Measuring Up, Personal Worth, And Personal Value

Part 3 Of 3

Romans 3:21 But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, I through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—26 he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. (NIV)

Our Bag Of Garbage

Without going to Christ for redemption, we carry around a bag of garbage called sin that God despises, the same bag of garbage weighing us down in every matter of our life. Keep in mind you are not despised by God. Instead of being despised, you are loved by God. It is the sin God despises, not you. Just because you fall down does not mean God doesn’t love you. God does sometimes hate the way you act, think, and feel. Yet, even as displeased as God is with you, He still sent His Son into the world to die for you.

You Are Priceless

All of us are like birds in a cage that Christ came to set free. Christ came into the world as one of us. He stepped down into the world not to condemn us, but to get us to get our act together…to save us from being swallowed up by eternal darkness. The same eternal darkness haunting us, swallowing us up, and telling us we are no good. The same eternal darkness telling us we are worthless and have no value. You are worth so much God’s only Son was willing to die for you. To God and to Christ, you are priceless.

God Bought You Twice

In a way, God has bought you twice.

There is a story about the little boy who built a sailboat. The boy built the sailboat and had it all fixed up, tarred and painted. He took the sailboat to the lake and pushed the boat in the water hoping the sailboat would sail. Sure enough, a wisp of breeze filled the little sail and it billowed and went rippling along the waves. Suddenly before the little boy knew it, the boat was out of his reach, even though he waded in fast and tried to grab the boat. As he watched the boat float away, he hoped maybe the breeze would shift and the boat would sail back to him. Instead, he watched his sailboat go farther and farther until it was gone. When he went home crying, his mother asked, “What's wrong, didn't it work?" And the little boy said, "It worked too well." Sometime later, the little boy was downtown and walked past a second hand store. There in the window he saw his sailboat. It was unmistakably his, so he went in and said to the proprietor, "That's my boat." The little boy walked to the window, picked the boat up and started to leave. The owner of the shop said, "Wait a minute, Sonny. That's my boat. I bought it from someone." The boy said, "No, it's my boat. I made it. See." And the boy showed the store owner the little scratches and the marks where the boy hammered and filed. The man said, "I'm sorry, Sonny. If you want the boat, you have to buy it." The poor little guy didn't have any money, but he worked hard and saved his pennies. Finally, one day he had enough money. He went in and bought his little boat. As the boy left the store holding the boat close to the boy’s chest, the boy was heard saying, "You're my boat. You're twice my boat. First you're my boat 'cause I made you and second you're my boat 'cause I bought you!"

You Are Not Cheap

If you ever think you aren't worth much and if you think you're cheap, just remember what God thinks of you. God thinks you're His. Twice His. First you're His because He made you. Second you're His because He bought you on the cross. Christ paid a price to redeem you. So let go of your stress and feelings of inferiority. Let go of your feelings of worthlessness. Let go of your sins of darkness into the care of Christ hanging on the cross for you.

Material Things Are Not Enough

Material things cannot buy you. If some people were as worthless as they think they are, Jesus would not have appeared to anyone after He came back from the tomb. Whatever picture you have of yourself in your mind, heart, and soul…regardless of how your picture got formed, regardless of the pain and suffering others put upon you, regardless of the humiliation you might have had to go through in your life, this picture or image you hold of yourself isn’t complete until you feel Christ’s love wrapped around you in the form of a big hug.

“Jesus tapped me on the shoulder and said, ‘Bob, why are you resisting me?’” I said, “I’m not resisting you!” Jesus said, “You gonna follow me?” I said, “I’ve never thought about that before!” Jesus said, “When you’re not following me, you’re resisting me.” Bob Dylan (b. 1941), U.S. singer, songwriter. Quoted in: Q Magazine (London, Jan. 1990), said on stage at Syracuse , New York , May 1980.

Christ Standing Near

No human being ought to think of himself or herself without seeing the picture of Christ standing nearby with His hand on his or her shoulder. Christ calls us to turn away from the old picture we have of ourselves.

Christ calls you to turn away from the old ideas you have about yourself. Christ calls you to turn away from the old ideas you have about what is important in your life. When you turn away from the old garbage you carry around, you also turn away from the old pictures of yourself without Him. When you turn toward Christ and accept Him into the picture of yourself, or accept Him into your life, a very big event occurs in your life called redemption.

Your Big Event

Your big event called redemption is like taking your green stamps to the redemption center and walking out with something new. In the case of your personhood, you become “someone” new. Our redemption center is The Cross.

When we go to our redemption center of The Cross, we go home with something.

A new life

A new heart

A new mind

A new self

And our world changes

Every second of your life, Jesus asks the question, “Do you love me? Do you understand what I did on the Cross for you? Do you accept me into your life?”

It is hard to tell whether Christ is calling people away from the world because of the way things appear in the world at this moment. However, you have a terrific journey ahead. Your journey has obstacles and roadblocks, smooth places, and big freeways. However, as His redeemed child, your life is still a terrific journey.

Pastor's Note:

If you have never answered Christ’s call upon your life, answer His call today, email me, and tell me about your decision.

This message appeared in September, 2009, in the Virtual Church web site at http://www.shepherdscare.net