with Him for Him to dwell in us and for us to dwell in Him.

God’s heart’s desire is seen in the incarnation of Jesus Christ; this One was not just good – He was a God-man!

And we are becoming the same as He is, for He is being reproduced in us.

When we believed in Jesus, incarnation was continued, for God was incarnated in us.

Now, day by day, He is using the environment to tear down every aspect of our natural being so that He can restructure us and rebuild us with all that He is in the Divine Trinity, so that we may be constituted with gold, silver, and precious stones (1 Cor. 3:12).

God Himself is becoming our goodness; we realize that we are not good at all, for even our own righteousness is like filthy rags in God’s sight.

Hallelujah, we are now on a journey into God – day by day we gain more of God and God gains more of us, until we become the same as He is!

When Christ was incarnated, God was so happy; in Luke 2 we see how some angels appeared and announced the good news to the shepherds – today the Savior has been born, who is Christ the Lord.

Christ was the Lord in eternity past, but now in time, in humanity, He is the Lord Jesus.

Hallelujah, a child is born to us, and His name will be called Emmanuel (Isa. 7:14); this is fulfilled in Matt. 1:23.

This One is Emmanuel, God with us; He is first with us in our spirit (2 Tim. 4:22), He is with us in our gatherings (Matt. 18:20), and He is with us until the consummation of the age (Matt. 28).

Hallelujah for this wonderful Christ, the One who fulfilled God’s good pleasure through His incarnation and human living on earth, and who lives the same kind of life in us today!

Praise You, Lord, for Your incarnation! Hallelujah, God became a man to become Emmanuel, God with us! Praise the Lord Jesus Christ who is our Wonderful Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Eternal Father, and the Prince of Peace! Christ is the unique Governor, and the government of the Triune God is upon His shoulder! We love You Lord Jesus, and we praise You for living a life for God’s good pleasure on earth. You are our Savior and our Emmanuel, the God-man, the One who is united, mingled, and incorporated with man! Praise the Lord Jesus Christ, God incarnated to be a man living a life for the satisfaction of God!

God is Happy with Christ’s Baptism to Fulfill all Righteousness so that He might live and minister in Resurrection

When Christ was baptised by coming to John the Baptist and being put in water by this one, the Father expressed His delight.

When He was baptized to begin His public ministry, the heavens were opened to Him, and a voice out of the heavens said, This is My Son, the Beloved, in whom I have found My delight (see Matt. 3:13-17).

God is happy with Christ’s baptism, for He took the standing of a typical man in the flesh, and He was baptized to fulfill all righteousness.

Christ allowed Himself to be put into death and resurrection so that He might live and minister in resurrection.

God is happy when we are baptized, for by baptism we take the standing of a man in the flesh good for nothing except death and burial, and we are put into death to be raised in resurrection and live in newness of spirit.

When we allow ourselves to be baptised, we are put into Christ, into the death of Christ, into the Body of Christ, and into the Triune God.

When we are raised from the baptismal water, we are in resurrection, where we walk in newness of life; God is happy with this – this is His delight.

God was happy with Christ’s baptism because Christ as a man fulfilled God’s righteousness, what He had ordained at that time.

Christ testified to the whole universe that, as a typical man, He was put into death so that all His living and work would be in resurrection.

He could have just started His ministry, He could have done everything He wanted, for He was God; however, Christ fulfilled all righteousness by allowing John the Baptist to baptize Him.

This shows that His life and ministry was through death and into resurrection, always applying the cross to Himself and living by the resurrection life.

This is pleasing to God, and He declared His joy at the time of the Lord’s baptism.

God is happy with the Resurrected and Glorified Christ – He takes Pleasure in the Resurrection and Glorification of His Son

The Lord Jesus once took Peter and James and John on the mountain (probably Mount Hermon) and was transfigured before them; His face shone like the brightness of the sun, and He was speaking with Moses and Elijah (see Matt. 17).

Then, after Peter suggested that they should make three tents there for each one of them, a cloud covered them and the Father testified, This is My Son, the Beloved, in whom I have found My delight. Hear Him! (Matt. 17:5). Wow!

This indicates that the Father is well-pleased in Christ, in particular in His transfiguration, for this was a foreshadowing of His resurrection.

God took pleasure in the resurrection and glorification of His Son (Luke 24:26).

He doesn’t want us to hear both the law and the prophets and the Lord Jesus; rather, He gives us Christ as the real Moses, the real Elijah, actually the embodiment of God, and we should hear Him only!

God is happy with the resurrected and glorified Christ; He is pleased when Christ is glorified and transfigured.

And today the transfiguration of the Son is the Spirit, for in resurrection Christ as the last Adam became a life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45).

The life-giving Spirit is the transfiguration of Christ, and this One makes God happy. Such a One is now in our spirit for us to enjoy, partake of, and live by.

God is happy with the resurrected and glorified Christ, and He takes pleasure in the resurrection and glorification of His Son. Hallelujah! This One is in us, and He makes us pleasing and acceptable to God!

God is Happy when His Prodigal Sons Return to Him – He is Eagerly Awaiting for His Prodigal Sons to Return!

Luke 15 speaks of ones who are saved initially by the Lord and also of those who are backslidden, who turned from Him, who are not as zealous as they used to be.

The prodigal son left his father’s house with his share of the inheritance and spent the money in a distant land on debauchery.

Then, a great famine came into the land, and he found himself working at a job in which he had to feed pigs; he ate what the pigs ate, even though they were unclean.

However, one day he came to himself, and he returned to his father. This is what is taking place with many sinners and backslidden believers – they come to themselves and they return to the Father.

Many saints are praying, and the Lord Himself is interceding, so that many sinners and backslidden ones would return to Him and to the church life.

As the Lord is praying and the saints are praying, the backsliding ones and the unbelievers come to their senses and return to the Lord; there is a feeling in them, Why am I so miserable here when there’s plenty of food and enjoyment in the church life, in the Father’s house?

When the prodigal son returns, the Father sees him from a long way off, and he runs to him; no doubt the Father was praying and waiting for the son to return.

God our Father is happy to see the prodigal sons return to Him! He even runs to meet them.

The prodigal son had a speech ready and started speaking, but the Father stopped him and asked his servants to bring the best robe, put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet, and kill the fattened calf to rejoice and be merry. Hallelujah!

When a prodigal son returns to God the Father and to the church life, He gives him Christ as the God-satisfying righteousness to cover him, the sanctifying Spirit that seals him, the power of God’s salvation to separate him from the dirty world, and the rich Christ killed on the cross for his enjoyment. Hallelujah!

We should not stop praying for the sinners around us and for those who have backslidden, those who left the enjoyment of Christ, for God’s good pleasure is to bring such ones back, and such a return causes the Father to be happy!

In the church life, we can eat, drink, and be merry with the all-inclusive, rich Christ who has become our portion.

Lord Jesus, we pray for many prodigal sons to return to the Father for God’s good pleasure to be satisfied! We pray for many who drew back, who turned from You, who are backslidden, and who are not as zealous as they used to be, that they would return to the Father and His house. Come in as the Spirit to seek out those who are lost and backslidden, and bring them back to the enjoyment of the Triune God in the Father’s house, the church life! Father, may You be satisfied by so many returning prodigal sons!

God is Happy when His Son is revealed in us and when We are Brought Fully into the Sonship of God

According to Gal. 1:15-16, God is happy when His Son is revealed in us. He has set us apart and chose us even from our mother’s womb, and He is pleased to reveal Christ in us! Hallelujah!

God is happy not only that we would know Christ but that we would have Him revealed in us. We need to contact the Lord and be open to Him so that we may receive a revelation of Christ.

God sent Christ not only to redeem us and bring us back to God; He has given Christ to us so that He may be revealed in us.

Since it is God’s good pleasure to reveal His Son in us, may we open to Him and ask Him to be revealed in us; it is His pleasure to do it, and He will do it.

God is pleased when we are fully brought into the sonship of God (Gal. 4:4-6; Eph. 1:4-5); He is pleased to have many sons that are the reproduction of Christ because these sons express Him and represent Him.

God sent Christ to die for us and He sent the Spirit of His Son into our heart so that we may be the sons of God, with Christ as our elder Brother, being conformed to the image of Christ.

The Son revealed in us has brought us into the meaning of the earth, of man, and of the incarnate, crucified, and resurrected Lord. Christ pleases God; when Christ is revealed in us and formed in us to make us children of God, even sons of God, God is happy.

God’s good pleasure is wrapped with us; when the Son of God is revealed in us, God is pleased.

When Christ is revealed in us, we know and realize what is the meaning of the earth, of man, of the incarnation, of crucifixion, and of resurrection – all these become our portion.

When Christ is revealed in us, we are brought into the meaning of all that God is and into the meaning of our human life. Praise the Lord for Christ being revealed in us!

Hallelujah, God is pleased to reveal His Son in us! Amen, Lord, grant us to have a fresh revelation of Christ, the Son of God! We open to You, dear Lord, to not only know You but also to have a fresh revelation of Christ. May Christ the Son be revealed in us, and may we be fully brought into the sonship of God. Amen, Lord, make us part of the Your corporate expression on earth today. May we have more and more revelation of the Son of God so that He may be lived in us and expressed through us!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, a message by bro. Ed Marks on this topic, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1978, vol. 2, “Life Messages, Volume 1,” chs. 33-38, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Meeting God’s Need and Present needs in the Lord’s Recovery, week 2, God’s Good Pleasure.
• Recommended further reading:
  – It is God’s intent and pleasure / To have Christ revealed in me, / Nothing outward as religion, / But His Christ within to be. (Hymns #538)
  – Hark! the herald angels sing, / “Glory to the new-born King; / Peace on earth, and mercy mild; / God and sinners reconciled.” / Joyful, all ye nations, rise, / Join the triumph of the skies; / With angelic hosts proclaim, / “Christ is born in Bethlehem.” (Hymns #84)
  – The Spirit is the Son’s transfiguration / Come into us as life the full supply. / Amazing fact, our spirit with the Spirit / Now mingles and in oneness joins thereby! (Hymns #608)