Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

Ephesians 4:22–24 NIV

22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

Tonight we piggy back off last week’s message regarding… you guessed it… ATTITUDE.

Last week we talked about our attitude toward others… how we treat others… how we respond to others in good and difficult situations.

We talked about slowing down… being quick to listen and slow to becoming angry.

We also talked about the power of forgiveness.

But… before we talked about those two points, we asked this question: How important is our attitude toward others to God? It is VERY important.

Then we presented verses similar to this one. This one was spoken by Jesus and He identified this instruction as the second greatest command.

Matthew 22:39 NIV

39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

This sounds pretty good, right? Jesus desires for us to love others as we love ourselves. AND… if we do this wholeheartedly, we will naturally live out the instructions of the Lord regarding our treatment of others.

But there is one part of this command I want to get real with tonight. This command is truth and is to be carried out… but it also brings up something to be considered: How can a person love others as they love themselves… if that person does not love who or what they are?

Tonight, we are talking about our attitude regarding ourselves - how we view and feel about who we are.

Right out of the box, I want you to hear this truth. Psalm 139:13-18

Psalm 139:13–18 NIV

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. 15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. 17 How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! 18 Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand— when I awake, I am still with you.

What this passage says about you is AMAZING! God created you in the most loving and caring way. Nothing about you is an accident. Nothing about you is worthless or less-than. Nothing about you is a surprise to God.

But here’s the deal: too often we settled for a less-than perspective rather than a more than reality.

How does this happen? It happens when we begin to listen to the wrong voices. It begins when we experience things that are out of our control and allow those experiences to define us. It begins when we settle for sin instead of living for the Lord.

When Jesus gave us the second greatest command, He gave this command within the context of having a relationship with Him.

Remember something very important… this is the SECOND greatest command. Can someone tell me what command number one is?

Matthew 22:37–38 NIV

37 Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment.

Command number 1 serves as the foundation for command number 2. In other words, we are going to struggle with command number 2… if command number 1 is absent in our lives.

We can only know who God created us to be… within a relationship with the One who created us to be!

The problem is… people are trying to find a love for themselves outside of having fellowship with God.

Where is it… that people try to find their satisfaction in their identity?

From acceptance of their peers - People tend to watch, observe, and crave the characteristics in others that make them “acceptable”

Cars, money, talent, looks, etc. This is a comparison game. This is envy and… jealousy at work - two things God commanded us to stay away from.

There is a saying out there that goes like this: Show me a person’s five closest friends, and I will tell you who that person is… or who they want to be.

We tend to conform to the “crowd” because we want to be accepted within the crowd.

Another source of “satisfaction” comes from following trends or cultural norms that society seems to condone or even celebrate.

We see the special treatment and… we want to be on the receiving end of it. We see the “popularity” and tolerance of whatever and might get stuck in thinking, “If that’s what it takes to get noticed, then I’m all in.”

Problem is, trends and cultural norms change… their is no long-term satisfaction here - it is only an empty pursuit of trying to feel better on the inside.

The world… our culture… comparison games… are the worst possible places to look for satisfaction regarding your identity.

Such will tell you who they want you to be… regardless of who you truly are.

Our relationship with God breaks us free of trying to conform to what the world would say about us… and moves us to receive the words that God has spoken over us.

Loving God first… leads us to loving ourselves second.

Now, this isn’t a boastful or arrogant love for ourselves… but it is confident and assured attitude toward our identity in the Lord - fearfully and wonderfully made.

It is choosing to see ourselves… as God sees us - not as the world would define us.

The world tends to define a person based off what they do. God defines you based off who you are - and there’s a big difference there.

So here is the big question: Why should we ignore what the world says… and embrace what the Word says? Why should we trust by faith over what we might feel?

Your feelings can be completely misleading. They are easily influenced and manipulated. Sometimes, our own feelings can become our worst enemy!

But in light of answering the question I just presented, I want to show you a couple of quick things regarding how God sees you.

Highly Valued in the Eyes of God

Okay, it’s pop quiz time.

In the economic world… how is the value of something determined? What makes something “valuable?”

There are a couple of things to consider:

How many of these items are readily available to purchase? For instance, I’m a car guy, and some of the most “valuable” cars on the market come with a high price tag because only a handful of them were made!

Perhaps the value is somewhat determined by the research and development that went into making that product.

Ever notice when something brand new comes out that it is set at a high cost? When DVD players first hit the market, they went for $300-$500. Now, you can go online and pick one up for $25.

These are all factors that might play into the value of something, but there is one key way of knowing what the value of something is - VALUE IS DETERMINED BY THE PRICE SOMEONE IS WILLING TO PAY FOR IT.

A while back, this happened. (SLIDE WITH GRILLED CHEESE).

A woman made a grilled cheese sandwich for her 10 year old daughter. The girl took a bite out of the sandwich before mom realized the existence of an “image” of Mary was in the sandwich. She sold this on eBay for $28,000.

Today, if you happen to be the highest bidder, you can own this (SLIDE OF CHIP).

It is a Doritos chip in the shape of the Pope’s hat. It can be all yours for the low low bid of $500! Any takers???

We laugh at things like this but let’s bring it in for a moment… we want to feel… valued. We want to feel like we are noticeable. We want acceptance and to fit in.

That feeling comes from who God created us to be. God created us for relationship. He created us for fellowship. This can be traced all the way back to Genesis.

The number one relationship He created us for was between us and Him. That is why when sin entered the picture and severed that relationship… humankind has been desperately trying to find connection again.

Here’s the cool part - our fellowship with God could only be restored when the price for our sins was paid in full.

Nothing on earth was sufficient. So God did what only God could do - He paid the price IN FULL through His Son Jesus.

That’s how much God values you! That’s how precious you are to Him! God was willing to give Jesus so that our sin debt could be satisfied and our relationship with Him could be restored! It is the greatest demonstration of love this world has ever seen!

Romans 5:8 NIV

8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

God gave out of His love FOR YOU. He has given us all the opportunity to be made new through Jesus.

Sin will corrupt, pervert, and distort the plan God has for you. Sin will distract, deter, and disrupt your feelings of self worth and identity - who God created you to be.

God has opened the door that we might know Him again… and know who He created us to be - in His image.

A Forever Part of His Family

And I want you to understand something very important. When we come back into relationship with God, we are adopted into His “family” as His sons and daughters. We become coheirs with Christ.

John 1:12–13 NIV

12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

When we accept the price Jesus paid and receive Him as Lord and Savior, we are welcomed back into the family of God! Talk about amazing acceptance!

This is not about what we have done… it is all about who we become in Christ! In Christ, our sins are washed away, the old has gone and the new has come, we are no longer slaves to the world but are set free and forgiven!

You don’t have to “dance” as the world wants you to dance. You can be you - who God created you to be.

Who did God create you to be?

He did NOT create you for sin… He created you for His glory.

He did NOT create you to conform… He desires for you to be transformed.

He did NOT create you for confusion… He created on purpose, with purpose.

He did NOT create you to perish… He created you for eternity.

In Christ, you are His Son, you are His daughter. God desires for every single person to come back to Him… although not everyone will.

Some will choose to remain in broken fellowship with God. And with that choice comes the issue of not ever really knowing who God created the to be.

That is why we are seeing the trouble hearts and identity loss all over this nation. People don’t know who or even what they are.

Boys, girls, person or animal. It is depravity that has led us here… it is a result of our broken fellowship with God.

The ONLY way for us to know who we were created to be… is found in having a relationship with the One who created us to be.

Stop relying on how you feel about yourself… and start receiving by faith what the Word says about you.

This really comes down to whose word you are going to trust and believe?

Closing

There was a day… when I didn’t care.

My anger was beyond measurable. My mind and heart had been ripped to shreds. I wasn’t suicidal, but I was self destructive. I didn’t care what happened to me… because inwardly I felt worthless and abandoned. The problem was - I allowed my circumstance to define how I felt about myself.

And… there are many people out there who are doing the same thing.

The key is to turn from how we feel, to what we know by faith.

It starts by knowing the One who created you. It continues by living in the purpose and plan He has for you.

You are His handiwork. You were created for such a time as this. You are not a product of your environment nor are you simply here to take up space. GOD LOVES YOU and has given you an identity that can only be found in His love.

You cannot escape His love! But you can choose to ignore it. You can turn your back on it. You can choose to go in other directions. AND… that choice was given to you by God because of His love for you - He doesn’t want to force you into having a relationship today… He wants you to choose… Him.

In that choice, our fellowship with Him is restored through the forgiveness of our sins. In that choice, we are made new, more than restored… we are redeemed. In that choice, we leave behind what the world has to say about us and even what our feelings has to say about us. WE EMBRACE WHAT THE WORD HAS TO SAY ABOUT US.

So… will you make the choice?

How many tonight would say you are struggling with knowing who you are? This might come in the form of what others say about you… or it might come through how you feel about yourself.

If you find yourself in that struggle… ask yourself this: are you ready to receive from God what He says about you… or are you content with living by feeling… instead of faith?

The choice for change begins with the choice to follow Jesus.

The choice for change continues with the choice to hear the words of the Lord… instead of the words of the world. YOU ARE FEARFULLY AND WONDERFULLY MADE!