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The title of my message today is “10 things God says about you in the Bible”. I want to continue on in my series of messages from Romans 12. Last week we looked at Romans 12:1-2. This talked about being a living sacrifice and renewing our mind. We saw that we are being renewed in to the likeness of Christ, so we can live like Christ. We also saw that the Bible and the Holy Spirit help in this process. And that our motivations are the love of Christ, the mercy of the Father, God’s promise to keep working on us and the reminder that one day we will stand before Christ to give account. Today I want at the next verse – Romans 12:3.
Romans 12:3 says, “For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.”
This verse reminds of the important of having a right view of ourselves. It says we should think of our self with sober judgement. The Greek word used here for sober is so-fron-eh’-o. It means to think and be in your right mind or to think correctly about ourselves. Some people think too highly of themselves, while others have a too low opinion. The best way to think right about ourselves in by seeing who God we are in the Bible.
As Christians I believe at times we need to be reminded of who God says we are. Sometimes we forget just how loved we are and just how important we are to God. Today I want to look at 10 Scriptures that changed and transformed my life. They helped me to see myself through God’s eyes and are helping me to fulfil the destiny God has before me.
The main focus is to let God’s Word speak to our hearts and minds. I will read each Scripture and make a very short comment.
1. You are created in God’s image
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:27)
We are made in God’s image. According to most theologians or Bible scholars, being made in God’s image has three aspects or three schools of thought…
While most theologians or Bible scholars fall into one of those camps, I believe that being made in the image of God is a combination of all three. When we make choices, when we work using God’s gifts and when we related lovingly to each other, we reflect God’s image.
As Christ followers we need to remember that God’s DNA is stamped on us. Yes the fall of man skewed the image when God cast Adam and Eve out of the garden and sin entered the world, but it was restored in Christ’s death and resurrection. We are able to reflect all God wants us to be.
2. You were chosen before the foundation of the world
For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love He predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— (Ephesians 1:4-5)
God chose us before the creation us the world. What did He choose us for? To be holy and blameless in His sight. Why? Because that would give Him pleasure! It was His will and prior choice to have you in His Kingdom and adopted into His eternal family.
3. You were created for good works
For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10)
We are created by God for good works that He planned for us before He made the world. You were on His mind and He had a job for you to do. Like Queen Esther was chosen for a time such as this, so are you. God made you perfectly to play your part. He used all the right ingredients when moulding you on His potter’s wheel. You are gifted with everything you need to do all He needs you to do. Next week we will look into this in a deeper way when we look at using our gifts well.
4. You were adopted as children of God
Yet to all who received him [Jesus], to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— (John 1:12)
We are God’s children. Adopted into His eternal family because our faith and trust in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour. We are co-heirs with Christ. We are all born into this world in to natural families. Some are good and some are not so good. But when we come to Christ we enter the eternal family of God. We here are brothers and sisters. Not just for this life, but for all eternity.
As I shared in my message a few weeks ago – we will spend way more time in eternity than we will on earth. When we have been there 10,000 years we have only just begun. Look around and see your brothers and sisters in Christ. These relationships will last for eternity. We are brothers and sisters in Christ forever and ever and ever. We are adopted into Christ and God’s eternal family.
5. You have the power of the resurrection inside you
And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you. (Romans 8:11)
Not only are we God’s children and made in God’s image, but we have part of God living inside us. We have resurrection power living in us. The Bible also tells us that we are a Temple of the Holy Spirit. God’s Spirit resides in you (1 Corinthians 6:19). When we come together we have part of the Creator of the universe resides in us (1 Corinthians 3:16). We don’t have to feel powerless because the same Spirit who hovered over the waters and the same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead is alive and active in you.
6. You are no longer condemned
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1)
Often we feel condemned and unworthy in the face of a Holy God. God tells us in the Bible there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. None at all. The Greek word used here for condemned is kat-ak’-ree-mah. It means an adverse sentence or judgement from a judge. We are condemned and ready to be sentenced to jail. But this verse says there is no condemnation. No sentence against us. Our judgement has been put aside.
As a result we can’t let other people make us feel condemned, or the devil and we can’t even condemn ourselves. We are free. Personally I was the worst offender at condemning myself. If I spoke to you the way I spoke to myself most of the time, then you would not want to be my friend and you would definitely want me as your Pastor! Romans 8:33-34 NLT told me that if God has said we are right with Him, who can condemn us. No-one! Not even ourselves! Now I am free to live in the love of Christ. Free from condemnation.
7. You are alive and seated with Christ
But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:4-7)
When Jesus returned to heaven He took up the highest place in the universe – seated at the right hand of the Father. These verses tell us that spiritually we are seated right there with Christ. You hold a special place in the heavenly realm. Learning this at Bible college changed my whole perspective on life and how I see myself. I now see my standing as with Christ. I can hold my head up high.
8. God created you in your mother’s womb
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. (Psalm 139:13). Jeremiah 1:5 – before I created you, I knew you.
This is David praying/talking to God. David realised the special role God played in creating him. He knit him together in his mother’s womb. The potter moulded and shaped him into a future king. God also knit you together. Making you exactly how He wanted you to be. There are no mistakes. You are what He intended you to be. God said that same thing to Jeremiah. Jeremiah 1:5 says, “before I created you, I knew you.”
9. God loved you and sent His Son for you
This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. (1 John 4:9-10)
God loved you so much that He couldn’t bear for you to miss out on heaven and eternity with Him. He sent Jesus to die for you. Jesus gave His life for you. For God so loved you as it says in John 3:16. It is the greatest sacrifice and the greatest demonstration of love of all time. He loved you first and planned always for you to be His treasured possession. You are God’s treasured possession. Loved and treasured. God is besotted with you.
When God looks at you He looks at you with the pride and love of a parent holding their new born child, or like when you watch your children play, or like when you see your child ride their bike for the first time, or when you see your child grow up and marry. There is an immense love and pride in you. God loves. He adores you. He is besotted with you.
10. You are free in Christ
So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. (John 8:36)
If you are in Christ, you are free. Free of worry about salvation, free of worry about the future, free of the past, free of sin, free of guilt, free of condemnation, free of striving to be accepted, free of the need to know if God loves you or not. He loves you and accepts you. You are His. You are chosen. You are part of His eternal family. You are free of everything that would hold you back for being all God wants you to be.
Closing
Today we have looked at 10 passages that tell us who we are and what we have in Christ. And this is only just scratching the surface of the amount of passages in the Bible that tell us how important to and how loved we are by God.
When we fully believe these verses it changes our hearts and minds and it truly changes the way we live. We can stand taller and we can be confident in taking on the world knowing that God loves us, is with us and is on our side.
Summary
It is my hope and prayer that you will take these Scriptures home with you and read them everyday this week. Let them sink deep into your heart and mind. Amen.
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