I will rejoice in doing them good and will assuredly plant them in this land with all my heart and soul. (Jeremiah 32:41)
When was the last time you thought about our Savior Jesus rejoicing? Well, our Redeemer rejoices over us and delights in doing good to us with all His heart and soul. To be sure, with all our imperfections, we can find no reason within ourselves that would cause this to be true. Yet our Redeemer rejoices to meet us in our deepest place of need!
In the beginning, our Redeemer rejoiced over all that He had made in the heavens and in the earth, and He declared with infinite wisdom that is was not just “good,” but “very good” (Genesis 1:31). And of all that He made, He made only mankind in His image. Not even the angels know this blessed gift from God. They are included in the “very good,” but they are not made in the very image of God.
Did you ever stop to think that when a third of the angels rebelled and fell from heaven, followed by the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, it was not the angels that God came after with His redeeming love? As the author of the letter to the Hebrews said —
Surely it is not angels he helps, but Abram’s descendants. (Hebrews 2:16)
Let that truth greatly encourage you today! Let it lift you up above any waves of challenge that are coming against you. Let that truth set you free to rejoice in your Redeemer, because He continually rejoices in doing you good. Now, the “good” you may be hoping for and the good you actually receive from His hand may be two distinctly different things. But is your Redeemer not in the best position to know what is best for you? And does He not know best how to deliver it?
I cannot find a verse in sacred Scripture that describes our Redeemer as rejoicing in the sun, moon, or the stars. But time and time again we read how God rejoices over those who bear His image. I pray that our passage for today and these words from the prophet Zephaniah will act as bookends to strengthen your belief in just how deeply you are loved and how much your Redeemer rejoices over you.
The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing. (Zephaniah 3:17)
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
Grace for the Race 