22 Jun Series Three. How does God see me?
Our sermon last Sunday continued with the God Connection series. We explored the question: “How does God see me?”
To answer this we looked at the Dove experiment which can be accessed via this link. This experiment shows how we often look at ourselves very critically and how our perception of ourselves is typically shaped by our experiences, culture, the opinions of others and the media.
There are many ways by which we see ourselves:
– firstly, our own view of ourselves – often the most critical!
– secondly, how others see us
– thirdly, how God sees us
The first two views are always faulty and temporal. Only God’s view of us is complete and correct! Ultimately, only His view of us is true because it comes from an eternal perspective!
We explored three of the common ways we see ourselves – Fear, Pain and Brokenness which were powerfully acted out by three actors. Have you ever stopped to think about the masks we wear because of things that have happened to us? We hide behind these masks because life has hardened us and we want to cover our fragility and our fear. But they are not permanent! Praise God! As we are washed by “Water” – which is the truth of God’s Word (the Bible) and apply “Oil” which signifies anointing and healing by His Spirit, we are transformed into the people He created us to be. Water and Oil remove the masks and our best selves are revealed. It was so powerful to see the actors wiping off their face masks to demonstrate physically what happens to us in the spirit as we are transformed. What an awesome truth!
Our focus should never be on the temporal views that we and others have of ourselves. Instead, our view of ourselves and the standard that we seek to attain should be based on how God sees us. So how does God see us? Well, He is so loving to have made it easy for us to find out! Its all in His Word – the Bible, which is why it is so important that we learn to read it for ourselves! As we read it and interact with His Spirit, He will show us our best selves and work with us to transform us inwardly into the person He created and designed us to be.
The Bible shows us that God went to extreme lengths to conceive us and birth us into the world to have a relationship with us. We are created in love for His good pleasure. His descriptions of you will make you blush! Here are a few to give you a taste of His goodness and His extreme love for you:
– He calls us His children! We are children of God (1 John 3:1-2)
– He has His eyes on us and has designed us for glorious living (Ephesians 1:11)
– We are fearfully and wonderfully made – there are no mistakes in who we are (Psalm 139:14-16)
– We are made in the image of God! Wow!! Let that sink in!! (Genesis 1:26-28)
– We are brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ – incredible! (Hebrews 2:12-18)
– We are a chosen people and royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9-10)
– We are an extension of God – we are described as branches attached to Him the vine (John 15:5, 7-8)
– We are friends of God (John 15-13-16)
Wow!! Doesn’t that just blow your mind??!?! You are better than you thought you were! God thinks highly of you. So much so that He desires fellowship with you, yes you! He created you for relationship with Himself: will you answer His loving call?
No Comments