GOD’S WORD FOR AUGUST 15~ ~ Psalm 37:4~ ~ “Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. “

From the book, “We Shall See God”—sermons from Charles H. Spurgeon and Randy Alcorn

“JOY IN THE NEW CREATION”

SPURGEON:

Emotions are not limited to our experience on earth; in fact, we will feel things even more intensely in heaven.  The difference is that our feelings will be redeemed and no longer under the curse.  At last, our joy will be unbounded, our laughter unrestrained.

Psalm 104:5-15

“You who laid the foundations of the earth,

So that it should not be moved forever,

You covered it with the deep as with a garment;

The waters stood above the mountains.

At Your rebuke they fled;

At the voice of Your thunder they hastened away.

They went up over the mountains;

They went down into the valleys,

To the place which You founded for them.

You have set a boundary that they may not pass over,

That they may not return to cover the earth.

He sends the springs into the valleys;

They flow among the hills.

They give drink to every beast of the field;

The wild donkeys quench their thirst.

By them the birds of the heavens have their home;

They sing among the branches.

He waters the hills from His upper chambers;

The earth is satisfied with the fruit of Your works.

He causes the grass to grow for the cattle,

And vegetation for the service of man,

That he may bring forth food from the earth,

And wine that makes glad the heart of man,

Oil to make his face shine,

And bread which strengthens man’s heart.”

These bodies, given life by His Spirit who dwells in us and united to souls purified and refined, shall one day tread upon an earth delivered from the curse, and shall live beneath new heavens.  (Isaiah 65:17-19).  have they not new desires?  They shall tread a new earth, for they have new ways.

In this first creation of God we still live in, there is something pure and elevating in enjoying God as the creator of ordinary things.  Much more is there something bright and pure and spiritually exhilarating in rejoicing in God’s higher works, in His spiritual works, in His new creation.  I believe that if a man feels within him a new heart and rejoices in his new birth; if he sees in others new and holier lives and rejoices in them; if he listens to the preaching of the gospel and discovers in it new and better principles such as the old, worn-out world never could have discovered—why, that man is a grace-filled man.

The heart that can rejoice in the new creation is a heart that is itself renewed, or else it would not comprehend spiritual things and could not rejoice in them.  I invite you, therefore, dear friends—you who see and know and somewhat appreciate the new creation in its beginnings—to rejoice in it tonight.

It is a delightful thing that God should make a tree and bid it come forth in the springtide with all its budding beauty.  It is a far better thing that God should take a poor, thorny heart like yours and mine and transform it till it becomes like the fir tree or pine tree to His praise.

It is a charming sight when bulbs that have slept underground through the winter hold up their golden cups to be filled with the glory of the returning sun.  But how much better that hearts that have lain dead in trespasses and sins should be loved by the secret touch of the Spirit of God to welcome the Sun of righteousness and to rejoice in Him!!!

God’s new creation, even in its beginnings here and now, is something to delight one’s soul in.  I pray you, delight yourselves therein.  Behold, in the creation of a new heart, the manifest finger of God!

The attributes of God are to be seen in the visible creation, but they are to be seen in a brighter and superior light in the new creation.  There is not one of the attributes of God which has no illustration under God’s revelation of His grace.  You shall be happy in your whole being if you can fully rejoice in that which God creates.

There is one reason why you are called upon to rejoice in it;  namely, that you are a part of it. When the angels saw God making this world, they sang together and shouted for joy.  But they were not a part of this lower world.  They had nothing to do with man’s estate, except as a matter of sympathy.  But as for this new creation of our gracious God, you and I, beloved, who have believed in Jesus, are part of it.

That same grace, which has energized others into new life, has energized us.  The same Spirit, who has given new principles and new desires to others, has given them to us also.  The Father has regenerated us by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.  We are the central beings of the new creation, and so let us rejoice in it with all our soul, mind and strength.

I know, when I lay sick and tormented in  body, it seemed always to be such a joy to me that I myself—my inner self, my spirit—has been newly created.  My nobler part could rise above the suffering and soar into the pure heavens of the spiritual realm.  I said of this poor body, “You have not yet been newly created.  The venom of the old serpent still taints you.  But you shall yet be delivered.  You shall rise again if you die and are buried, or you shall be changed if the Lord should suddenly come today.  You, poor body, which drags me down to the dust in pain and sorrow, even you shall rise and be made remade in the redemption of the body.  For the new creation has begun in me, with God’s down payment of His Spirit.”

Oh beloved, can’t you rejoice in this?  I encourage you to do so.  Rejoice in what God is doing in this new creation!  Let your whole spirit be glad!  Leap down, you waterfalls of joy!  Overflow with gladness!  Let loose the torrents of praise.!

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Psalm 8:3-4

When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,

The moon and the stars, which You have ordained,

What is man that You are mindful of him,

And the son of man that You visit him?

Hebrews 11:3

By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.

Psalm 19:1-2

The heavens declare the glory of God;

And the firmament shows His handiwork.

Day unto day utters speech,

And night unto night reveals knowledge.

Psalm 92:4

For You, Lord, have made me glad through Your work; I will triumph in the works of Your hands.

Psalm 138:8

The Lord will perfect that which concerns me; Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever; Do not forsake the works of Your hands.

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