It is so easy to become insecure in life because of all the turmoil in the world, let alone because of weaknesses in our character or abilities. Fears about the economy, our health and even about our own personal value in other peoples’ eyes can, and often do, hinder us.
What really concerns me is how believers are taught in churches that they are just “SINNERS” saved by grace, which implies we have little to no value in God’s eyes, even after we become born again. It appears from this line of thinking that God merely pities us but he doesn’t necessarily value us.
Scripture paints a very different picture of God’s attitude towards mankind. Yes, the image of God that man was made in is damaged, yet we have such great value in God’s eyes that he invested his most valuable asset into the world, his Son, to save us not because he hated us, nor because we had no value to him but just the opposite.
When John the apostle wrote his gospel he made sure we understood how much God valued man by revealing some of Jesus’ attitudes towards mankind that the other gospels didn’t clearly reveal. I love that God used each of the writers of the gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke to give us a history of Jesus and what he taught. However, John’s gospel is so different because he revealed the heart of Jesus in a unique way such as in chapter three.
John 3:16-17
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.”
This passage in John does not say God felt sorry for wretched mankind nor that he had to redeem man but rather that he “LOVED” man and wanted to save him, implying man’s great value to God. I really hate it when religious people take verses out of the context of the Bible and build a doctrine that imprisons believers to think less of themselves than God does, all in the name of sound doctrine. Instead of looking at the full context of scripture, which paints God’s heart and value for man, these religious people want others to devalue themselves because they think, incorrectly, it makes God look bigger if man looks less. They do this all in the name of the sovereignty of God. Is man marked by sin? Yes. Is man running from God? Yes. But don’t project into scripture what God never intended: that God either hates man or is happy to throw as many into hell as he can.
A good example of how we should see ourselves is the way King David wrote in the Psalms about himself and mankind in general. Because David had a close relationship with God it gave him a unique perspective about who he was in God’s eyes. This was in spite of how his family viewed him. His father and brothers all treated him like garbage and yet David learned to see his value in God’s eyes and thus became a great leader. Consider when Samuel the prophet came to Jesse and his sons in 1 Samuel 16. David was not even invited to such a special meal because of their prejudice due to David’s mother’s sin.
Look at what David understood about himself seeing through God’s eyes and not his family’s. Had he not discovered his great worth he never would have been called a man after God’s own heart, nor would he have had the courage to slay the giant Goliath. Though his family thought less of him he embraced what God thought of him most of all, and that gave him hope and courage.
Psalms 8:4-6
What is man that you take thought of him, and the son of man that You care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than God, and you crown him with glory and majesty! You make him to rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet,
David sees the potential greatness of man because he has learned to see through God’s eyes, not man’s. Remember what Jesus said about judging things and people by the outward appearance and how God wants us to see the heart.
John 7:24
“Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”
Likewise the apostle Paul referred to believers he wrote to in his epistles as “SAINTS,” not sinners. Why? Because, like David, he discovered his value in God’s eyes not man’s, and he wanted all believers to see their great worth to God as well, especially when they become born again.
Now just to be clear, these religious thinkers use a verse of scripture about Paul being the worst of sinners to build a false concept for other believers to think of themselves. This false concept of Paul’s value was never intended to be understood about his present state of worth and spirituality. This passage is often used to say, “if Paul thought he was the worst sinner we should think the same.” The original Greek translation of this passage speaks in the past tense – ( and I was the worst of them all ). The single word in Greek for “I Am the Worst”… should have been I was “Before,” not the present tense. The translators to English used four words for a single word in Greek, which distorts the original meaning. Consider just a few of the passages where “Saints” are mentioned to give us the understanding that people are not, and should not, be identified as sinners but as saints if Jesus is now their Lord and Savior.
1 Timothy 1:15
What I say is true, and you should fully accept it: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the worst.
Once again consider Paul referred to people in churches as “Saints” not sinners. This word “saint” is not referring to people who are perfect, but rather morally blameless, meaning they had reconciled their sin with God though Jesus Christ.
Matthew 27:52
The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised;
Acts 9:13
But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he did to Your saints at Jerusalem
Romans 1:7
To all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Don’t let people in this world tell you that you are worthless or have little to no value. Especially, don’t let religious people tell you that you are just a sinner saved by grace as if that makes God look greater. God glories in redeeming us because we have great value to him even as we are.
Walk today in your great value to God, and glorify him because of his great love which has transferred you from being a sinner who lives in rebellion into an adopted child of God called now a saint.
Questions:
1) Do you struggle with your identity as a believer? Don’t believe a few verses taken out of context about who you are in Christ. Start confessing you’re a saint because you are now a child of God who is precious to God.
2) Do you struggle with believing God can truly purify your life? Remember what 1 John 1:9 says about God’s cleansing.
1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Wrestling with the scripture to understand God’s calling,
Pastor Dale
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