Chapter FourAttitudes Toward Self
Part Two The gospels make it evident that one never became less a person by following Jesus.
Being Jesus' disciple was not a debasing, degrading experience. Many rejected Jesus, refused
faith in him, and resented His teaching. However, those who followed Him came from every
conceivable background composing an interesting cross section of first-century society. Among
those who followed Him were the typical "average person", social rejects, prostitutes, despised tax
collectors, religious radicals such as the Zealots, and even a few prestigious people. Did these
followers consider themselves the world's great failures, the scum of the earth, or a worthless
people of no significance? The gospels and Acts reveal such attitudes did not characterize Jesus'
followers. They followed Jesus to escape guilt, not to find it; to destroy defeated lives, not to find
defeat; to get away from purposelessness, not to produce it. Following Jesus made them persons
of value, not miserable, beaten failures.
Jesus did not say, "Come unto me burdened, and I will increase your burdens. I will make
you know how miserable and worthless you are. I will fill your lives with guilt, anxiety, and self-contempt." The life Jesus offered was based on a unique concept of self: a person alive in Jesus
must respect himself because he is a child of God. This chapter is devoted to the second
parameter attitude self: "I am God's child."
God's Child The right to be God's child is dependent on receiving Jesus. An act of God makes a child
of God out of each person who believes on Jesus and is born of God.
Caiaphas declared that it was expedient for Jesus to die to preserve the nation. Caiaphas
did not comprehend the significance of his statement, but John wrote,
The idea that Jesus died to gather into one the children of God was new to first-century thinking.
Becoming God's children was a new emphasis. While the Jews considered themselves God's
people, their common emphasis stressed their being descendants of Abraham. Though God had
long prophesied He would create His family from all peoples (Hosea 2:23 with Romans 9:25, 26;
Romans 15:8-12 with corollary Old Testament references), the fact that God's family was not to
be limited to the Jews was new to their thinking. The universal family of God would come into
existence because Jesus would die for the people.
After Jesus' death, all who entered into Christ became sons of God. Paul wrote, "For ye
are sons of God, through faith, in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ
did put on Christ" (Galatians 3:26, 27). Faith combined with being in Christ produced sons of
God. The moment they were baptized into Christ they became sons of God.
No passage more beautifully emphasized the reality of God's family than I John 3:1-3.
The Greek language stressed two things in verse one. "Behold, what manner of love" is written to
express astonishment. John said, "Let me show you an incredible fact about God's love", or,
"Let me reveal a fact about God's love so astounding it is virtually unthinkable." "That we should
be called children of God" is written in a verb tense to emphasize a present, real, continuing fact.
Being called God's children is not a pleasant thought or an inspiring idea. Divine sonship is an
accomplished, continuing fact. Apart from the Greek, this incredible act of divine love is evident.
How could God look upon beings He created as His own children? That is precisely what God
did, and it is an act of love which defies comprehension. Elevating Christians to the status of His
own children was not a symbolic act, a meaningful gesture, or the conferring of an honorary title.
In actual relationship Christians became His children, brother and sisters of Jesus in the same
divine family.
God will yet accomplish something more astounding than making Christians His children.
What is yet to come for those who are God's children is beyond explanation or description. This
second great act of God can be understood vaguely in this: when Christ returns, Christians shall be
as He is. The hope of that glory, privilege, and existence is a basic motivation for Christian living.
The desire to be a part of God's eternal family in heaven causes the Christian to devote himself to
purity with Jesus as the standard.
The Value of Sonship The New Testament abounds with evidence of the Christians' value to God as His family.
God so valued Christians that He send His Son from heaven, let Him be born as the creature He
helped create, let Him be a true man on earth, and committed Him to death. God let Jesus die
only because He valued those people who would accept Jesus' sacrifice. Jesus valued Christians
so much that He accepted and completed that mission. He did so only because He valued those
who would come to Him in faith and obedience.
One of the most powerful, encouraging promises ever given Christians is Romans 8:31-39.
Paul declared to all those who continue in Christ that God is for them. He is on their side. He
cannot lose interest in them nor desert them. No power in heaven, on earth, or in hell can separate
the believing, trusting Christian from Christ's love. Nothing outside of the Christian himself has
the power to come between the Christian and Jesus' love. The foundation of that assurance is
the fact of Jesus' death. If God valued the Christian to the extent that He did not hesitate to allow
Jesus to be sacrificed cruelly on the cross, God will not refuse those things necessary for the
Christian's spiritual needs and spiritual well-being. Because of the value God places on the
Christian, because of the sacrifice God made for the Christian, and because of God's
determination to sustain the Christian, the Christian is more than conqueror through the loving
Savior.
Ephesians 3:20 affirmed God can do "exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or
think, according to the power that worketh in us." The Christian cannot "out need" the available
power of God to help him. God's options to aid are not limited to the Christian's imagination.
Peter wrote to persecuted, oppressed Christians, "...casting all your anxiety upon Him
(God), because He careth for you" (I Peter 5:7). God will readily accept a Christian's anxiety and
bear it Himself. The concerns and stresses falling upon His children matter to Him. That which
distressed His children is of personal concern to Him.
To whom are such definite, absolute commitments made? No one makes such promises to
worthless, meaningless people. Only to those who are valued are such powerful promises made.
God's promises are irrefutable evidence of the value He places on each Christian.
If a Christian understands the value God places on him, he must respect himself in Christ.
Christ wants no Christian to feel negative about himself, to be doubtridden about his life, or to be
convinced he is good for nothing. He must understand, "Jesus wants me to be filled with spirit
and drive, with confidence and determination, and with the conviction He has made me useful and
worthwhile."
Servitude And Sonship A Christian's responsibility to God is that of a servant. At great personal cost and
sacrifice, God reached down into the filth of sin when the person was spiritually dead and freed
him from death by cleansing his life. Jesus literally bought him back from the condemnation of sin
with His own blood. Nothing he can do can repay God and Jesus for what They did. He can give
no sacrifice that would made it worth Their effort, and he can perform no act to equal Their deeds
in providing salvation. Being a devoted servant to the will of God and using all of life to render
faithful service is the only way he can return Their love.
A Christian's relationship with God is that of a child with a loving father. God loves him,
values him, and holds him as precious. As long as he lives in the Son, no physical or spiritual
force can make him less than a loved, valued, appreciated child. He derives his identity and
dignity from sonship with God. He can respect himself because God in Christ made him
respectable by applying the righteousness of Jesus to his life. In Christ he is somebody! He has
the blessing of self-respect, dignity, and unquenchable hope because God created him anew in
Jesus.
God expects two things of a Christian in his attitude, toward self. The Christian must not
be a person of arrogance, pride, and high-mindedness who considers himself an equal or peer to
God. He must not exaggerate his significance and importance nor feel too good nor too important
to serve. Neither must the Christian be filled with self-contempt, guilt, and doubt. God did not
make him a child for him to debase himself, to feel useless, to feel worthless, or to believe he is
valueless. Both of these attitudes are equally wrong, equally sinful, and equally unchristian.
Throughout life a Christian asks himself two questions: "What does God expect of me?
How much does God value me?" He must understand the answers to both questions. God
expects him to serve Him with all the power of his being. God wants him never to forget he is His
child.
Thought Questions
What effect did Jesus have on the first-century people who followed Him? Were his
followers a group of depressed, anxious people who were down on life, down on themselves, and
in general "a bunch of real losers"? Were they a bland, disinterested, unexcitable people with little
feeling? Were they an optimistic, hope-filled group who possessed a purpose in life?
From Jesus' ministry onward, Scripture stressed each Christian was God's child. John
wrote of Jesus,
The second parameter attitude of a Christian toward self is based on the understanding that
God valued his life so much He made him His child. The privilege of salvation is sonship with
God. A Christian is not a created "thing" to God. He is not an impersonal "something" to be used
and discarded. He is not a possession to God. In the slave-master world of the first century,
slaves were possessions valued for their service. Masters cared for their slaves not out of concern
for their well-being but as a matter of good business in protecting their investment. God does not
and never has regarded Christians as pieces of property which have value only to the extent that
they can render productive work.
The two parameter attitudes of a Christian toward self are (1) "I am Jesus Christ's servant
who exists to serve Him to the best of my ability," and (2) "I am a child of God, and I will be
loved and valued as a child as long as I live in Christ." At first glance, these attitudes seems to be
in contradiction. How can one be both a servant and a son? Does servitude destroy sonship?
Does sonship release one from the responsibility of servitude? To properly understand these two
attitudes, one must separate two basic realities. Reality one: each Christian has a responsibility to
God. Reality two: each Christian has a relationship with God. A Christian cannot have the right
attitude toward himself unless he separates the awareness of responsibility from the awareness of
relationship.
Questions
Chapter Four
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