It is impossible to live our lives in a way that would convince God of our value because he already knows our value. He is the one who gave it to us.
This article is a guest contribution from R. L. Solberg.
The name Emmanuel means “God with us.” This morning, I found myself wondering why God would choose to do such an outrageous thing for our benefit. Why would the living God of the Universe come down and walk among the dust and sweat of the human race? The answer that popped into my mind was: “Because he is a good Father.” This reminded me of the lyrics of the modern worship song:
You’re a good, good Father. It’s who you are.
I’m loved by You. It’s who I am. [1]
That second line gets me every time. It’s such a profound statement of identity. Something about it resonates in my soul. Modern culture tells me my identity is what I do, or what I’ve done, or who I hang with. If someone were to ask me, “Who are you?” I wouldn’t think to respond by saying, “I’m loved by God.” I’m not sure many of us would. Yet that is a truer source of our identity than anything else in life.
Who am I? I am loved by God. That’s who I am! Everything else about my sense of identity and self-worth should flow from that fact, right? But it doesn’t. Why? One reason is that I know me; I am, among other things, selfish, prideful, and deeply flawed. And yet, the words of Jesus and His gospel proclaim that God loves me and that I matter to Him. This doesn’t make sense to me, nor does it seem right. If I’m honest, it leaves me grappling with a one-word question: Why?
Maybe it’s strange that my biggest “Why” question for God is, “Why do you love me?” When we humans are yelling up to the heavens, emotions swelling in our breast, we’re usually pleading to know why some tragic thing has happened. We demand God to reveal the reason he allowed evil, disappointment, loss, or frustration into our lives. But personally, I have no problem believing he knows what he’s doing and that, even in tough times, God’s character and goodness are perfect. Indeed, the fact that these things are settled in my mind brings my question into sharper focus. I have to wonder how an all-knowing, perfect, holy God could love me, Robert L. Solberg, American citizen, 1/8-billionth of the current world population, here today, gone tomorrow. Perhaps you struggle with that same question.
There are times when I just don’t like myself much. I often annoy me. I sometimes wish I could get a break from me for a few days and take a long road trip, leaving myself at home to think about what I’ve done. I struggle not only because I sometimes feel unworthy of God’s love, but because I understand that I really am unworthy of it. How does it benefit the Holy King of the Universe to love a filthy rag like me? And yet, his word couldn’t be more clear: he does love me; I matter to him. How can this be?
At the end of the day, it’s not our job to figure out why God loves us. We don’t have the cognitive ability to truly understand it anyway. It’s enough to know that it has everything to do with who he is. Our job is simply to decide whether or not we believe Jesus on this point. For me, that’s an easy decision. When it comes to choosing between believing my emotions or God’s Word, my emotions lose every time.
That raises the question: What would it look like to live our lives in full acceptance of God’s love? For me, I discovered that accepting the truth of God’s love brought up a hidden need to try really hard to be worthy of it. I wanted God to know that I was trying. I didn’t want him to think I was the sort of fellow who would take advantage of him or try to tip the scales in my favor unfairly. Then it occurred to me: I was in full people-pleasing mode. With God! How foolish is that? He is God Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth. He knows our thoughts and hearts better than we do. It is impossible to live our lives in a way that would convince God of our value because he already knows our value. He is the one who gave it to us.
Trying to influence God’s opinion of us is as futile as a sparrow trying to change the direction of the wind. The wind blows where the wind blows. The sparrow can fight against it until its wings give out, but it will not affect the wind in the slightest. Likewise, we can fight against the truth that God loves us and refuse to believe it. We can protest that we’re not worthy and don’t deserve it, and we would be right. But that does not affect his love for us one bit. Like a sparrow flying with the wind, we need to surrender to God’s love for us and move in the direction it wants to take us.
So that’s what I’m going to try to do these days. I know I can trust him because he is a good, good Father. A Father who sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.
And that, to me, is the true meaning of Christmas.
R. L. Solberg is an author, apologist, and professor of theology based in Nashville, TN. He runs an apologetics/teaching ministry called Defending the Biblical Roots of Christianity and is known for communicating on complex topics with clarity and grace.
[1] Tony, Brown, Pat Barrett, “Good, Good Father.” © Common Hymnal Digital (BMI), Housefires Sounds (ASCAP), Tony Brown Publishing Designee (BMI), worshiptogether.com Songs (ASCAP), sixsteps Music (ASCAP), Vamos Publishing (ASCAP), and Capitol CMG Paragon (BMI).
