You Have Never Been Rejected
3 Facts That Change Everything
There’s a line in the Bible that you may have heard thrown around before.
Jesus said - “He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free” -Luke 4:18
Have you ever wondered what this means?
He was referring to you and me when he said this. But what did he mean?
What he means is that he came to open your eyes to WHO YOU ARE, WHO’S YOU ARE, AND HOW LOVED YOU ARE because when you know these things it changes everything.
But now, this is what the LORD says --- he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel: "Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine”. - Isaiah 43:1
“Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” - Luke 12:7
What Does It Mean To Be Human?
There’s been a lot of discussion in our society lately over cultural equality.
Regardless of what your thoughts are on the current events, I think we can all agree that our country was founded on a certain set of principles:
All Men Are Created Equal
That “All men are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are - Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness”.
It is these words and concepts from our Declaration of Independence that were appealed to during the emancipation proclamation and again by Martin Luther King Junior when society was not seeming to live up to these core fundamental beliefs we had established as a country.
But where did we even get these kinds of ideas? I mean, if it’s survival of the fittest who’s to say that if I am stronger than you and capable of oppressing you, that I shouldn’t do it? Where did that little voice inside of us that knows these truths are self-evident come from?
You Are Not Just A Random Accident
The Bible says that every one of us, and I’ll make it more personal, the Bible says that YOU are not just a random accident who can make up his own rules about right and wrong. But instead, that we were created on purpose for a purpose.
There’s a famous scene in Disney’s The Lion King where Simba’s deceased father, makes the statement to his son “remember who you are...”
When Simba does remember that he is a prince, that he was born with a purpose bigger than himself, that he was born not just for himself but for a kingdom… It magically changed the way that he lived.
Instead of seeing himself as powerless to inflict change, powerless to contribute, and help the people around him, he now realizes he was specifically created for and fully capable of doing those things.
You Have a Royal Blood
I wanna put this in perspective for you. The God that created all that you see. The God who put every star in the sky and knows them by name. The king not just of The Sahara or a country but the king of the universe… crafted you, called you by name and wants to adopt you.
This can often come across as a phony line but I want you to really consider, based on who this God is and what I just said, the truth that - you have royal blood running through your veins.
You Have a Mission
And like any royal figure, there is a mission and inheritance that comes along with your identity.
There is a reason that you know deep down in your soul that you were created for more than just to work and then die. There is a reason you feel like you were meant for more and that reason is that you are.
Your Life Is Sacred
The implications that we were each created specifically uniquely and completely loved has some huge implications. The largest one, that the late Ravi Zacharias pointed out, is that - ALL LIFE IS SACRED. Your life is sacred and so is the life of your brother. It’s not enough to just say that we’re all created equal because with the way that some people love themselves they may treat us all equally worthless, but God says, WE ARE ALL EQUALLY ROYAL AND PRECIOUS IN HIS SIGHT.
Now let me ask you a question…
If you were created to be a reflection of the living God, a little demonstration and sliver of his creativity to the world... If He created us for a purpose and there is only one being just like us out of the billions of people in the world...
Then why do so many of us believe that God is apathetic towards us?
The Bible says
“You will long for the creature your hands have made.”
“That he seeks after us like a shepherd seeks for a lost sheep”
YOU HAVE NEVER BEEN REJECTED
In your life, if other people ever told you or made you feel that you were not important, not capable, or not worthy... they lied. They were wrong. They only said those things because they themselves don’t know who they are.
So many of us suffer from feelings of rejection but the truth is that you have never been rejected. The people who made you feel like that didn’t know who you really were. If they did, they would’ve understood your intrinsic worth.
They may have rejected who they thought you were, who they conceived you to be in their own mind or a false version of you they concocted in their imagination but they never rejected the real you because they don’t know the real you. Only God fully knows you inside and out and God says you are my beloved whom I have loved.
YOU MAY ASK: WELL, HOW MUCH DOES GOD REALLY LOVE ME?
C.S Lewis gave us a great insight. When he was questioning his faith, the following occurred to him:
How did he know what a crooked line was unless he knew what was straight?
If we know what imperfect love looks like this world calls for the reality that perfect Love must exist or else, where did we get this concept of crooked if there is no reality of straight. You are loved by this perfect infinite love.
God is love
My purpose in bringing this up is simply to convey this concept of who God is. That his attributes are the perfections of the things we see. The Evils are not things but a lack of these perfections in the same way that darkness is merely a lack of light.
If He is the perfect one that our consciousness and our heart knows must exist. The perfect of love then He is the Father and starter of every act that has been enacted from love. How beautiful must He be? We are the beloved, the object of the love, and delight of the perfect most extreme lover in the universe. How loved and valuable must we be? If you don’t feel special yet, you should.
I want you to think of a person or maybe a few people that you have loved the most in your life. How did you feel when they didn’t want to talk to you or call you back? Would it have been an accurate statement that if they were hurt that you didn’t care if they ask you for some bread you would desire to give them a stone?
Assuming you have truly loved someone or something in your life is it even possible that apathy would be a word that you would use to describe how you felt about them? Would you categorize your actions towards them as distant and delayed? Or didn’t you in fact long to be with them as soon as possible? Be willing to give them everything and want to see them happy and want what was truly best for them.
The Bible says: If you, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your son, how much more will the heavenly Father give to you.
You’ve Been Fed Lies
We’ve been fed lies and we’ve gobbled them up. We’ve been fed lies about God and we’ve been fed lies about ourselves. Today I’m asking you to bury those lies and believe what God says about you is true.
God’s love is not just an emotion. The Bible teaches that real love is actually an action. An action of putting someone else’s needs ahead of your own. It is patient, kind, understanding. It does not seek its own. This is the definition of love the scriptures give. It also says that this is love that a man lays down his life for his friend and that is exactly what your creator did for you.
God’s perfect justice demanded that the punishment for sin was death, separation from Him.
When we broke his law, justice demanded our death. He didn’t just throw his hands up and go... Oh well, too bad for them… He died in our place.
“The Word became flesh and dwelt among us”
“They have seen a great light”
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.”
Live Your Life Differently Because Of Your Gift of Freedom
I don’t know about you, but if I had been a witness or seen this with my physical eyes, the only response would be gratefulness, I would be moved.
I live my life differently knowing that I was bought with a price.
Regardless of how you feel about the state of our country, most people still honor our soldiers because most people honor the idea that a sacrifice was made so that we could have this gift of freedom in our country.
In the same way, the sacrifice that was made on the cross was made on my behalf as a free gift and because of somebody else’s sacrifice, we can have freedom. The freedom that a soldier purchases for us in winning a physical battle is physical freedom. But the freedom that was purchased by blood when Christ won a spiritual battle was spiritual freedom.
The freedom by which we are no longer enslaved by lies or the system of destruction that those lies bring.
But instead, our minds experience freedom in the evidence that our core very being was proven to be created in and out of love. That we no longer have to strive and fight ourselves and each other to try to gain some sense of worth because we already know how valuable we are.
We know we truly are already endowed with the traits our forefathers mentioned. Because of how precious we are to the creator.
Open Your Eyes
He came to open blind eyes and set the captives free. What are you blind to? You were blind to who God created you to be, you’re blind to how loved you are, you’re blind to how much worth you’ve been endowed with, blind to the mission and the purpose you were created for and you were blind to how deep and wide The Father's love towards you.
And you were or will be set free when your eyes are open. You are set free from the lies you once believed. No longer held captive by the lie that you don’t have a purpose. No longer held captive by the opinions of other men. You’re no longer a slave to fear as the song goes because you are a child of God.
The Keys of Truth Are In Your Hand
For the Christians listening, waiting for me to talk about sin, yes you are right. We were also blind to our sin, but sin is acted out of the wrong identity. You can’t love other people right until you first know how loved you are.
Joy doesn’t come from another promotion or more imperfect love from another human. People’s happiness, joy, and delight come from only one place. It comes from chasing after your true destiny and knowing your true identity.
I placed the keys of truth in your hand. You have to believe in order to take off your shackles. If you choose to remain bound to continue to believe the lies, well, by definition you won't experience the freedom that is in the truth.
But if you set your heart on these truths and let your mind be renewed by them then friend, you’ll see your freedom come.