Cultivating JoyIhe Atụ

Joy Is Having a Future

Something that brings me great joy is being out enjoying God’s creation. And of course we can and should celebrate creation with joy! The Old Testament psalmists did it with great energy and beauty. But the Bible doesn’t only talk about human beings rejoicing in creation. It tells us that the whole of creation itself rejoices and praises God. 

At the same time, we know that creation in its present state is not how it will fully become by God’s power. The earth is cursed because of our sin—and the whole of creation is frustrated in its purpose of bringing praise and glory to God (Romans 8:20). But not forever! The Bible tells us that God’s plan of redemption includes the whole creation. It is not that we will someday be saved out of the earth, but that we will be saved along with creation. 

This is a biblical truth that goes back to the Old Testament. Isaiah tells us that God is already busy creating a new heaven and a new earth, and the way he portrays it is filled with wonder, joy, satisfaction, and safety (Isaiah 65:17-25). In the light of that great hope, some psalms look forward to the whole creation rejoicing together, when God comes to put things right. 

Paul tells us, in that amazing survey of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, God’s Son, that the whole of creation (“all things in heaven and earth”) have been created by him, are sustained by him, and have been reconciled to God by him through the blood of his cross (Colossians 1:15-20). The joy of creation is Christ-centered from beginning to end, and the means by which we are saved (the cross of Christ) is the means by which also creation will be restored. Surely that multiplies our joy by the number of grains of sand on the shore and stars in the sky! 

And the Bible ends in Revelation not with us going up and away to some other destination but with God coming down to dwell with redeemed humanity in the new creation. So then, since we are destined to share the joy of creation, and since creation is destined to share in our joy, then we can experience that joy now as we anticipate it. Joy is filled with hope for a wonderful future for the whole creation, including ourselves.

From Cultivating the Fruit of the Spirit by Christopher J. H. Wright.