Paradoxical Pleasure

“Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.”

Matthew 10:39

“But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.  More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and do count them but rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ…” Philippians 3:7-8

From the moment of conversion to Christ until the final day, followers of Jesus live a life that is typified by paradox: the weak are strong, the poor are rich, those most in debt to God have the most to give away.  Conversion is the moment where you see you’ve been wrong all your life, and you couldn’t be more happy about it.  From that point on we experience our greatest joy through embracing our weakness and need as the continual context for experiencing Christ’s fullness.  Looking away from our self we discover our highest fulfillment in Him.

From the time I first began to recognize God as the Exceeding Joy (Psalm 43) I have discovered ever more deeply the paradoxical nature of pursuing our highest happiness.  It is something we can never earn or deserve.  It is a gift.  We cannot achieve it but it is so great we must let go of everything to fully take hold of it.  It is free to us because it cost someone else infinitely.  Jesus paid the price and Jesus is the happiness.

God’s love is His relentless pursuit of our highest happiness by whatever means necessary.  Our highest happiness is knowing Him—He is His own greatest gift. (John 17:3) The necessary means has already cost Him everything.  And now, “He who did not spare His own Son, but freely gave Him up for us all, will He not with Him freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:32) Yes, everything we need for our deepest enjoyment of Him, the all-surpassing Joy.  Jesus is worth more than anything.  He is before all things and above all things.  When you see that Christ is worth more than anything, but that He gave up everything so that you could have Him, and that He could have you…then your heart is freed to let go of inferior things to take hold of Him—to esteem Him and relationship with Him above all else.  “…May it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of my Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world was crucified to me, and I to the world.” (Galatians 6:14) A fresh view of this reality through the Spirit is the daily battle of the Christian life.

God’s love evokes a striving to receive all that is freely given in Christ.  The heart of the Christian life is not sacrificial service, but unmerited receiving. With this foundation, selfless service inevitably flows, but even it becomes a means of receiving (i.e. “My food is to do the will of the Father, and accomplish His work.” John 4:34).  True Life is a soul astir with the wonder of God’s love in Christ.  A life compelled by grace.  A life constrained by the wonder of enjoying Christ and making Him known.  A heart that has tasted ultimate satisfaction and is hungry for so much more.  It is a life of paradoxical pleasure. Compared to that, all else is, to paraphrase the great apostle, a hill of beans.

“Fight the good fight of faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called…”
(1 Timothy 6:12)

Expressing your love helps deepen it.  Sharing the joy of what you’ve found increases your own, and that is why this blog exists.