Q: What is the joy of eternal life?

Good question. The joy of eternal life is Jesus. Let me explain. All people seek joy (happiness).
Blaine Pascal, the great mathematician, once wrote:

All men seek happiness. This is without exception. Whatever different means they employ, they all tend to this end. The cause of some going to war, and of others avoiding it, is the same desire in both, attended with different views. This is the motive of every action of every man, even of those who hang themselves.

All people seek joy. And they often try to find it in worldly things such as relationships, possessions, status or wealth. The Bible, however, teaches us that the ultimate, most satisfying joy comes from Jesus.

The most basic way to understand this truth is to recognize that apart from Christ, you and I deserve judgment and thus separation from the source of all things good (including joy): God. Jesus came on a mission to save us - not only from hell - but so that we can have joy in HIM. When we know we are loved, cherished and accepted by God in Christ, we do not need to seek other forms of joy. Indeed, we find joy in our children and careers, but they are not the ultimate source of our joy; Christ is! [If you've been attending our services, we've been going through the Gospel of John, which tells us that Jesus is the water that quenches all thirst and the food that eternally satisfies

Another truth is that eternal life does not start when you die; it starts now. You don't get the joy after you die. When you receive Christ, he fills you up with joy NOW. Even if sorrow and tragedy strike you, knowing that God loves you in Jesus and that one day you will be with Him in heaven (a place where there is no suffering, pain or sin) gives you this joy.

[Answered by Pastor HM]

Recommends: Dr. John Piper has done a wonderful job talking about joy in his message here. If you have some time, try to listen to some of the messages on joy by Pastor Mark Driscoll.

Q: Is Jesus a hedonist or an altruist?

Hedonism is the principle that life should be devoted to gaining maximum pleasure or happiness.

Altruism is unselfish concern for the welfare of others.

I believe Jesus was both. Jesus endured the cross ... for what reason? Hebrews 12:1-2 tells us He did it "for the joy that was set before him." Jesus found the greatest joy, peace and happiness in obeying God the Father. He was secure and satisfied enough in His Father's love that he was able to unselfishly love and give to others. In fact, the same Hebrews verse tells us that Jesus "endured the cross" despite shame for us. Sacrifical death is the ultimate act of altruism.

For further reading, I'd recommend Dr. John Piper's site. Among other things, Dr. Piper is known for his writing on Christian hedonism. His most famous work is entitled, Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist. Here is an excerpt from his website:

Nowhere in the Bible does God condemn people for longing to be happy. People are condemned for forsaking God and seeking their happiness elsewhere (Jeremiah 2:13). This is the essence of sin. The Bible actually commands us to delight in the Lord (Psalm 37:4). Jesus teaches us to love God more than money because our heart is where our treasure is (Matt. 6:21). Paul wants us to believe that gaining Christ is worth the loss of everything else (Phil 3:8) and the author of Hebrews exhorts us to endure suffering, like Jesus, for the joy set before us (Heb. 12: 1-2). Examine the Scriptures and you'll see this over and over again. Christian Hedonism is not a contradiction after all. It is desiring the vast, ocean-deep pleasures of God more than the mud-puddle pleasures of wealth, power or lust.

I'd also recommend this article.

[Answered by Pastor HM]

Q: I understand that us Christians should be excited for the return of Jesus, but is it a sin to want more time on earth?...

...Time to accomplish things such as making a family, graduating and going to places? If the world ends in 2012, does that mean that Jesus is coming in only a few years? If so, then what is the point to planning our future and going to school knowing that the world will be ending soon.


A: Thanks for sharing this thought with us! Let's break this question down a bit and we'll try to answer every little thing here.

First, the reasons of why you want more time on earth seem innocent enough. Who doesn't want to get married, have a family, travel places? I'm sure no one would argue with that. But in comparison to the coming of Christ, I would dare say that those plans (and all of our plans for that matter), pale in comparison to the glory that would be seen with Christ. I know we all want to have our time here and then go home (as in heaven) after we've had our fun. But that's not the way God works. So I would question whether you would want to honor and glorify God through that marriage, graduation or having a family. Or...do you just want to do those things because you feel as though they would bring YOU joy?

Secondm I asked myself where in the world did you get the idea that 2012 was going to be the day that the world would end? A quick google search answered that question! I understand that there are a lot of prophecies and teachings that tell us that this special day (12.12.12) would be the end times. Including a recent event in the news about a Bubble Boy and needing the money to build an undergrad lair to save him and his family. The truth is, is that we don't know when the end times would come. Jesus does not tell us exactly when He will come back.

The Bible is very clear to us as it says in Mark 13:31-33,

³²"No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. ³³Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come.

We wont know when Christ will come. Through the history of time, there has always been these theories that people say will be the end of the world. But if you believe in the Bible, and you believe the Word of God as true, the above passage needs to be your standard. Don't fall for what false prophets are saying. Listen to the one that is true.

If we don't know the time or place that Christ is coming, what is the point of planning our future if there's a possible He could come tomorrow?

First of all, I think it would pain God to see all of His children being sluggards, waiting for Him to come. We have been gifted with so many things in our life...they are most definitely supposed to be used to glorify Him! Second, God's commands and His word still stands, even in our anticipation of Christ's coming. It's kind of like people arguing why we need to stop sinning if we know that we'll always be sinners and God will forgive us. Just because we know that, does that mean we can stop trying to be better Christians or stop trying to strive to be like Christ? Of course not! We still are to aim our lives as models of Christ, even though we know that we'll never achieve that perfect standard. Do you write your test with the aim to just get only 70%? No...you write it with the mentality that you want to get 100%. And when you don't, you just work harder again next time!

You'll be interested to know that in the 1st Century - during the time of Paul - people in his community felt this way also. They had just witnessed the Crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ and had heard His promise that He would be returning. And so they (people during the Apostle Paul's time), believed that He would be coming back within their lifetime. And so they prepared themselves for His 2nd arrival. Obviously, Christ had not come yet, and so they had no choice but to go on with their lives and strives to live in the example of Christ.

[This is one of the reasons why we have the written Gospels and the writings of the New Testament. The Jewish culture is a very oral culture; as in they passed down stories not in writing, but verbally. When the people saw that Christ was not coming back any time soon, they felt it was necessary to preserve the truth in writing, so that the future generations would know what really happened. Hence, we have the Gospels and the Epistles.]

Since we do not know the day or hour in which Christ will come back again, we need to simply follow the commands set out for us in the Bible and also with the example given to us with Jesus. We need to still strive to submit and follow our Lord Jesus Christ.

[Answered by Pastor Kelly J. Tam]

Q: What is joy?

"What is joy? What is joy in the Bible? How many types of joy are there? Does joy equal to love? Is joy what makes Christians to be positive all the time?"

There are 5 questions here, all related to JOY. I'll try to answer them briefly and point you to a few online articles that may help you study this topic further.

1. What is joy? Joy is the feeling of deep satisfaction and happiness.

2. What is joy in the Bible? Pastor John Piper wrote a great article about this. Read it HERE (You have to scroll to the middle to where he answers the question, "What is Christian joy?"). In summary, he says Christian joy is...

1. Not an act of will-power, but a spontaneous, emotional response of the heart.
2. Not superficial and flimsy, but deep and firm.
3. Not natural, but spiritual.

What makes Christian joy different than other forms of joy, the author argues, is that it INCREASES in the midst of pain and suffering. This is because our satisfaction and happiness comes from God. It comes from knowing that God loves us. Even though we are sinners and do not deserve his love, God sent his Son to die for us (Col. 1:23). This is the SOURCE of our joy! As a result, we do not need to find our joy in our success, wealth, reputation, relationships, etc. In other words, when these earthy things are lost, we can still be joyful!

Additionally, Christian joy is different than other forms of joy because it comes from the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:22). When the Spirit lives inside us, it produces a supernatural joy that is indestructible, and impervious from circumstances (Luke 6:20-26).

3. How many types of joy are there? By definition, joy is an emotion of deep satisfaction. And thus there is only one kind of joy. However, there are many different things from which we can obtain joy. For instance, you can obtain joy from shopping. Likewise, you can obtain joy from being popular. Yet the Bible tell us that any joy that is rooted in worldly things (i.e. NOT God) will not last (Matthew 13:20-21).

4. Does joy equal to love? Joy is not the same as love, but they are part of one another. Christian joy, after all, is the satisfaction of loving Jesus and believing him. In other words, joy is a consequence of loving someone.

5. Is joy what makes Christian to be positive all the time? Yes and no. Christians should be positive about the circumstances no matter how good or bad they are. This is because our satisfaction (i.e. our joy) lies in God, not in ourselves or the things that happen to us.

However, this does not mean Christians should not grieve, mourn or be sad. We should be very sad when trouble comes into our lives. There are times of grieving in the Christian life.

Yet, at the end of the day, we should be joyful as we do have hope. What is hope after all? It is the confident expectation of good things to come (Hebrews 6:11). In Christ, we have hope. As a result of hope, we can love God and have joy.

Hope this helps answer your thoughtful question.

[Answered by Pastor HM, who is joyful in Christ]