The Powerful Joyful Future is found in God

Jude 24-25 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, 25to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

Enjoying the already and the not yet

Joy occurs when we have confidently apprehended what we have hoped for.  Now when it comes to the events of the age to come, we understand from the scripture that even though Christ’s return and His coming kingdom have not yet taken place, yet at the same time we are getting the foretaste of those realities right now. 

"Right now" is spoken of in that first part of Jude 24, wherein we see the first reason why we can increase our joy over prophetic events by centering on the Word, namely because of…

THE POWER SOURCE OF YOUR JOY.

Now who is the power source of your joy?  Clearly God Himself is the one spoken of here, and more particularly God that is existing through the interacting relationship of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  In the September 5, 2005 edition of the Boston Globe, the question was asked: "how much energy does the sun put out in one second?"  The answer is astonishing: Enough energy to sustain our planet’s civilization for 500,000 years!  Now the Sun is huge, but it is of no comparison to the infinite power source we find from God communicating His unending power in union with the Living Word Jesus Christ.  Notice what Jude communicates about the believer’s unending power source for joy:

1. God’s Omnipotence – “To Him Who is Able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy”

2. God’s Omniscience – “to the only (wise) God”

3. God’s Omni benevolence (All goodness) – “be glory, majesty, dominion and authority”

4. God’s Omnipresence – before all time and now and forever. Amen”

This power source of your joy is experienced in and through the Living Word, for the text says about God’s unlimited power as being “through Jesus Christ our Lord.”  When we center ourselves upon the Living Word in terms of His soon return, our joy is truly fulfilled.  1 Peter 1:7-8 states -  “so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 8and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory.”

God the Father, through His co-equality with God the Son, as shared by the Holy Spirit, gives us the power source for our joy as we look forward to what is revealed in prophetic scripture.