OBJECTS OF GOD’S DELIGHT AND PLEASURE
What a privilege this is! It certainly includes being justified before God, but the word “acceptance” in the original Greek goes even further. It means that we are not only cleared of guilt but are the objects of God’s delight and pleasure. How amazing that we—frail, sinful human beings—should be the focus of divine love! But notice, this is true only “in the Beloved.”
Some Christians, however, base their sense of acceptance on their feelings. When their spirits are lifted and their hopes are bright, they believe God accepts them—because they feel so spiritual, so full of heaven, so lifted above the earth. But when they feel low, when their hearts cling to the dust, they begin to fear that God no longer accepts them.
If only they understood that their joyful experiences don’t make them any more accepted, and their moments of discouragement don’t make them any less accepted before God! Our acceptance rests solely in Christ—the One who never changes, who is always the Beloved of the Father, who is always perfect, spotless, and pure. How much happier and more secure we would be if we fixed our eyes on Him, and how much more honor we would bring to our Savior!
So rejoice in this truth, believer: you are accepted in the Beloved. Look within yourself and you may say, “There’s nothing acceptable here.” But look at Christ, and you will see everything that pleases God. Your sins may trouble you, but God has already cast them behind His back—you are accepted in the Righteous One. You may still battle with sin and temptation, but you are accepted in Him who has already conquered every power of evil. Satan may tempt you, but take courage—he cannot destroy you, because you are accepted in Him who has crushed the serpent’s head.