Out Of My Mind

In a recent sermon I said that God valued man higher than Jesus when He purchased us or redeemed us from our state of death. This statement has raised many eyebrows! Honesty, I should have stated that “God esteemed man higher than Himself” to be more accurately correct theologically. For the record though I do not wish to create an issue of semantics.

Now, let’s dive into what was meant contextually. The original question was, “What is our value to God?” God is the only one who sets the standard for true value so the question was posed to help us gain revelation on what value He has for us. It is my opinion that the answer to this question cannot be correctly analyzed without reviewing what we have been taught about our worth by the world. From the false liberal definition of a fetus being only tissue all the way to the insane theory of humanity’s evolution – the world continually tells us that as a person we hold no value. Consider the gross world product which is valued at well over $35 trillion dollars not including real estate. Jesus asks a question in Matt 16:26, “What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?” Jesus tells you and me that we make a bad deal if we exchange our soul for all that wealth!

So, if our worth – the value that God places on us, is more than the world’s, what is our true value? John 3:16, Psalm 49:8, 1 Corinthians 6:20 and Ephesians 1:7 state plainly that God values us so highly that no payment could ever be enough but He paid for us with His very Son! There is nothing more valuable to the Father then His Son yet He bought us back from sin’s dominion with the payment of His Son. With this purchase I believe that God declared our value as being much higher than we place ourselves. God is a good steward – one does not need to look long or hard in Scripture to find the value He places on proper stewardship. God will not purchase something that is not worth “equal to” or “more” than the payment. God did not get a bad deal when He purchased us with the very life and blood of His Son. He considers it a good deal by obtaining us…WOW what worth!

It almost seems heretical to think that the Lord would esteem us higher than Himself but this is, in my opinion what Scripture teaches and here are just a few scripture verses which lead me to the induction (gaining a general conclusion based on reasoning of separate verses or facts) of the value God places on us.

1) Philippians 2:3 clearly states that we must esteem others better than ourselves. Just as my relationship with my children, I would never expect them to do something that I would not do myself. The same is true with our heavenly Father – I don’t believe that the Father would tell me to do something that He does not do Himself – that would go against His character.
2) 1 Peter 2:24 says that Jesus bore our sins so that we might live for righteousness. He did not deserve what He received for He is righteous, innocent and perfect – having received something He did not deserve proves that He considered us of more value or esteemed us higher than Himself.
3) Romans 12:10 says that we must give preference to one another with brotherly love and Romans 8:29 says that He is the first born of many…we are truly special and a treasure of incredible worth to God! We are the apple of His eye.

If you took up a cross and died for just one of your children, in principle, you would be esteeming them higher than yourself. Consider Psalm 8:3-4, “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?” WOW! We have done nothing to deserve this value from God but we are His prized possession and ultimate treasure nonetheless! God has seen in us something that only God could possibly see, value that only His grace could produce.

I don’t know about you but I checked in with God this morning; I was excited to find out that He is in a good mood today and He told me that he likes you & me.

Isn’t it great to realize that God never has a bad hair day or wakes up with a headache? It is so reassuring to me to know that God is never in a bad mood or discouraged. He’s never surprised by the so-called sudden catastrophes in life and it doesn’t ever cause Him to lose sight of who He is and His relationship with you & me. God is comfortable with Himself and He is excited that you have showed up this morning to draw closer to Him. He is elated that many Christians are finally waking up to the reality of who He really is, humbling themselves and accepting His grace.

See James 3:13 – 4:12