God's LoveSample

Love Rejoices with the Truth

In 2011, the Dallas Mavericks won the world championship in basketball. No one expected them to win. But they won, and they won in a big way. All of Maverick fandom rejoiced and celebrated the Mavericks stunning victory. Watching this reminded me of the great rejoicing in heaven that takes place when truth wins out in our lives. 

Luke speaks of this joy in his story of the lost sheep in Luke 15. "Suppose one of you has 100 sheep and loses one of them? Does he not leave the 99 in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me. I have found my lost sheep.’ And I tell you that in the same way, there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who do not need to repent" (Luke 15:4-7).

Think about the day you responded to the truth of the Gospel. The victory Jesus won over sin and death became yours. You were free, alive, clean, forgiven and new in Christ. This stunning triumph of truth in you sparked a grand heavenly celebration…a party to celebrate and rejoice because of your newfound joy in Jesus.

God took no delight that you were lost and a slave to sin and death. That was never his desire for you. In love, he sought you out and revealed the truth of his love and grace to you. Paul put it this way in his second letter to the Thessalonians: "But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, through belief in the truth." 

What happened when you believed the truth? You were saved and heaven rejoiced. John 8:32, 36 gives this wonderful promise, "You will know the truth and the truth will set you free…So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” The truth liberates the soul. 

Sin and death kept you down until truth entered in. The triumph of freedom in your heart delighted God the Father. As John wrote in his third letter, "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in truth" (3 John 1:4).

Your belief in the truth—Jesus - delighted the Father. And now this truth "abides in you and will be with you forever" (2 John 1:2). The day you believed, love rejoiced with the truth.