Is God Happy?

To be godly is to resemble God. If God were unhappy, we’d need to pursue unhappiness, which sounds as fun as cultivating an appetite for gravel.

Fortunately, however, God doesn’t condemn or merely tolerate our desire to be happy; He gave us that longing. Through the Cross, He granted us the grounds and capacity to be happy forever. He encourages us here and now to find happiness in the very place it comes from—Him.

In one sense, the idea that happiness began with God isn’t exactly right. Because if happiness is part of who God is, then happiness didn’t “begin” at all—it has always been, since God has always been.

In Isaiah’s prophecy about the coming of Jesus, the Father says, “Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights” (Isaiah 42:1). For the Father to be well pleased and delighted with His Son means He finds great happiness in Him.

Likewise, the Son and the Holy Spirit had every reason for total delight in each other and with the Father from before the dawn of time (see John 17:24 and 1 Peter 1:20).

Steve DeWitt writes, “Before you ever had a happy moment, or your great-grandparents had a happy moment, or Adam and Eve had a happy moment—before the universe was even created—God the Father and God the Son and God the Spirit were enjoying a perfect and robust relational delight in one another.”

This video, “The Happiness of God,” is the third in a series that was filmed to accompany the Happiness Bible Study Book and reflect the content of my Happiness book. (See my previous blogs for the first two videos. All six videos are available on our website as a free resource. You might consider sharing them with your small group or church!)