Love is God’s very nature. He cannot help but express it because it is who He is. Does God need a reason to love us? No. If He did, He wouldn’t be God. God loves unconditionally because of His wonderful divine goodness, not because of our merit. I think we can all agree on that.
So, if that is really true (that God doesn’t need a reason to love the things He made) this means His love for something He created does NOT necessarily imply it merits or is worthy of that love. Whatever is loved by God can never boast they are worthy of that love because God loves them regardless.
The message of the cross is not one about our worth, but about Jesus’ worth. In fact, that’s the whole point. As Rom 3:12 says we were “worthless” in our sin (also see Matt 25:30).
We needed Jesus who is “worthy” to come and take our place. He is the only one worthy. Revelation drives this home by pointing out He is the only one worthy to open the scroll (Rev 5:3-5). It is why the angels in heaven repeat over and over “WORTHY, WORTHY, WORTHY is the Lamb who was slain…” John the Baptist recognized that even though he was the greatest man to ever live (Matt 11:11) he wasn’t even worthy to untie the saddles of Jesus (Mk 1:7).
On the cross, we should see our own lack of worth and desperate need for one who is worthy. I believe to think otherwise frustrates grace. It certainly could lend itself to the kind of boasting that Paul warns against in Eph 2:8-9.
Jesus didn’t go to the cross because I was “worth it”. He went because He was. This was God’s plan before the foundation of the world. The greatest encouragement is that God loves us even though we are NOT worth it. A true grasp of grace is realizing that Jesus loves me unconditionally. The pressure is off to perform, to earn it. We rest in His worth.
Our esteem is in Christ, not self. Because He is so great and everything He says is true, we can rest confidently in who we are because He says we are forgiven (Rom 5:1), we are adopted children (Rom 8:23), we are clean (Eph 1:6-8), we are created and formed by God (Psalm 139), we are not mistakes (Eph 2:10), and we are righteous (2 Cor 5:21). All of this is rooted in HIS worth, in HIS accomplishments, not ours.
Do human beings have worth? They certainly do. Why? Because God says they do. We have worth because God has given it to us. He has said we bear His image, and thus, our worth is totally from Him.
There is a big difference between: I’m worthy, so he died for me and He died for me and gave me my worth.
See, it’s not that we were so wonderful and worthy that Jesus died for us . . . It’s that BECAUSE of the cross we have worth. Jesus sanctifying death makes us “sacred and blameless” in his sight.
This is why the gospel is foolishness to the world. It makes no sense. Why would God substitute Himself for us? So, what does that tell us? It tells us that God dying for us isn’t about our worth. Something else is going on here.
I understand the intention behind many songs that say; Jesus died for us because we are worthy. I understand the desire to help people see they have value in God’s eyes and that He loves them. However, I am not sure if such songs will really help people in the long run, because it still focuses them on their worth.
Most people struggle with trying to earn their own righteousness. We are wired for law. We don’t understand grace. We need to see the love and grace shown to us when we least deserve it in order to understand.
I know many people who struggle with feeling “unworthy”. In their hearts, they know they aren’t worth it. Satan continually reminds them of this true fact. He preaches half the gospel to them on a regular basis. They need a solid foundation of grace to combat this. They need to be able to say from their core, “you are right, I’m NOT worthy. . . but He is! And His righteousness is mine.” It is very true that Jesus loved you enough to die for you, but what Jesus did on the cross was about His worth substituted for your lack of worth.
Courtesy. Edited by male@ugchristiannews.com
