Untitled Sermon

JUSTIFICATION

When God considrs you, doe sHe deceive Himself in some way or does He know who you truly are?

If He knows who we truly are, then why do we preface His understanding of us with phrases such as “in God’s eyes we are righteous” or ‘forgiven’ or “loved” or “pleaseing” and so on? Are we trying to say that God is not living in reality? That He is somehow involved in selfdeception? Is He just some old grandparent type who wants to overlook the faults of His grandchildren? Either He really knows who you are or He doesn’t. Playing with words keeps us from experienecing the reality of who we are. It also dishonors who God is.

The second question is, If you think of yourself differently than God thinks of you, who is mistaken, you or God? How often do we allow our minds to overrule what God syas is true? Keep in mind,you were made by and for God. He has placed within you needs that only He can meet. If we try to have these needs met by another person or persons, we will end up frustrated, angry and unfulfilled.

Consider this: who do we talk to the most? in all liklihood, the answer is yourself! What do you talk to yourself about the most. Yourslef, of course. What is the main topic of conversation? Much of the time you think about how well you’re doing based on your performance and others opinion’s of you. How many times in your life have you used this formula:

Self-Worth = Performance + Othr’s Opinions

When you equate your self-worth with performance and other’s opinions, you are judgung yourself based on a satanic formula designed to enslave you in the performance trap.

Thankfully, God has canceled this fomula altogether. He has given us a secure self-worth totally apart from our ability to perform. We have been justified and palced in right standing before God through Christ’s death on the cross, which paid for our sins. He also granted us the very righteousness of Christ.

Visualize two ledgers: On one side is a list of all our sins; on the other side, the righteousness of Christ. Now exchange your ledger for Christ’s. This exemplifies justification - transferring our sin to Christ and His righteousness to us. 2 Cor. 5:21, Paul write,

He made Him(Christ) who knew no sin to be in sin on our behalf; that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Jsutification carries no guilt with it and has no memory of past transgressions. Christ paid for all of our sins at the cross - past, present, and future. Hebrews 10:17 says, “And their sins and their lawless deeds i will remember no more.” We are completly forgiven by God!

As marvelous as it is, justification means more than forgiveness of our sins. In the same act of love through hich God forgave our sins, He also provided for righteousness, the worthiness to stand in God’s presence. By imputing righteousness to us, God attributes Christ’s worth to us. The moment we accept Christ, God declares that we are no longer condemned sinners. Instead, we are forgiven, we receive Christ’s righteousnes, and we are creatures who are fully pleasing to Him. God intended that Adam and his descendants be righteous people, fully experiencing His love and eternal purposes. Sin short-circuited that relationship, but Jesus’ perfect payment for sin has since satisfied the righteous wrath of God, enabling us again to have the status of righteousness and to delight in knowing and honoring the Lord.

God desires for those of us who have been redeemed to experience the realities of His redemption. We are forgiven and righteous because of Christ’s sacrifice; therfore, we are pleasing to God in spite of our failures. This reeality can replace our fear of failur with peace, hope, and joy. Failure need not be a millstone around our necks. Neither success or failure is the proper basis of our self-worth. Christ alone is the source of our forgiveness, freedoam, joy, and purpose.

God works by fiat, meaning that He can create something from nothing, simply by declaring it into existence. God spoke, and the world was formed. He said, “Let there be light,” and light appeared. The earth is no longer void because God sovereignly created its abundance. in the same way, we were condemned, but now we are declared righteous! Romans 5:1 says, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,” Therfore, if we have trusted Christ for our salvation, we each can say with certainty, “I am completely forgiven and am fully pleasing to God.”

Some people have difficulty thinking of themselves as being pleasing to God because they link being pleasing so strongly with performance. They tend to be displeased with anything short of perfection in themselves and suspect that God has the same standard.

The point of justification is that we can never achieve perfection on this earth; even our best efforts at self-righteousness are as filthy rags to God (Isa 64:6 “For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.” Yet He loves us so much that He appointed His Son to pay for our sins and to give us His own righteousness, His perfect status before the Father.

This doesn’t mean that our actions are irrelevant and that we can sin all we want. Our siful actions, words, and attitudes grieve the Lord, but our status as holy and beloved children remains intact. In His love, He disciplines us and encourages us to live godly lives - for our good and for His honor.

The apostle Paul was so enamored with his forgiveness and righteousness in Christ that he was intensely motivated to please God by his actions and his deeds. In 1 Cor. 6:19-20; 2 Cor. 5:9; Phil. 3:8-11; and our passages, Paul strongly stated his desire to please, honor, and glorify the One who had made him righteous.

If we know who we are, we will not try to become someone else in order to have value and meaning in our lives, If we don’t know who we are, we will try to become someone who someone else wants us to be.

Possible Obstacles To Receiving The Truth

What are our internal obstacles that keep us from reaching out and grasping this reality?

Addiction to the approval of others

Sense of hopelessness

Desire to live life by some formula

Need to control

Reasons for obediance

Christ’s love motivates us to live for Him.

Sin is destructive and should be avoided.

Our Father lovingly discipline s us for wrongdoing.

His commands for us are good.

We will receive eternal rewards for obediance.

Christ is worthy of our obediance.

There is no other person, no goal, no fame or status, and no material possession that can compare with Him. The more we understand His love and majesty, the more we will praise Him and desire that He be honored at the expense of everything else. Our hearts will reflect the psalmist’s perspective: Ps. 73:25, 28 “Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth.” “But as for me, the nearness of God is my good; I have made the Lord God my refuge, That I may tell of all Your works.”