Before going into God's and our own view of ourselves, I want to acknowledge first the fact that we have an enemy and we live in a broken world. The two go hand-in-hand and are the sole reason we believe wrongly about ourselves. As God's people, we often walk afraid, unsure, and lacking confidence. We believe lies that we are not good enough or that we must prove ourselves to others each day; if we don't, our world may come crashing down. It's quite remarkable that even in churches there is a lack of conviction, not that we are sinners saved by grace, but that we are the righteous called into holiness: God's royalty. I believe firmly that the devil's stronghold is keeping God's people in a place of false identity and humility. Again, I am acknowledging this because it's important to first acknowledge why so many do not know how God really sees them and who they really are.
Now the fun part. Did you know that God sees you as wonderful? Did you know that His will for you is really good stuff, and that He believes you can do anything because He knows who your God is? Did you know that the instant you proclaimed Christ as your Savior and received the Holy Spirit, God marked you as His beloved who reflects Christ's holiness?
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1). And everything He created, He claimed as good. He delighted in every single thing that He made (He knows how good He is!), and I would argue that God's greatest creation is mankind. Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." (Genesis 1:26). Through simply reading this I would say that God was proud of the people He had made and wanted them to have dominion over everything. God has a heart and His heart for His people has always been greatness.
So, why do we live as if this is not true? The previous paragraph about the enemy's schemes gives good insight, but it's important to also state that his power is extremely limited, especially against the power of Christ that lives in us. We are not unaware of his schemes. We know that we are beloved children, created for great things and a close relationship with God. Even when we were deceived and messed up, God sent His Son Jesus Christ as the ultimate answer to all of our problems. And through Him, we are redeemed to God completely. That means that God now sees us the way that He saw us in the very beginning before shame existed among us. Colossians 1:20-22 says, "And through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him." We are holy, blameless and above reproach before the God of the universe. That, my friends, is real truth and is what we need to understand and let settle into our hearts.
During this season of remembrance and celebration of Christ's death and resurrection, let us also remember that through Him we are not only saved, but we are completely accepted by Him, and He thinks we are great. We were created in His awesome image for Pete's sake! So, let us thank God again and again and again for providing the Way for us to be His beloved kids again. And next time we think little of ourselves, remember that the Lord thinks highly of us, and who are we to challenge what the Lord thinks. It is the truth. He thinks we're wonderful because we are. He calls us royalty because we are. He says that He loves us because He really does. And this is what our identity must flow out of. Let us go forward being who we really are, and thinking as Christ does about us and others. Amen!
So, why do we live as if this is not true? The previous paragraph about the enemy's schemes gives good insight, but it's important to also state that his power is extremely limited, especially against the power of Christ that lives in us. We are not unaware of his schemes. We know that we are beloved children, created for great things and a close relationship with God. Even when we were deceived and messed up, God sent His Son Jesus Christ as the ultimate answer to all of our problems. And through Him, we are redeemed to God completely. That means that God now sees us the way that He saw us in the very beginning before shame existed among us. Colossians 1:20-22 says, "And through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him." We are holy, blameless and above reproach before the God of the universe. That, my friends, is real truth and is what we need to understand and let settle into our hearts.
During this season of remembrance and celebration of Christ's death and resurrection, let us also remember that through Him we are not only saved, but we are completely accepted by Him, and He thinks we are great. We were created in His awesome image for Pete's sake! So, let us thank God again and again and again for providing the Way for us to be His beloved kids again. And next time we think little of ourselves, remember that the Lord thinks highly of us, and who are we to challenge what the Lord thinks. It is the truth. He thinks we're wonderful because we are. He calls us royalty because we are. He says that He loves us because He really does. And this is what our identity must flow out of. Let us go forward being who we really are, and thinking as Christ does about us and others. Amen!
