Not Weeping and Gnashing of Teeth

We had a healthy conversation at Kuyperian Camaraderie last Monday about the relationship of holiness and happiness. Between the two, what should a husband want most for his wife? Going up a level, what is God’s ultimate desire for us?

The communion table is a great place to consider the question.

Before Genesis 1:1, was God one or both or more of one than the other? Holy? Happy?

When creation is finally redeemed, when all the saints are glorified and all the rebels under punishment, will the eternal state include one or both or more of one than the other?

In the between time, as we eat the bread and drink the cup by faith, should we be more concerned with being right before God (holy) or rejoicing in God (happy)?

Can a Christian (consistently) be one without the other? Is (full to fuller) holiness for the Christian possible without a sense of gladness? Is happiness (along the spectrum of intensity) possible for a Christian without the moral virtues that belong with a saint?

We are asking both ways because we know that Christians tend to get it wrong in both directions. The Corinthians addressed in 1 Corinthians 11 seemed to be partying in such a way that was selfish and inconsistent with the cross. And also, some Christians seem to live set apart to the cross like Jesus is still on it, not risen from the grave on the third day.

Your happiness here will be hollow without holiness. Also, your holiness here should not look like weeping and gnashing of teeth.