Saturday, September 17, 2022

What Does It Mean That God Is Forever Pleased With Christians?

Many Christians deal with intense feelings of shame. They feel shame over their past or even current sins they commit. In this blog, I will be discussing how God is pleased with us so we do not need to feel ashamed. However, I would like to distinguish guilt from shame. The Holy Spirit convicts us of guilt when we sin in order to drive us to Christ. But, shame is a tool from the devil that is designed to destroy us. In Romans 1: 18-19 we read, 

"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them" 

This text is a picture of the entire world. Every human being born into this world is born into sin because of our forefather Adam. This is the exact reason why the wrath of God is coming upon us because of our active rebellion against Him. If God would have chosen to leave us here, He would be perfectly good and perfectly just and perfectly loving. However, the Lord has not left us here. God came down as a man (Jesus Christ) in order to take the punishment that we deserve upon Himself on the cross and then He rose from the dead three days later. It is because of His resurrection that all those who are in Christ are new creations. In 2 Corinthians 5:17 we read, 

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come" 

This is literally true for all who call upon the name of the Lord. It is not poetry! Since we are in Jesus Christ, we are no longer defined by our sin or even our past, but instead we are defined by who we are in Christ. 

In Matthew 2:16-17 we read of Jesus' baptism. In this account it says, 

"And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him, and a voice from heaven said, 'This is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased'." 

Also, in Galatians 4:4-7 we read, 

"But when the fullness of time has come, God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sins, God has sent his spirit of his son into our hearts, crying, 'ABBA Father!' So you are no longer a slave, and if a son, then an heir through God" 

In these two texts, we clearly see that just as God is well pleased with Christ, so is God well pleased with all who are called sons of God because of who we are in Christ. It is precisely this reason why the apostle Paul can tell us in Roman's 8:37-39, 

"No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord" 

We can see here that nothing in all of creation will ever separate us from God's love for His people. Nothing will ever change this fact because God's word never changes. The Lord is forever pleased with us no matter what we do or say because of our standing in Christ. As a matter of fact, we even have the promise that God is currently working out everything in our lives for our good (Romans 8:28). 

I pray and hope that this blog blesses and edified all who read this. We can trust the Lord because He is always for us not against us. Please leave a comment below and may the grace of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ richly bless you all! 

-David Lee Chu Sarchet
Christian Mental Health Advocate 

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