What is Your Worth

Ephesians 2:4-10

Ephesians 2:4–10 NKJV

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Have you ever wondered what makes something worthy? What is worth? Well it is a lot of things, it is valuable, precious, befitting, dependable, deserving. We recently went to Dollywood in TN for a trip before school started. Many of you know, Alexander, my 6 yo, went to one of those fake mining stations and found some little crystals, fools gold and little emerald looking stones. .... What was the best part of the trip.... He said, “Come on dad, you know what it was!” It was the fake stones, LOL. Why because they were precious to him, they have value. He went on to talk about if he had them we could have sold them for millions of dollars.

Much like these stones to a little boy, we are worth millions, more than millions to Christ. Yet at the same time we are wholly unworthy

Our Worth isn’t our own

Our Worth gives us what isn’t ours

Our Worth offers endless opportunity

Our Worth isn’t our own

Our Worth does NOT determined by our worthiness

Romans 5:8 NKJV

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

You see, guys, unfortunately, we are not worthy of God’s rich mercy, we are actually already dead in our sins at the time of birth. But as we learn from Ephesians 2:4–5 “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),” our worth is defined by God’s great love for us. “Great” love! You know the word “great in Greek, has a very special meaning. I did an extensive Greek word study and It means, like, I like you a lot, many, much of extensive quantity.

Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” tells us that while we weren’t even really lovable, God chose to love us and call us to be His own. And to seal the deal, Christ sacrificed Himself on the cross. On the cross, Christ took what was essentially dead and worthless and gave or imputed, his value, his preciousness, his dependability, his deserving-ness, His righteousness to us. This is great news, because throughout our lives we will inevitably make some mistakes, we will sin. But because of God’s love and mercy we do not live in the sphere of sin and under its perpetual influence.

Our Worth gives us what isn’t ours

Ephesians 2:6–9“and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

Now we can see that our worth in Christ gives us the opportunity to sit up in the heavenly places. God Humbled Himself, even baring the shame of the cross for our sake. To show us, His beloved, His endless grace and kindness. His Grace or undeserved favor, has saved us. Why does this happen? How are we saved? THROUGH FAITH. Its not the works we do, or our image or how much money we have or the car we drive. Its not about the church we attend or how often we go. Its not about how much money we raise for charity or if we come in first place. Its NOT OF WORKS, so that we just can’t brag about it.

So remember last week we talked about what our “Word” is. It’s everlasting, owns everything and is the power within us and empowers us to bring light to the world. You can see that there is a theme brewing here. Our Word and our Worth are the same thing. Its raw unfiltered Jesus.

At a point in the future, Christ is going to sit us together (for all who believe in faith) in the heavenly places. But until then, what do we do?

Our Worth offers endless opportunity

Ephesians 2:10 “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

Christ offers us this very intimate view, that we are His workmanship!, Wow, that’s cool. And we were created in Christ for good works that God prepared beforehand. What does that mean? Well I did another Greek translation study and it means....to make ready in advance, or prepared beforehand… Hmm. Well what it is saying is that God is infinite, past, present and future. Isaiah 46:10 “Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure,’”

God, through Christ, has already planned many good works for you to accomplish. These works may have to do with your skills and talents, your job, your family or many other things. But they are good, because God is good and even when we make mistakes, He never changes and He always loves us and forgives us.

A few reasons God gives us endless opportunity and then another game.

Psalm 139:13–16 “For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them.”

Matthew 6:25–34 NKJV

“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Jeremiah 29:11 NKJV

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Your Word is your Worth and His love, mercy and kindness is given to you even though you don’t serve it. And through Christ, you will be blessed for eternity and until then, he knows you intimately, having formed you in your mother’s womb, His workmanship that he created for good works long before the world was even created. When you seek what is truly valuable, God will take care of everything you need, so don’t worry, work yes, strive, yes, seek, yes, learn, apply yourself and your talents, YES, YES, YES! But don’t worry. Your Worth is NOT your own, your Worth gives you what was never going to be your own and your Worth gives you endless opportunities to succeed for His Kingdom. Now, not in the future, but now. Your worthiness isn’t based on your works, gives you the keys to the kingdom and endless good opportunity! Let’s pray.

Game Time: Game Title: Liar, Liar Pants on Fire

Place the card on your head and find someone in the room and read what is on their card on their forehead. It will either be a Biblical truth or Worldly philosophy. You have to try and act out or use limited words to have the person guess what the card says. If the person guesses correctly they say whether its true (Verily, verily I say unto you) or if its a lie (liar, liar pants on fire).

Greed is good

You’re valuable if you’re famous

You’re worthy if people think highly of you

You were made to be the best at what you do

If you work hard enough, you will earn the recognition you deserve

If I have a lot of friends, I am valued and loved

God loves me if I behave myself

I am my own treasure

I need money to be free

I need people to fee sorry for me so I can feel good about myself

I need people to respect me, so I can feel proud

If I win, then I am a winner

My value is in my performance

I need to people what I want them to see, not who I really am

My career choice defines me

God will love me more if I follow all the rules

God needs me to be good

My obedience is all that matters to God

I will be liked and like myself if I wear the right clothes

Cosmetics make me pretty

If I wasn’t depressed or anxious my life would be perfect