Introduction
Last time we learnt that understanding our value means have an in depth appreciation of ourselves in terms of our nature and character of what we are worth in terms of price and quality. What we deserve, how morally excellent we are and of what benefit are we to others?
We looked at the world’s view in terms of Physical Appearance, Things we own, our of moral excellence and the benefit we are to others; And Satan’s view of our value in terms of our Time, Physical appearance, Role model, Wealth, Worry, our Morality and Thoughts.
We reminded ourselves of what John wrote
‘For us not to love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever’. 1 John 2:15-17
God’s view of us, our value/worth is the opposite of what the world and Satan claim.
God’s view and His value of us comes from what we read in His word, the bible and using our physical senses: all we see, hear, feel, taste and smell. If we believe the whole bible contains God’s word to us, then we must accept what He says we are worth.
So let us have a look at what God says about our nature, character and worth in terms of price and quality. What we deserve, how morally excellent we are and of what benefit are we to Him and others?
We have to start at the beginning…. And that is God.
We learn that God is:
Spirit-eternal. YHWH- I AM- The Self Existing One with no beginning or end.
Elohim: One Being with 3 Parts- now know as Father, Word (became the Son) and the Spirit.
All Knowing and Wise – our wisdom is foolishness in comparison. Hebrews 4:13 tells us nothing in all creation is hidden from His sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before His eyes.
Creator – made the all the spiritual beings in the heavenly realm and made the universe (the heavens and the earth) by His word, from nothing. Hebrews 4:12 tells us His word is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword. It penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow, it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
All Powerful, Almighty – No-one and nothing can stop Him or come against Him and win. He is life and death has no power over Him. Holds and sustains everything.
Omnipresent – Fills everything, is everywhere (“Humongously big”), sees everything. Nothing is hidden from His sight.
Relational – He is not lonely. He creates being to have a close relationship with them.
Agape – He does not have love. He himself is agape- He is ultimate love in action that not dependent on others.
1 Corinthians 13:4-13 tells us that God is patient and kind. He doesn’t envy or boast and is not proud. He does not dishonour others and He is not self-seeking. He is not easily angered and keeps no record of wrongs. God does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. He always protects, trusts, hopes and perseveres. God never fails.
Light – Darkness is consumed in His presence.
Truth, Faithful and Trustworthy – He does not lie and never fails anyone.
Holy (set apart) and Royal (King over all Kings, Lord over all lords, Has total dominion and rule over everything on earth and in heaven and under the earth).
Righteous Judge: His judgement is right and correct and has no flaw. His rules and laws are flawless.
So as God is: Spirit, Light, Agape, Truth, Knowledge & Wisdom, Holy, Always Right, All powerful, Almighty, Omnipresent, Faithful, Trustworthy, Holy, Royal, Relational and Judge…..
Then who are we and what is our: nature, character and worth in terms of price and quality. What do we deserve, how morally excellent we are and of what benefit are we to Him and others?
Nature And Character:
We are made in God’s image and likeness:
We read in Genesis 1:26-27 that God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Tells us 3 times!!
He spoke the universe and all it contains into existence but when it came to man, it was like he stopped, then said… now everything is prepared… Let us make man like us. This means we are more than just physical beings. We read in:
‘May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.’ 1 Thessalonians 5:23
Genesis 1-3 sets the scene for us.
‘Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.’ Genesis 1:7
‘The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him’. Genesis 2:18
So God moulds lovingly, joyfully, precisely like a potter with clay at the wheel, the first man, Adam, then taking a chunk out of Adam’s side, He moulds Eve, the first woman from the dust of the earth. Then He breathes the breathe of life into them.
The words breathe of life, in the Hebrew is “breathe of lifes”. This is the spirit and soul each person has in their physical body to be a living being . Our spirit is our link to and communication with God (so we can communicate with Him in a relationship); and our soul is us, our person that speaks, thinks, feels and lives forever. Our soul shines as light, bright and pure, as stars (Daniel 12:3 / Philippians 2:15). Like God we can think, speak, feel, have relationships and continue to exist.
As parents look after and bless their children with things, God blesses mankind to multiply and fill the whole earth and subdue it. He gives us power to rule – over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.
Also as parents give their children rules of living in the household, God gives us, mankind, rules and laws to obey on planet earth to protect us so we could continue to be light like Him while exercising our knowledge, power and will, given to us by God. Ephesians 1:4 says God chose us before the creation of the world to be holy (set apart for His use and purpose) and be blameless in his sight. Notice Adam and Eve felt no shame.
Genesis 2-3 shows that God and Man had an amazing precious Father-child relationship. E.g. God brought the animals to Adam and let him name them; God brought Eve to Adam and married them.
God provided them with an amazing, beautiful home in Eden. An amazing love-bond is depicted in these chapters but even more so we get a deeper picture of the wisdom and agape of God from Genesis 3 onwards to the last chapter of revelation.
Genesis 3 shows Satan coming on the scene, deceiving and tempting Eve and Adam to think they had no value. That God was deceiving and depriving them and they should just ignore God and disobey Him. So they followed Satan, sin comes into the world, Man feels shame and hides from God. The bond and relationship is broken.
God as Father and Judge righteously judges the disobedience, punishes each one (just as parents would), but also sets in motion the greatest rescue mission ever. To recover mankind from eternal condemnation. Why?
You remember the story of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15:11-32, I prefer to call it the story of the Loving Father and the sons. It is “Agape in Motion”. Young son asks for his inheritance money, leaves home, squanders it, becomes desperate and in humiliation slowly comes back home. The key is the Father:
“When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ So he got up and went to his father. Luke 15:17-24
‘But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ Luke 15:20
The son felt worthless but to the Father…. His value had not changed… He was still His son. He looked out for him, planned what to do when he came back home and put it into action.
‘But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.’ Luke 15:22-23
Jesus was teaching that all you and I as God’s children and we are very precious to Him and valuable, as any child is valuable to their parent. Those of you on this platform who have children will understand this. God is looking out for us and ready to reinstate us back to the relationship we had with Him… an even better one!
Our value is the cost God is willing to pay to buy us back to Him: It cost Him the best of heaven.
‘This is Agape: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.’ 1 John 4:10
He took a part of Himself, the Word, lower him to be human by wrapping him in flesh to become His precious, beloved One and Only Son- Jesus.
Then He got him to teach us how to live lives set apart for God; then send him to Calvary to suffer the greatest pain and anguish by being scourged, mocked, slapped and nailed to a cross, to shed his blood for us and be the perfect sacrifice for us.
Let’s read Ephesians 1: 1-14 / Ephesians 2:10.
These passages and many more summarise that to God we are priceless. Even Satan could not make God stop loving us and wanting a close and personal relationship with us.
Look at a summary of what we are in Christ. Our worth and quality. Notice all of these are found in Christ. So when we go into and out of the waters of baptism God has lavished us with these:
♦ Agape and grace (undeserved mercy)
♦ Redeemed (bought back) from dark dominion of Satan into God’s kingdom of light
♦ Sins forgiven (cleansed by blood of Jesus)
♦ Sins forgotten forever and not remembered, Psalm 103:12
♦ Peace and unity with God (no more wrath)
♦ Have every spiritual blessing, nothing left out, Ephesians 1:3-5
♦ Adopted as full sons- you are royalty
♦ Have God’s Spirit living in us (our guarantee/proof we are God’s children)
♦ Guaranteed inheritance as a child of God- eternal life in heaven, John 14:2-4
♦ Walk and be led by God’s Spirit, Galatians 5:16 / Galatians 5:25
♦ Confidence and direct unhindered access into the throne room of God, Hebrews 10:19
♦ A part of Christ’s body, God’s child
♦ Renewed fellowship with God in the light, 1 John 1:3-7
♦ Best advocate in Christ Jesus our High priest, 1 John 2:1-2
♦ Continually cleansed by the blood of Christ
♦ Citizens of heaven (not just earth)
♦ Clothed in Christ, Galatians 3:27
♦ Christ dwells in our hearts, Ephesians 3:17
♦ Bride of Christ – the King of kings, Ephesians 5:32 / Revelation 21:1-8
♦ Constantly being renewed and transformed into an amazing beautiful bright light, like a star.
♦ Sitting in heaven
♦ Eternal life hidden in Christ, Colossians 3:1-4
♦ A precious block of God’s temple in which His Spirit lives
♦ Provides all we need so we don’t have to worry, Philippians 4:6-7 / Matthew 6:25-34
There are many, many more promises and passages.
So not only are we forgiven and brought back into a personal relationship with Him by clothing us in Jesus. When God sees us, he does not see our failings but Christ’s right acts.
1 Peter 2:9-10 says we are now God’s chosen people, His royal priesthood, His holy nation. God’s special possession.
Moral Excellence:
2 Peter 1:3 tells us that ‘His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness’.
We have everything we need to now live godly lives as priceless, precious children of God.
To live as children of light with God as our Master and Christ as our role model.
We also have Purpose-usefulness:
To declare God’s praises and tell how He saved you and gave you value.
Show we are God’s children by bearing the fruit of His Spirit (character of God)- love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control as we were supposed to do.
To follow God’s example as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us, Ephesians 5:1-2.
To do your best to faithfully obey God and be pleasing to Him. Knowing to live is Christ and to dis is gain, Philippians 1:20-24.
Therefore stop and think of what value you put on yourself. Your true value is what God says about you. You should measure your worth and moral excellence with God’s standard.
Its God who defines your true purpose, value, worth or price no matter what the world says. Don’t throw it away as Esau did for a bowl of pottage, not realising his value or worth.
