Why God is Smiling at You

There’s a growing tendency among Christians to believe God is smiling or frowning at us based on our Christian performance. We read His Word. We pray for the missionaries. We thank Him for breakfast, and so He smiles down at us as we begin our day.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

This thinking assumes we can somehow earn God’s approval—something foreign to what we believed the day we were saved.

But the Gospel wasn’t written for the day of salvation only. This good news should guard every day.

God is pleased with us based on what Christ did for us; never because of what we do for God.

Jesus cried out with a loud voice from the Cross and asked, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 

The Father turned His back on His Son, because at that moment our sin was placed on Him. And God couldn’t look.

He couldn’t smile on His Son. Instead, His wrath was poured out—the wrath we deserved.

Why did God forsake His Son?

So He could smile at you and me, though we sin every day.

God is smiling at us, because our sin was already judged when God turned His back on His Son.

Christian “performance” is the joyful way we smile back.

“His own self bore our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness.” ~ 1 Peter 2:24

Click Here to listen to the next lesson in the series on “The Words from the Cross”: Jesus Forsaken and Thirsty