Philippians 2:13 - Wired for pleasure (The Glorious Dance of Joy)

"...for God is the [One] working in you both the to be wanting and the to be working for the good pleasure."

-amazing truth: the very thing which God wants most from me - to want Him and what He wants and to do just that - is exactly what He is faithfully and hard at work to produce in me.  the word for work is energeo, which give us our word, energy, and it is used twice here.  God is at work, He is energetically energizing.  and since He never sleeps and has limitless power, He is always at work.  the participle is present tense, so we are talking a about a continuous action. He is constantly, unceasingly at work in us.  God always supplies the energy and the power as well as the desire and will-power to do the things that He asks His people to do.  He is energizing us out of His limitless supply.  there is nothing He wants us to do that He is not going to provide the resources needed to both want to do it as well as to actually carry it out.  

-and here is where we find some motivation to obey with fear and trembling as paul mentioned in the previous verse.  remember that paul has just exhorted these believers to be working out the salvation they have received from God with fear and trembling.  fear and trembling are always present when God is present and shows off His power (cf ex 14.31), which makes total sense because here paul is telling us that in fact ‘God is the One’ Who IS present and is at work in us.  He is the God of ‘shock and awe’, the Almighty Eternal Holy God Who created the universe with a word - this God is the One working in me, energizing in me, in my heart and soul and life.  again, we’re not talking about some earthly parent or teacher or coach, or any other finite being.  the Sovereign Omnipotent King of the universe is always present in my life and faithfully working in me to give me the desire and energy and power to obey and do what He wants and to make His Name great (2pet 1.3, 2tim 1.7, col 1.28-29, eph 3.20, eph 1.19, 2cor 12.9, 2cor 4.7, 1cor 4.20, 1cor 2.4-5, rom 15.18-19, act 1.8)(note the end run of God displaying His power to and through His people - ex 9.16).  note how paul also prays for God’s power to be manifested in his life and the lives of others (2th 1.11, col 1.9-11, eph 3.16).

-there are two things most of us lack when it comes to fully loving and obeying God and doing the things that He wants: desire, and power.  most of us can relate to not having (or experiencing) enough power to do things like love Him with all our hearts and love our neighbors as ourselves and love our enemies and pray without ceasing, etc.  we are in fact powerless to do ANYTHING eternal or significant for the Lord apart from God’s supernatural enabling - all the power and ability to do the things that He wants comes from Him (jn 15.5).  but the thing that holds most of God’s people back as much if not more than lack of power is lack of desire.  much of the time we fall short of doing what He wants not because we lack power but rather because we lack will-power.  we lack the want-to, the desire.  because let’s be honest - typically, if i want something, or want to do something strongly enough, i will do it.  i will do what it takes, gather the resources, etc, in order to do it.  we’re talking about will-power, the want-to, which is exactly what God is ready to supply along with the power-to-do.

-’for [God’s] good pleasure’.  some versions (NIV, CEV, HCSB, NIRV) translate it as ‘good purpose’, but that is not what eudokia means.  why do they do that?  in doing so, they castrate it by removing the emotional component.  the literal meaning is to think well of something, but look at how the word and it’s verb form are used elsewhere - mt 11.26, rom 10.1, 1th 2.8, 2th 2.12.  the idea is being well-pleasing to Him, doing the things He wants and which bring Him pleasure.  we see God the Father twice saying out loud for all to hear how pleased He was with His Son (mt 3.17, mt 17.5).  there is most definitely emotion in that sentiment!  in the end of course there will be no greater joy than for one who followed Christ in this life to hear Him say, ‘well done’ and enter into the joy of their Master knowing that they have pleased Him (mt 25.21).  but what about right now, today?  what is it exactly that pleases God?  what gives Him pleasure?  

-God is indeed a God of pleasure (ps 16.11) - that is why we, having been created in His likeness, are also wired for pleasure.  from the very beginning of creation, God has woven pleasure and joy into the very fabric of creation (cf gen 2.9) - He is in the business of pleasure, creating it, pursuing it, spreading it around.  He clearly enjoys blessing others - making them happy, doing good to them and giving them pleasure.  consider, who is the One that created the sweetness of honey and the ability to taste it along with all the other amazing tastes there are in the world (cinammon, vanilla, sugar, chocolate)?  or who is the One that regularly paints the morning and evening skies with amazing beauty and created not only the ability to see it but also the capacity to enjoy it?  yes, the One Who created the rose, with all its splendor and fragrance, also engineered the nose.  or who is the One who created the physical attractiveness of man along with sex, and not only tied it to the ability of mankind to multiply and fill the earth (gen 1.28), but also designed it to be an experience of indescribable physical pleasure as well as one of intensely satisfying emotional and intellectual oneness?  our God is truly a God of pleasure.

-paul is talking about a glorious dance of joy, where the Creator King has infused the entirety of His creation with joyous goodness, has created His image-bearers with the capacity both to bring Him pleasure and to enter into His joy, and in spite of their subsequent rebellion then instills rebels who return to Him with the desire and ability to do the very things that bring Him great pleasure.

-we see throughout Scripture that God is very much a pleasure seeker.  thirty-nine times in moses - what is generally regarded as the most boring section of the entire Bible - we read about God’s people burning a sacrifice that made an aroma that was pleasing to the Lord (even before the law was given - cf gen 8.21).  it is interesting to consider how did that work?  did God actually smell the smoke given off by the burning and did that give Him pleasure?  and what happened to that, since we no longer find God’s people doing that?  does it no longer give Him pleasure?

-what we do learn from Scripture is that there is something that definitely has always and still today does please the Lord more than those burning sacrifices, and that is a heart that is fully devoted to Him, that wants Him and wants to do what He wants (1sam 15.22, hos 6.6, mk 12.33, mic 6.6-8, 2chr 16.9).  this God of pleasure made us for pleasure, made us for Himself, and has pursued us so that we could find our ultimate pleasure in Him (ps 16.11, ps 27.4), which in turn brings Him great pleasure.  He pursued the pleasure of gathering a people to Himself who He could particularly bless - with goodness, with Himself (jer 32.41, 1sam 12.22), and who would find their ultimate joy and satisfaction and pleasure in Him and in turn pass on the knowledge and experience of His goodness and blessings to others.  and what paul tells us here is that the God Who has gathered to Himself people who are trusting in and following Christ is faithfully giving each of them the desire and the power to do the very things which bring Him pleasure, to be devoted to Him and love Him with all of our hearts and to want Him and enjoy Him and to do the things that He wants us to do.  it is indeed a glorious dance of joy.