Seeing Yourself Through God's Eyes (6 page)
Read Seeing Yourself Through God's Eyes Online
Authors: June Hunt
“You were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ”
(1 C
ORINTHIANS
6:11).
H
ave you ever been on trial? There you stand, in life’s courtroom of criticism and accusation. Devastated, you face enemies sitting in the role of judge and jury. How is it others can have such control over events shaping your life? How can you deal with the pain of unwarranted faultfinding and unjustified conclusions? What is your position when you are condemned and determined to be guilty by these self-appointed critics?
The most extraordinary day of your Christian life is the day when you are on trial. Your rightful Judge brings down the gavel and proclaims you
justified.
God uses a legal term that means, “acquitted, vindicated, declared righteous.” A popular amplification for
justified
is
just-as-if-I’d
never sinned.
Imagine yourself in a court of law. The judge has heard the testimony of the highway patrol officer. He has determined you are guilty of speeding, and firmly pronounces a mandatory fine of $100. Then a most unexpected thing happens, causing a stir in the courtroom. The judge rises, steps down from the bench, and takes off his robe. Opening his wallet, he counts out the correct currency and pays your fine! This judge happens to be your father. As a judge, he must make sure justice is served as he applies the law of the land to your actions. But as a father, he demonstrates the love in his heart, pays your penalty, and buys your freedom.
This scene portrays what your heavenly Father did for you. As a
just
God, He has to sentence you to death because of your sins. But as a
loving Father,
He provided the payment for your sins—and you received life. Jesus was the payment. His death bought you life. His death paid the price.
When you yield control of your life to Christ, you are more than pardoned. A pardoned sinner is simply excused from the penalty of sin, but the charge is still recorded. However, when you are justified by God, you receive total acquittal not only from all obligation, but also from all accusation! The charge is erased from your record in the book of life. On every charge brought against you, the Judge has spoken, and no one can reverse His divine decision. As you see yourself through God’s eyes, you realize you are acquitted, vindicated, and justified!
Personalize these verses in your own words:
Romans 5:1
Galatians 2:16
Father, through Your eyes I can see that I…
I have confidence because…I am justified by God.
“Christ redeemed us”
(G
ALATIANS
3:13).
I
n March of 1932, the entire world grieved with the Charles Lindbergh family when their 20-month-old son was kidnapped. Little Charles, Jr. was abducted from his home and held for $50,000 ransom. Aviator Lindbergh had become an international hero after making the first transatlantic flight in 1927. However, his fame did not protect his child from danger. Neither did it protect him from the desperate desire to pay the ransom. Yet even with the full ransom paid, the Lindberghs found themselves victimized, powerless to change the evil travesty. Their baby was cruelly killed by the kidnapper.
The world’s first abduction was carried out in a garden setting. Eden was the perfect haven provided by God for the first man and woman, Adam and Eve. With cunning cleverness, the adversary-kidnapper, Satan, tempted and lured the innocent pair into sin and thereby made hostages of all who were to follow. Alienated from home and sentenced to separation from God and to death, the only hope for the human race was “to be released on receipt of the ransom.”
Unlike the Lindberghs, who could not save their child, the heavenly Father sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to
redeem
you—His child—by paying the full ransom with His life. His death purchased your life! The price? His shed blood.
The two New Testament Greek verbs translated
redeemed
mean “to release on receipt of a ransom” or “to buy out.” Bible scholar Lawrence Richards explains that
redeemed
is set “against the background of helplessness…human beings captured, held captive by the power forces they cannot overcome. Only by the intervention of a third party can bondage be broken and the person freed.”
9
Who, at one time or another, has not been victimized—who has never felt powerless? In particular, victims of physical and emotional abuse internalize the impact of feeling powerless. The adversary-kidnapper would want to lure you with his lie, “You are a powerless prisoner, a helpless hostage.” But child of God, you are
not
powerless! The hostage-taker has no control over you. God has already redeemed you. Christ has already paid your ransom in full.
As Jesus proclaimed, “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36). As you see yourself through God’s eyes, you realize you’ve been redeemed in the most valuable ransom exchange in the history of the world—the Perfect Lamb bought your freedom.
Personalize these verses in your own words:
Matthew 20:28
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
Father, through Your eyes I can see that I…
I have confidence because…I am redeemed by God.
“Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven”
(P
SALM
32:1).
H
ave you ever felt the weight of choosing wrong…then the doubled weight of another’s unforgiveness? Heaviness resides in the heart of the unforgiven.
Forgiveness is liberating—it lightens the loads of both the forgiven and the forgiver. One of the New Testament Greek words for
forgiveness
means to “loose away from, lift off, release.” Imagine a cluster of helium balloons being released into the air, never to be seen again.
But a balloon cannot fly away when its string is tied to a heavy weight. Your sins create a heavy weight, one you cannot remove. When you trust Jesus Christ as your Savior, God cuts the string, removes the weight, and your sins fly away—you are forgiven! God forgives your sins through Christ’s death. He releases the burden of wrong and sends it away.
It grieves us to realize every wrong word, every wrong act, and every wrong thought is marked down on a divine ledger sheet. God sees them all—even the things you thought no one else knew. He not only sees your actions, but He also knows your heart. Hebrews 4:13 says, “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”
Oh, the freedom of forgiveness when you, as a child of God, realize Jesus erased your ledger! This is why forgiveness is so totally liberating. As He hung dying on the cross, His blood was the payment for your wrongs. Written across your ledger is
tetelestai
(Greek), which means “paid in full.” Unlike human forgiveness, which is often forgiving but not forgetting, God has the capacity to instantly forgive you and remember your sins no more! Psalm 103:12 gives the assurance, “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”
As you see yourself through God’s eyes, rejoice in your liberation! Your guilt is gone. Your sin will not be held against you—your heaviness is lifted, your heart is
released.
There truly is freedom in forgiveness.
Personalize these verses in your own words:
1 John 1:9
Hebrews 8:12
Father, through Your eyes I can see that I…
I have confidence because…I am forgiven by God.
“Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow”
(P
SALM
51:7).
I
remember a snowfall so clean and clear, so pure and perfectly white. The silent invitation to step into the new-fallen snow was irresistible. As I walked, I marveled at the soft snow blanketing the lawns and bushes. It was as though nature had been cleansed of all imperfections. On returning from my walk, however, I was saddened by the muddy tracks I had made. The ugly dirt underneath the pure snow had left its stain. No longer did the scene display a portrait so appealing.
The next morning, to my delight, God had quietly and lovingly covered the muddy track with a fresh new blanket of snow. There was no sign of the intruding walk I had taken the day before.
A fresh new day, a fresh new start.
Do you feel the landscape of your life is hopelessly marred by the muddy footprints of failure? Do you grieve with never-ending guilt because you stepped into sin and found yourself soiled and stained? “If only I could start over,” you say, but you can’t forgive yourself. Child of God, do you realize at the time of your salvation you were given both a fresh new heart and a fresh new start? You were cleansed and made whiter than snow.
Over a century ago, a hymn writer captured in melodious poetry the cleansing that took place in your heart when your sin was washed away:
Lord Jesus, I long to be perfectly whole;
I want Thee forever to live in my soul.
Break down every idol, cast out ev’ry foe;
He will wash me and I shall be whiter than
snow.
Whiter than snow, yes, whiter than snow;
Now wash me and I shall be whiter than
snow.
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Because the Lord has cleansed you, you no longer carry the stain of sin. You have been covered by His blanket of holiness. Your sins are forgiven, never to be held against you. “‘Come now, let us reason together,’ says the L
ORD
. ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow’” (Isaiah 1:18).
By seeing yourself through God’s eyes, you can view each day as a fresh new day, a fresh new start!
Personalize these verses in your own words:
Psalm 51:10
Ezekiel 36:25
Father, through Your eyes I can see that I…
I have confidence because…I am washed whiter than snow.
“We were reconciled to him through the death of his Son”
(R
OMANS
5:10).
H
as your heart ever been broken over a shattered relationship? The closeness cut, a specialness severed? No matter how hard you tried, you couldn’t restore harmony or unity. The pain of someone so dear taking on the form of an enemy was more than you could bear. You prayed for things to be different, for the clock to be turned back, for the opportunity to recapture what once had been.
Whether the broken relationship is between parent and child, husband and wife, or friend and friend, the heart has a longing to be reconciled. What a word of hope! The New Testament Greek word translated
reconciled
means “to change thoroughly, to exchange from one condition to another.”
Reconciliation
means a personal relationship is changed—the heart of hostility is
exchanged
for a heart of harmony.