Biblical Self-Esteem – Part 3
In building on who God is; that He is who He claims to be and He will keep His Word, we need to see what God will do. This is important in being able to build strong relationships.
We read in Colossians 1:13-14 “For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
Here we see that He has brought us into another kingdom – the kingdom of heaven. Someone rightly said that the kingdom of heaven is a kingdom of right relationships.
We see that He has given us redemption, the forgiveness of sins. It is important for us to understand this because what separates us from God as well as man is SIN. Here we see that we have been forgiven. What does this mean in the context of relationships? First it means that
the barrier, SIN, which was there, has now been removed. We have been reconciled and this is the message that we are to carry to the ends of the earth: reconciliation.
Secondly it means that we have been accepted. Ephesians 1:5-7 “Having predestined us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.” (It comes out more powerfully in this King James Version of the Bible.) We have been accepted!
Why is it so important to be accepted? One of the basic human needs we have is to be accepted. And one of the ways that Satan keeps peoplelocked up in the different kingdoms of this world is through the bars of acceptance. People sense acceptance from the wrong people and identify with those who accept them as they are. This acceptance is stronger than bars of steel.
When we do not feel accepted in a relationship, it is hard for us to accept others, but when this need is met (as it is in Christ) then we can begin to accept others. We need to see that this acceptance is not based upon our performance, and nothing that we have done, but it is all aboutwhat Christ has done for us. It is based upon His promise. This is why it is important for us to have a healthy concept of God. He is not a man that He should lie. If He says He accepts me in Christ then this is what He does.
When I am accepted, not depending upon what I do or not do, then it becomes easier for me to accept others. One of the basic laws of the kingdom of God is acceptance or reception. It is hard for a person locked up in one of the kingdoms of this world to enter into the kingdom of God when there is no sense of acceptance from those that are in the kingdom of God. It is a scary thing to leave a kingdom of this world for another kingdom because of this human need of acceptance.
What will God, who is not a man that He should lie, do for me? He will accept me not because of what I do (my performance), but because of His promise. Isaiah tells us: “The LORD Almighty has sworn, ‘Surely, as I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will stand.’ For the LORD Almighty has purposed, and who can thwart him? His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?” Isaiah 14:24, 27
Praise God that we have been accepted in the Beloved!