Those who enjoy conundrums love to pose the question, what came first, the chicken or the egg? For those of us who are creationists, the answer if easy. God created chickens, giving them the ability to reproduce themselves. We face a similar question when it comes to our relationship with God.
Does Father God delight in us because we do the things that please him, or do we do what pleases him because he delights in us? The Bible gives us the answer: the chicken comes before the egg.
John tells us that we are able to love God because he first loved us.
This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. 1 John 4:10 (NLT)
Paul wrote that God loved us when we were still his enemies.
For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. Romans 5:10 (NLT)
In fact, God loved us before he created the world, predating anything we might ever do to win his favor.
Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. Ephesians 1:4 (NLT)
There is only one way for us to be without fault. God exchanged our sin and guilt for Christ’s perfect righteousness.
For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:21 (NLT)
Since God accomplished all this on our behalf before we were ever born, we know that his delight in us has nothing to do with our performance and everything to do with his beloved Son. God first loved us to enable us to love him back. The chicken came before the egg.
Father God declared his delight in his Son before he began his public ministry.
After his baptism, as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.” Matthew 3:16-17 (NLT)
Father God’s love and delight in his Son launched him into a ministry that further delighted his Abba. Jesus delighted to do Father’s will and only did what pleased him. (John 8:28)
When we are born again, the Spirit of Christ indwells us, motivating us from within to please God, but first we must understand that we are already pleasing before we ever do anything.
Our ability to bring pleasure to our heavenly Father is based on the perfect right standing we have with him because of our position in Christ. What is true of Jesus is true for us.
God delights in us because he delights in the One who lives inside us.
The Holy Spirit works inside each born again person transforming us into people who love God and desire to please him.
For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him. Philippians 2:13 (NLT)
We try to please God, not to gain his favor, but because we already have his favor.
This is the profound difference between grace and legalism. Legalists become weary and frustrated by the vain attempt to be good enough to please God. God renews the strength of those who trust in his free gift of righteousness and operate out of the resting place of faith.
When we learn to rejoice in God’s delight in us, we will be motivated to serve him.
Likewise, we parents must make it a first priority to let our children know how much they delight us just because of who they are. We may not like everything they do, but our love for them transcends all that. The better job we do at communicating delight to to our family, friends, and co-workers, the more likely they are to respond positively. All of us desperately need to be loved. Do unto others…
