Glorifying God Through Joy

I preached a message on Romans 15 a few months ago. Following are some of the thoughts that came out of that study. As I honed in on what I determined to be the key verse of that text, 15:7 - "Therefore, receive one another, just as Christ also received us, to the glory of God", it caused me to ask what receiving one another for the glory of God meant there. In order to answer that question I was forced to look at Romans 14 because this context is the key to understanding what “receiving one another” means here. In looking back at chapter 14 I realized that it is a Christian liberty issue. The stronger and weaker brothers both have an obligation to one another. As I was thinking further about what the second half of the verse meant, “to the glory of God”, it became evident to me that this text was a perfect example of the Biblical idea of Christian hedonism. Here I see in several places in this passage (Romans 14:1-15:13) the idea of the glory of God and the joy of His people so intermingled that it is hard to determine which is which. Of course, I think, and believe it can be argued on the basis of this text, that those two ends are actually one. Romans 15:7b-13 would be one argument and very forceful used by itself. But the force of the argument (that God’s passion for His glory and my desire to be satisfied are not at odds, but are actually one and the same goal) is increased even more when you consider the context of Romans 14, dealing with eating meat offered to idols, drinking wine, and observing certain days and its parallel with 1 Corinthians 10:23-31. Paul is talking about the same thing in this passage, namely, eating meat offered to idols. The phrase that caught me was Romans 14:16-17. "Therefore do not let what is for you a good thing be spoken of as evil; for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." In other words, the main thing in Christianity is not rules and regulations about what we should be eating or drinking it is "righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit." That sounds like joy to me. Christianity is about joy. This made me think back to 1 Corinthians 10:31. What does that say, in the context of the exact same issue? "Therefore, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." So it is not about eating or drinking, but about glorifying God. I do not think that it is a stretch to say that these are parallel passages, especially in light of the obvious contextual similarities (they are dealing with the exact same issue). If they are parallel, then you could use these terms interchangeably and make this statement about these verses: They are saying the same thing, namely, that Christianity is not about making rules regarding what can and cannot be eaten or what can and cannot be drank. Christianity is about glorifying God through righteousness, joy, and peace. Christianity is about being happy in God because God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him. Even if one were not convinced as I am about this parallel and the consequent connection I have made, Romans 15:7b-13 are pretty convincing verses in themselves. Praise God that my longing for happiness is not at odds with His passion for His own glory. What a freeing truth! Oh Lord, help me live for your glory by fighting for righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit!