Beloved - Lesson 1

I know I’ve said more than once, that I “really needed to hear this”. Well for this series. I’ve never felt more strongly. This is a message God has been trying to get through my thick skull. I hope it’s valuable to you, too. Let’s jump right into the deep in tonight, are you ready?

Have you thought about that question (who am I?)? Some have, some probably haven’t. What is it that defines you? Is it how attractive you are, how smart you are, how athletic, musical, talented, artistic? Is it what your job/career will be, how big your family is, what kind of home you live in?

Each of us wonder, who are we?

This is a question that all of us will wrestle with at some point.

There are so many different places we can turn to get answers on this question. Some are good some maybe not. We look to our parents, teachers, advisors, friends, movies/tv, advertisements, careers.

We want to be good enough, worth it, to be valued, to be loved, to be cherished. We constantly live trying to fulfill this need. Think about it. Why do you like sports? Is there not part of you that likes to excel and get recognition? Why do you get upset at yourself when you don’t get the grades you want? Is it not, partially, because you are worried the people whom you care about will think less of you? Even if you take the rebellious path and you don’t desire to please any adult or team, or whatever. You still probably have that lingering question— Do I matter? Am I loved? Sooner or later, you might try to win the affection of someone who is also a rebellious spirit.

We search for our value in our abilities, our possessions, our social life, sexuality, intelligence. We may find some temporary satisfaction in some of those things. But all of those will always leave us wanting more. There will always be someone more popular, more attractive, more wealthy, just MORE. Why do we keep running on this hamster wheel, getting nowhere, trying to find our value? Where is God in all of this? What does God say about this?

Jesus discovered his identity

Let’s look at a story in the Bible where we see into Jesus’ life. Where we see him receive what we all are looking for. His story has answers for us, too. His value and our value are connected. Let’s check it out.

When Jesus was about 30 years old, he began the 3 years where he traveled around preaching, teaching, doing miracles, and teaching his disciples. At the start of that, he went to be baptized by his cousin John. There’s a lot of really cool things to talk about with Jesus getting baptized. Let me just say this - When Jesus was baptized, he was showing us what to do (an example for us), but also how he is one of us (identified with us).

After Jesus is baptized a miracle happens. Check this out

Luke 3:21–22 ESV

21 Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

Jesus receives the Holy Spirit, and a voice from heaven tells him his identity. This voice from heaven says: You Jesus are the ultimate sacrifice! The Christ! The Messiah! The Savior! You will preach to the multitudes, you will perform miracles in my name, You will die to save the world!

All those are true of Jesus, but that’s not what God says. What does he say? “You are my beloved son; with you I am well pleased.” There is an important fact about how God’s love works that we need to notice. At this point, Jesus hasn’t done anything he was famous for. He hasn’t DONE anything. BEFORE Jesus has DONE ANYTHING, God declares that Jesus is ALREADY beloved. God is already pleased with who he is. Jesus fully understanding and grasping His God-given identity is what fuels the rest of his life, not the other way around. He wasn’t scrambling with busy ministry trying to earn God’s favor and attention. He was free to do God’s work because he already had God’s favor.

What if. What if you and I didn’t have to go through life scrambling to answer the question, do I matter? Am I loved? What if we didn’t have to spend so much of our time trying to impress people, to earn their love? Are you ready for some good news?

You don’t have to. You are God’s beloved.

You are God’s beloved.

The story of scripture is the story of God’s love for us, the people of this world. We are God’s beloved. YOU are God’s beloved. You don’t have to impress anyone anymore. You never did. God knows you. God loves you! Check out some of these verses that speak to this:

John 3:16 ESV

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

God loves us so much, he was willing to sacrifice his beloved son to save us. How much does that speak to our value with God?

Psalm 139:13 ESV

13 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.

Since before we were born, God knew us and lovingly put us together. Who knew that N’Sync had at least one song with decent theology - “God must have spent a little more time on you!”

Jeremiah 29:11 ESV

11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

I believe this is true for each of us.

Isaiah 43:1–5 ESV

1 But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. 2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. 3 For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you. 4 Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life. 5 Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you.

Ephesians 2:10 ESV

10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

We are God’s masterpiece. Poiema - root for poem. We are intricately and artistically crafted, put together. You are not an accident. You are not a mistake. You are loved and valued.

1 John 4:10 ESV

10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

God loves us first!

Romans 5:8 ESV

8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

WOW!

You are God’s beloved. What does beloved mean? DEARLY LOVED.

You are dearly loved by God. That is who you are. That is your identity. You don’t have to search, struggle, experience pain, grief to find this out. You do have to accept it, to live in it!

So what?

Understanding this truth about God and you can change EVERYTHING about your day, your life! It gives purpose, meaning, confidence, etc.” You are dearly loved by God. Get that into your head. Let that be the truth that you believe the most in any given day. Wake up with that thought, go to sleep with that thought. GOD LOVES YOU. No matter what ANYONE else says, or doesn’t say, does, or doesn’t do - You are God’s beloved. Embrace that truth and live in it. There’s a book I’ve been reading that has stirred this truth in me, I want to read a few quotes from that book.

“The greatest trap in life is not success, popularity, or power, but self-rejection, doubting who we truly are.” - Henri Nouwen, Spiritual Direction -

“Self-rejection is the greatest enemy of the spiritual life because it contradicts the sacred voice that declares we are loved.” - Henri Nouwen, Spiritual Direction -

“Aren’t you like me, hoping that some person, thing, or event will come along to give you that final feeling of inner well-being you desire? Don’t you often hope: ‘May this book, idea, course, trip, job, country, or relationship fulfill my deepest desire.’ But as long as you are waiting for that mysterious moment, you will go on running helter-skelter, always anxious and restless, always lustful and angry, never fully satisfied. You know that this is the compulsiveness that keeps us going and busy but at the same time makes us wonder whether we are getting anywhere in the long run. This is the way to spiritual exhaustion and burnout. This is the way to spiritual death.” - Henri Nouwen -

“We are the Beloved. We were intimately loved long before our parents, teachers, spouses, children, and friends loved or wounded us. That’s the truth of our lives. That’s the truth spoken by the voice that says, “You are my beloved.” - Henri Nouwen -

“From the moment we claim the truth of being the Beloved, we are faced with the call to become who we are.”

everyday, we must rise to the call/challenge of believing and living this out. I’m not asking you to go out and change the world and make it better place. Not tonight. We’ll get there. Instead, I’m asking you to believe at your core, that you are dearly loved by God. You don’t have to prove anything to him. He loves you no matter what. He still wants to know you more.