(upbeat music) - Podcast listener Dawn writes in to ask this, "Pastor John, when you say God is most glorified in us "when we are most satisfied in Him, "could you substitute the word by for in? "It seems easier to understand "if you say God is most glorified by us "when we are most satisfied by Him." So what do you think about this change up in words, Pastor John?

(laughing) - Oh my, I love words. And they are so slippery and so, connotations and denotations are so different. But here we go, Dawn, let me give a try to why I, after thinking through the possibility of going with your suggestion, God is most glorified by us when we are most satisfied by Him.

I am gonna stay with in, and I've got reasons in both halves. I think it communicates what I wanna communicate better than by, so let me try to explain. First, it might be helpful just to make sure everybody knows what I mean by that sentence. God is most glorified in us when we're most satisfied in Him.

I don't mean that there aren't any other ways to glorify God than being satisfied in Him. I mean that if that is missing, then He's not glorified most. Something very important is missing. And I don't mean God doesn't get glory from the lives of unbelievers in certain ways who aren't finding any satisfaction in Him, because they're reflecting the image of God in which they were created, even if they don't believe that.

And even if they turn out to be objects of God's wrath because of their unbelief and rebellion, that will reflect His justice and the glory of His justice. So I'm not talking about how God is glorified in unbelievers who don't find satisfaction in God. I'm talking about us, us.

God is most glorified in us, believers, when we are most satisfied in Him. In other words, if a believer thinks being satisfied in God emotionally is a marginal issue or a merely optional issue, he is gravely mistaken because he's indifferent to how he can show God to be more glorious.

You ought not to be indifferent to something that shows God to be more glorious. And the reason God is most glorified in us when we're most satisfied in Him is that the way God designed emotions to work is that way. A boss who is obeyed at work, but not enjoyed, not admired, we all know he's not honored as much as if he were both obeyed and enjoyed.

That's what emotions say. That's the way God set them up to work. It says, "You have remarkable qualities that make me glad to obey you." And those remarkable qualities that add gladness to the obedience give him more honor and more glory than if he only was obeyed. So that's what I mean by the sentence.

Now, why use the word in instead of by? Let's just start with the second half. When we are most satisfied in Him, not satisfied by Him. And the reason is that the word by Him could mean he's the one who satisfies us with something other than himself. A teenager might say, "I got to go to the game with my friends and that satisfied me." And then he could add, "And my dad drove us to the game so that I was satisfied by the game and I was thus satisfied by my dad." But the dad wasn't the satisfaction.

The dad was just the means to get the satisfaction in the game. And that's emphatically not what I want to say. So if I say, "When we are most satisfied by God," it's possible someone might take me to mean that God is the one who's given me such good gifts in my life, my marriage, my family, my job, and those satisfy me so much and therefore I've been satisfied by God giving me those gifts in which I find so much pleasure.

Now, I don't want anybody to take me to mean that, even though it's good to enjoy God's gifts. I don't mean to say that. So I say, "When we are satisfied in God," that is, God himself is the object of the satisfaction, not just the supplier of the object of the satisfaction.

So that's the reason I want to use it in the second half. Now, in the first half, "God is most glorified in us," instead of "God is most glorified by us," they almost, almost are identical in meaning in my mind. And so I just used in because it sounds better to have in in both halves rather than by in one half and in in the other half.

However, there is a slight difference that I think would make me want to have it anyway. The word in, when you use it in the first half, "God is most glorified in us," takes the focus off of my intentionality to glorify him. When I say, "God is glorified in us," I'm not calling any attention to our intention to glorify him in that moment.

Whereas, "God is most glorified by us" does seem to call attention to our intention to glorify him. And you would ask, rightly, well, why in the world would it be bad to call attention to our intention to glorify God? And here's the problem. This is why words are so delicate.

Glorifying God by enjoying him can't be intentional in the moment of the enjoyment of God. That's not the way pleasure works. Try it. I mean, just try it right now. Say, "Okay, soul, my intention right now is to glorify God. So now, go ahead, soul, rejoice in him." It doesn't work.

The nature of the emotions is that they are psychological ends in themselves if they are authentic. For example, you can't authentically fear in order to make a bear charging you look terrifying. You can't do it for that reason. You can't say, "Okay, now, I'm supposed to feel fear right now because I want people to know that I am making much of the horrible look on that bear's face as he charges me.

So go ahead, heart, fear in order to make him look terrifying." Emotions are not that kind of thing. So either fear wells up in you at the approach of the bear or it doesn't, and you can't make it intentional. You can't authentically feel sorrow in order to help a grieving person feel loved.

So you want to say, "Well, I'd like that person to feel loved right now, and I'm not feeling any sorrow for their loss. So soul, we want to make them feel loved. So right now, would you feel sorrow, soul?" It doesn't work. If the loss in that person's life doesn't make you feel sorrow authentically right now without any intentionality to do anything for them, just because you feel sorrow, then you're not going to be able to communicate love to that person.

Emotions don't work like that. Neither does joy in God, in God. If God's glory, His love, His power, wisdom, justice, truth, and all of His other glorious attributes, if they don't awaken spontaneous joy in God, you can't pause and say, "Well, God Himself doesn't awaken joy in me, but I know I'm supposed to glorify Him.

So now soul, start rejoicing in Him." That's just not the way it works. So that's what I want to avoid by not using the word "by," but using the word "in." God is most glorified in us. I'm not calling any attention to my intentionality in that moment, because in that moment, it's okay to intend to glorify God with our emotions.

I do that. Right now, I'm talking to you. I'm intending that in the future days, I hope John Piper will be so happy in God, people will see God as glorious. But in the very moment of the pleasure of God in worship or in devotions or in some sight of His glory, in the gospel, in that moment, there's no standing outside yourself and saying, "I'm doing that," in order to make that God look great.

So my answer is I'm sticking by "in," in both halves for those reasons, and maybe some more that I can't even remember. Very well put. Thank you, Pastor John. At Desiring God, we believe joy is not optional. It's essential. And if this is new to you, I would invite you to watch a little four-minute video we have at our site.

Go to DesiringGod.org and click on the About tab at the top of the screen. There you can find a short film, a little introduction to who we are and what we're all about. Well, speaking of our joy in God, if God is all that we need, then why was God not enough for Adam in the garden?

Why was it not good for him to be alone? It's an important relational question, and we'll address it tomorrow. I'm your host, Tony Reinke. Thanks for listening to the Ask Pastor John podcast. (silence) (silence) (silence)