What Makes Heaven Happy? Series

In the Bible there is a connection between light and truth. God gives every person a measure of light, or truth about Himself–even if they don’t have a Bible. They can look at creation and understand Someone superior and intelligent designed it all. They can look within and understand that every person is born with a sense of right and wrong–and understand there must be a moral absolute in the Universe. Everybody has some light. If you walk toward the light, God gives you more and more light about Jesus. If you walk away from the light, the Bible says in Romans 1 that your understanding becomes darkened. In addition to being light,

2. Jesus died to sweep out your dirt

The lost coin was somewhere on the floor, and the best way to find it was to take a broom and sweep up all the dirt. In the process of cleaning every square inch of the floor, the woman found the coin. There’s a great lesson here as well. In addition to giving you light, Jesus desires to cleanse your life of all the dirt and filth accumulated there. He died on the cross so your sins could be forgiven. We read in I John 1:7, “And the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”

I believe the old hymn that says, “There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel’s veins and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.” I don’t understand how the blood of Jesus can cleanse a sinful heart any more than I can understand how a brown cow can eat green grass and give white milk! I just know the Bible says there is cleansing power in the blood of Jesus. Before you can be found, you need the light of the Lord and the cleansing power of the Lord.

In all three of these parables, the single theme that emerges is

III. THE JOY OF SALVATION: HEAVEN REJOICES OVER EVERY CHANGED LIFE

The jubilant shepherds called his friends and they rejoiced over the little lamb that was lost and is now found. The woman was so overjoyed when she recovered her lost coin she plans a party to celebrate it. Even so, Jesus said there is joy in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who repents.

In his book, Just Like Jesus, Max Lucado wrote: “Let one child consent to be dressed in righteousness and begin the journey home and heaven pours the punch, strings the streamers, and throws the confetti...when a soul is saved, the heart of Jesus becomes the night sky on the Fourth of July, radiant with explosions of cheer.” (Just Like Jesus, by Max Lucado, p. 143)

Let me share with you WHY heaven rejoices over a single person who repents.

1. The happiest experience of life is to be rescued by God

Remember, the saddest experience of life is to be spiritually lost–but to be found and rescued by God is the most joyous experience. I believe we should be more excited about our own salvation. You cannot lose your salvation, but sadly, many people have lost the joy of their salvation. We read in I Peter 1:8-9, “Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”