Eudokeo (εὐδοκέω) means to be well-pleased, to take delight in, or to choose willingly. It appears about 21 times in the New Testament. The word is composed of eu (well) and dokeo (to seem/think) — essentially 'to think well of.' Its most important occurrence is at Jesus' baptism: 'This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased [eudokeo]' (Matthew 3:17).
The voice at Jesus' baptism (and the transfiguration — Matthew 17:5) uses eudokeo to declare the Father's delight in the Son. This is not conditional approval but eternal, ontological pleasure. The same verb is used in Colossians 1:19: 'For God was pleased [eudokeo] to have all his fullness dwell in him.' And in Colossians 1:20: 'and through him to reconcile to himself all things.' The great salvation project flows from divine delight. God does not save reluctantly — He delights to do it. Galatians 1:15 says God 'was pleased [eudokeo] to reveal his Son in me' — the same divine pleasure that rested on Christ at the Jordan rests on every believer who is 'in Christ.'