Who Do We Think We Are?
Text: Genesis 1:27, 1 Timothy 1:15, Galatians 2:20
Theme: God’s opinion of us is what truly counts.
We wonder why people did not recognize Jesus’ greatness. For the same reason, we do not have a clear picture of who we are: they do not see us as the Father sees us.
Here’s a thought: Lao Tzu wrote, “Care about people’s approval and you will be their prisoner.”
An older man was travelling with a boy and a donkey. As they walked through a village, the man led the donkey, and the boy walked behind. The townspeople said the man was a fool for not riding, so he climbed up on the animal’s back to please them. When they came to the next village, the people said the man was cruel to let the child walk while he enjoyed the ride. So, to please them, he got off and set the boy on the animal’s back and continued on his way. In the third village, people accused the child of being lazy for making the older man walk, and they suggested that they both ride. So, the man climbed on, and they set off again. In the fourth village, the townspeople were indignant at the cruelty to the donkey because the man forced the donkey to carry the child and him. The townspeople watched as the frustrated man carried the donkey down the road.
We smile, but this old fable makes a good point: We can’t please everybody, and we carry a heavy burden if we try. A lot of people live according to what others think of them.
The ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu wrote, “Care about people’s approval and you will be their prisoner.”
In the long run, what will matter most is what our maker, the God of the universe, thinks of us.
God thinks we are:
Created
Genesis 1:27 records:
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. NIV
David recognizes his creator in Psalm 139:13‑14:
13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. NIV
Society’s standard of beauty is an image that’s just shy of starvation. For years, the media’s message to young girls has been “thin is in,” and millions of teenage girls have learned to hate their bodies. Adolescents, especially girls, are the most vulnerable to this bombardment by Hollywood’s “perfect” body images. A Los Angeles social psychologist asserts, “We’re evolving toward an unnatural view of beauty, and what real women look like is labelled wrong and unattractive.” The result has been a phenomenal increase in fasting, crash diets, obsessive exercise, and life-threatening eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia.
The National Initiative for Eating Disorders (https://nied.ca/about-eating-disorders-in-canada) reveals:
Approximately 1 million Canadians have a diagnosis of an eating disorder, such as Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa and others. Younger Canadians are also increasingly engaging in dieting behaviour which may put them at risk of developing an eating disorder and other health-compromising conditions. In Canada, between 12% and 30% of girls and 9% and 25% of boys aged 10-14 report dieting to lose weight.
Research shows that virtually all women are ashamed of their bodies. We need a revolution in our values, defining attractiveness not the way Hollywood does but the way God does.
The most outstanding workman who has ever lived created us! God does not make any junk. He has given us traits that reflect His - the ability to think, feel and enter into relationships.
There are certain features and qualities that He has created us with that we should not try to change but simply rejoice in and accept. There are other changeable qualities that we might do well to improve. By all means, let’s do all we can to become the best we can be!
Have you come to realize how uniquely and wonderfully made you are? God made you in His image.
God thinks we are:
Created
Corrupted
Romans 3:23 leaves no one exempt from the corruption of sin: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” NIV
Before becoming the Apostle Paul, Saul did all he could to resist Jesus Christ and His followers. He could write 1 Timothy 1:15 while fully realizing his shortcomings:
Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners ‑ of whom I am the worst. NIV
We live in a world that no longer believes in sin. This unbelief has made it harder for us to face ourselves as we are. We can’t experience the miracle of God’s change unless we face the mess.
It is easy to recognize sin in others. It is much more challenging to identify it in ourselves. Worship ‑ fear of God ‑ enables us to see our sin. We are sinners.
Years ago, the London Times ran an article asking, “What is wrong with the world?” It encouraged readers to respond. I am sure the editor must have read the following reply more than once before its profound truth sank in:
Dear Sir,
In response to your question, “What is wrong with the world?” I am.
Yours truly,
G. K. Chesterton.
We seem to think it’s a sin to admit we’re sinners, but as long as our understanding of sin is superficial, our grasp of Christ’s death will be shallow.
A man was painting a church building. Noticing that he would not have enough paint to finish, he added thinner. As the paint continued to run out, the painter added more and more thinner. A rainstorm the next day washed away his paint job. The pastor met the painter on the job and demanded, “Repaint and thin no more!”
An alcoholic described the first time he went to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting and found himself in a room full of broken people who told him he had a problem he could not overcome without God’s power. These people also said they would stick with him and help him through it. Why isn’t the church more like this? The alcoholic explained that the first time he went to a church meeting, they politely told him to come back after taking care of his drinking problem. We in the church who turn away the alcoholic and others who struggle don’t believe the rot is in us.
We think we’re pretty good people. This pretended innocence is very dangerous spiritually because it forces us to cover our tracks.
Have we come to grips with how offensive our selfishness and rebellion are to God? Do we compare ourselves with other people and find comfort in how we appear next to them? Unless we recognize our corruption, we will never truly get connected with the One who created us.
God thinks we are:
Created
Corrupted
Connected
Galatians 2:20 describes the new life that comes as we die to ourselves:
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. NIV
The Bible speaks directly to the problem of self-image and feelings of worthlessness. By forgiving us completely, God obligated us to forgive ourselves and made it a sin for us not to forgive ourselves. Somebody must drive out the old way of thinking about ourselves! If we have invited Jesus Christ to come and live inside us, we should now see ourselves as heirs of glory. When our Heavenly Father looks at us, He sees Jesus in us.
A bone-weary father dragged himself home late one evening. It had been one of those unbelievable days of pressure, deadlines, and demands. He looked forward to a time of relaxation and quietness. He was exhausted, so he picked up the evening paper and headed for his favourite easy chair by the fireplace. About the time he got his shoes untied - plop - into his lap dropped his five-year-old son with an excited grin on his face.
“Hi, Dad! Let’s play!” He loved his boy dearly, but his need for a bit of time all alone to repair and think was, for the moment, a greater need than time with Junior. But how could he manoeuvre it?
There had been a recent moon probe, and the newspaper carried a big picture of earth. With a flash of much-needed insight, the dad asked his boy to bring a pair of scissors and some transparent tape. Quickly, he cut the picture of earth into various shapes and sizes, then handed the pile of homemade jigsaw puzzle pieces to him.
“You tape it all back together, Danny, then come back, and we’ll play. Okay?”
Off scampered the child to his room as dad breathed a sigh of relief. But in less than ten minutes, the boy bounded back with everything taped perfectly in place. The father was stunned, so he asked, “How’d you do it so fast, Son?”
“Aw, it was easy, Daddy. There is this picture of a man on the back of the sheet. When you put the man together, the world comes together.”
Our lives were once piles of pieces, broken by the corruption plaguing us. Our Saviour is putting us back together, better than ever.
Canada Revenue Agency was baffled by a letter from a man who explained that he hadn’t been able to sleep well since 1980 when he cheated on his income tax. Enclosed in the letter were five $100 bills. The man concluded the letter by promising that he would send the rest if he didn’t sleep better now.
Brother Lawrence was a cook in a monastery in the 1600s. He learned to press meaning into virtually every action of his day. Note his ability to connect with God in mundane activities:
I turn my little omelette in the pan for the love of God. When it is finished, if I have nothing to do, I prostrate myself on the ground and worship my God, who gave me this grace to make it, after which I arise happier than a king. When I can do nothing else, it is enough to have picked up a straw for the love of God. People look for ways of learning how to love God. They hope to attain it by I know not how many different practices. They take much trouble to abide in His presence by varied means. Is it not a shorter and more direct way to do everything for the love of God, to make use of all the tasks one’s lot in life demands to show him that love, and to maintain his presence within by the communion of our heart with his? There is nothing complicated about it. One has only to turn to it honestly and simply.
Brother Lawrence knew how to practice the presence of God. He learned to see Himself in His Father’s eyes.
Have you received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour? Do you see how He connects you with your creator and those He has given you to love?
We wonder why people did not recognize Jesus’ greatness. For the same reason, we do not have a clear picture of who we are: they do not see us as the Father sees us.
The ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu wrote, “Care about people’s approval and you will be their prisoner.” Arthur C. Brooks added (No One Cares! at https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2021/11/how-stop-caring-what-other-people-think-you/620670), “Disregard what others think and the prison door will swing open.”
I told our children, Allison and Braden, many times when they were growing up, “You are beautiful/handsome. You are smart. You can do all things through Christ who gives you strength.”
If we let these messages sink in, we will go far in life.
God thinks we are:
Created
Corrupted
Connected
God’s opinion of us is what truly counts.