See yourself with eyes of Mercy Pt 2

Excerpt: Jesus sees our sin but it doesn’t change his love for us or our worth in His eyes.  If an appraiser pays a million for my old lamp, my view of the lamp changes. The price God paid to have me is His Son.

(Same content from original May 7th post. Split into 2 shorter posts. This is Part 2. Read Part 1 for context)

WHAT DOES IT COST GOD TO GIVE US MERCY?      
It cost the Son the agony of taking our sin upon himself.
It cost the Father the agony of asking His Son to do so & watching Him obey.

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Co 5:21

Jesus became sin for us and his Father asked him to. How dreadful it was for the Holy Son to take our sin upon himself and for the Holy Father to watch it happen. What was it like for the Father to pour out the wrath we deserved on His innocent son, who did not deserve it?  Why would each of them agree to this? They knew that nothing less could atone for our sins. It would take nothing less to show us mercy. To remove our sin. And bring us home to Him.

It cost the Son the rejection of those He longed to redeem.
It cost the Father the rejection of those He longed to adopt.
It cost each of them the agony of witnessing our rejection of the other.

John 1:11 “He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.”

This verse assures me that I become God’s child if I receive His Son. Each 'yes' brings great joy to both Father and Son. But millions have also brought them great sorrow. They’ve rejected the Father’s offer of adoption and the Son’s costly give of redemption. I have a friend who went through the long process of adopting a child from Poland.  Near the end, the child decided to stay at the orphanage.  She no longer wanted to be adopted.  My friend’s pain was deep.

Ever felt the sting of rejection from someone you loved? The Father's felt it a million times over yet He keeps offering a home to orphans, even those who keep saying ‘No’. Why does He keep setting Himself up for more rejection? He knows there's a chance you might say ‘Yes’. And for Him, the slightest chance of you saying 'Yes’ is worth waiting for.

It cost the Son the brief yet unthinkable pain of separation from His Father.
It cost the Father the terrible agony of turning His face away from His Son.

“About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?”,
which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”.  Matthew 27:46

Jesus took our sin upon himself along with the just punishment our sin deserves. He took the full brunt of God’s wrath against sin so you and I wouldn't have to. He embraced the horror of separation from the Father He loved. So we wouldn't have to. His anticipation of this separation is the reason for His intense emotional stress in the garden.

Can we tear a baby boy from mother’s arms, then ask him not to grieve? Or ask the mother not to cry? They are one!
Can we snatch a bride from her groom and expect no cries of agony from both of them? Of course not! They are one!
Can the Son endure any worse agony than being torn from His Father’s presence? Will He not cry out? They are one!
 
We see the Son’s pain. But consider the Father’s. We murdered His Son. The One He sent to redeem us and adopt us.
It is our sin that made this terrible moment of separation necessary. And it's our sin that made the moment terrible.

Yet Jesus didn't have to endure this moment. He could have opted out. But He didn't. He chose to love. He chose us.
Though everything in him despised the sin that would be placed on him. And though everything in him hated the thought of even the briefest moment apart from His Father, the Son said ‘Yes’. He walked resolutely to Jerusalem. Into the most terrible moment that God or man could ever face. Why? So you and I would never face such a moment.
 
Such love breaks my heart.  It convicts me of how easily I take His mercy for granted. It stirs up a prayer in my soul.
'God, forgive me for how I take your presence for granted. When I consider what you did so I could draw near you and then consider how seldom I do, it pains me! I’ve sought every other blessing than the one for which you died.
You didn’t die just so I could live. But so I could live with you! Yet I have time for everything and everyone but you.
 
My avoidance of prayer reveals how much I’ve taken your presence for granted. You gave your life to be with me.
Yet like the disciples, I consider it too great a price to give you a single hour. Forgive me Father. Forgive me Jesus.”

It cost the Son the relinquishing of divine privileges to become our servant.                     
It cost the Father the pain of asking His Son to relinquish those privileges.  
                 
 "Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man,  he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross."
Philippians 2: 6-8 
                                                                                                                       
Mercy: ‘to bend or stoop in kindness’.  Can a transcendent God bend lower than He did in a Bethlehem stable?
Yes.    On a hill called Golgotha.

It cost the Son His life.
It cost the Father the life of His Son.

  “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold
that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors,
but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.” 1 Peter 1:18-19

Could any higher price be paid for us than the lifeblood of God’s only Son?
Together they counted the cost that mercy would require from each of them.
Together they agreed to pay whatever it would take to redeem and adopt us.  
And together they paid the ultimate price.

What exactly is the ultimate price?  Peter gives us a clue in the verse above. He compares the value of silver and gold to the value of Christ's blood. He does this so we won’t miss the obvious. Can any created thing have more value than the One who created it? The value of a life, especially the life of God will obviously far exceed the value of anything God made. Peter is declaring that when God redeemed us with the life of His Son, He paid the highest price possible.

WHY WOULD GOD PAY MERCY’S ULTIMATE PRICE?

Hear Donna's words again. 'Mercy costs nothing to the one who receives it, but everything to the one who gives it'.
To understand the why behind Christ's sacrifice links Donna’s two statements together and unlocks their meaning.
 
If I can see why God paid such a price, I may also see why I don’t need to. Perhaps I’ll quit trying to earn His love.
There are solid doctrinal answers to the question of why He’d give His life for us. (ie: justification, redemption, et.)
For me, I didn't catch God's reasons for Calvary by studying doctrine. I saw it while studying His passions. What He
thinks. What He loves. What He wants. That study showed me 3 reasons why He would pay such a high price for us. 

He sees our worth.

Let’s say I was given an antique porcelain lamp by my father before his death. To me it’s a cheap outdated eyesore that's basically worthless. Yet I still include it in my father’s estate auction with other hand me downs. A few antique dealers attend and the bidding for this ‘eyesore’ climbs higher than I thought possible. Bidding closes at a million. The buyer’s face tells me he got the better deal. I suddenly have a new view of this lamp that I considered worthless. 

In the eyes of the antique dealer, the lamp was rare, unique and priceless. To me it was an average, outdated and worthless lamp. But once an expert, who knew its value paid a million dollars for it, my opinion of the lamp changed. This worthless lamp that I took for granted I now see as priceless. What changed my view of it?  The price paid for it. 
 
In the same way I was given a life, a face, a personality and a name as a gift from my Heavenly Father and earthly father.  But after a lifetime of failure, sin and regret, my opinion of this life is quite negative.  All I see is the years I spent trying to improve it and how little I have to show for my investment. I look at my average life, my average face, my average skill, my less than average achievements and my long string of failures. And I label myself ‘worthless’.
 
So there I am on the auction block of people pleasing. Asking bidders to affirm my worth. I hope the bidding climbs but I know it likely won't even start. Why would anyone bid at all? Surely they see what I see in the mirror every day.
 
But God sees me too. Though my self-doubts have sent me searching for affirmation, He runs after me. His heart is full of compassion as He wraps His arms around me. Why? He sees something in me that I can’t see. He knows me so much better than I know myself, yet loves me so deeply.  He clearly sees something of worth in me that I can't see.

I may not see what the buyers see in my lamp. But I will still value the lamp differently if I remember the price paid.  Jesus said 'When you drink this cup, remember me." The reminder of His sacrifice will also remind us of our worth. Seeing ourselves as God sees us is an ongoing process. There will be days when doubts return and I question my worth. But often the doubts return because I question my worth. That's why I will only trust trustworthy appraisers.

And I am not one of them. My self-appraisals are rarely accurate. I'll appraise myself with the same eyes I appraise my lamp. Which I leave off the estate sale, sell it for $3 at a garage sale and later find it sold for 2 million at auction.  I am not the best appraiser of my worth. The only one qualified to appraise my worth is the one who created me and then paid a price to redeem me. The reason I can't be my own judge is I'm not qualified to be. My judgment is too skewed by sin and shame. I must leave the appraising to God and stop assuming I know myself better than He does.

So God pays the ultimate price. To adopt me and make me His. Why?  He loves me! He thinks I'm worth it! If we could see our value from His point of view and believe it, maybe we wouldn't be so driven by this need to prove ourselves. We might not be so performance driven. And maybe we could finally stop our striving and rest in His love.

He Delights in Us

For the Lord takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with victory.  
Psalm 149:4

I have spent decades of my life caught in the trap of people pleasing and feeling like I could never measure up.
One thing that would calm my anxious heart is when someone voiced their approval of me or something I did.
It’s natural to want affirmation. But I became dependent on it. I needed your approval to feel good about me.

During that time, the Lord led me to Psalms 149:4 ‘For the Lord delights in his people’. Not once but many times.
I understood it, but I didn’t know why I needed it. ‘Why this verse? What’s your point?’ A year later I realized why.
I've craved the approval of men far too much. I would daydream of receiving some honor: confirmation of my worth. 
But daydreams will disappoint if they're rooted in a lie. And here’s the lie: I can't feel good about me unless you do.  

I now realize that this false belief is why God kept leading me to Ps. 149:4. One day I randomly opened my Bible. Guess where? Ps.149. For the 100th time. I was mad. "What?! OK, I get it! You delight in your people. You crown the humble. I know that! So why keep saying what I already know!?” Then I saw the next verse I somehow missed.

Let his faithful people rejoice in this honor and sing for joy on their beds. 
Psalm 149:5

I was struck by the phrase ‘rejoice in this honor’. Which begs a question: ‘Rejoice in what honor?’ The answer is in vs. 4. The verse God kept directing me to over the last year. I finally heard what God had been trying to say all along.

"Jack, I want you to find your joy and worth in this honor:
That I delight in you and call you 'friend'. Can that be enough? 
Can you find your significance in knowing I'm pleased with you."  

I wish I could say I no longer seek approval from men. But 5 years later I once again needed a reminder of Psa 149.  Due to COVID's impact on our church in 2020, my Care Pastor role had to be cut to PT after 35 years in FT ministry.
I also turned 65 and soon found myself semi-retired. I supported the move but felt a loss of purpose and uncertainty as to my future. I reflected on the past as if my life is over. Not seeing the fruits of my labor, I felt like a failure. I felt  irrelevant. I compared my impact with others. I returned to my mirror (the one that lies). I thought 'This isn't where I thought I'd be at this stage'. I went back to looking for validation and honor from men. 'Tell me I'm not a failure!'
 
One day all these discouraging thoughts and hopeless feelings settled over my soul like a thousand heavy blankets.
And I thought 'I need to worship. I need to get my eyes off me and look at my Lord regardless of how I feel today."
So I did. I went to a worship service and lifted my broken heart and my disillusioned mind to the God who loves me.

I didn't ask God to speak to me, give me answers or calm my anxious soul. I just wanted to be with Him and worship.
The storm inside grew calm. In the quiet, I heard the worship leader sing 'You honor me with your love'.  I thought of Psalm 149 and remembered: The only honor I need I already have! 'He delights in me!' That's validation enough!
'For the Lord takes delight in his people ...Let his faithful people rejoice in this honor and sing for joy.' 

If you ever begin to doubt whether God really takes delight in you, consider what He sets apart as HIS inheritance. 

"For the Lord’s portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance" Deut 32:9
“The Lord your God has chosen you to be his own special treasure!" Deut 7:6
"Blessed is …the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance" Psalms. 33:12

Those who know God well treasure Him far more than His gifts. Gifts are mere trinkets compared to God Himself. Moses said “If you don’t go with us into the promised land, I don’t want to go”. If you asked him “So what’s your inheritance? What do you get out of following God?”, he’d say “I get God. What more could I want?” The Levites agreed. They had no inheritance as God was their inheritance. Did they feel cheated? No! They felt greatly honored.

Now imagine Israel asking God ‘So what do YOU get out of making a covenant with us? What’s YOUR inheritance?’
                                                                    He would answer, "You! I get you!!"

That’s how Jesus feels about us! We are His portion and He's not disappointed with His portion! He's overjoyed!  He ‘gets us’! Misty Edwards compared it to a proposal. Imagine a young man proposing to His lover. When they show up at a surprise family dinner, he enters with a big smile yelling ‘She said Yes!’ That’s how Jesus feels about your ‘Yes’!

Most of us can’t see the great treasure we are to God. So we feel we have to bring some gift along to impress Him.
The only gift He wants from us is us. We may not appreciate our value. To God, there’s no greater treasure than us.
That’s why Zephaniah said “he rejoices over you with joy, he will rest in his love, he will joy over you with singing."

He loves us.
"The LORD did not set his heart on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other nations,
for you were the smallest of all nations! Rather, it was simply that the LORD loves you,” Deuteronomy 7:7,8

God loves you because He loves you. Not because you’ve earned His love. The choice to love you originates from a place deep within His heart. It’s not a response to some goodness in you. He still loves you when you’re not good. 
              
The Hebrew word for mercy is ‘racham’ which means compassion or tender love. It’s translated ‘bowels’ of mercy, It’s a strong yearning of deep affection. It’s used of Joseph when overcome at the sight of his brothers bowing before him. It is used of a mother when Solomon threatened to cut her baby in two. “She was deeply stirred over her son”. 
 
‘Racham’ also means ‘womb’: a place of deep affection where mom and baby bond. ‘Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? While she may forget, I’ll not forget you!’ Is. 49:15

Jer. 31:20 says “Is not Ephraim my dear son, the child in whom I delight? Though I often speak against him, I still remember him. Therefore my heart yearns (racham) for him; I have great compassion for him’ declares the Lord.
 
Ask a mother to explain why she loves her child.  You'll likely get a blank stare since love, passion and desire are not  so easily understood, much less explained.  As Blaise Pascal said “The heart has reasons that reason cannot know.”

 We keep trying to ascertain a sense of our value or worth by looking in the mirror.
But it’s like evaluating the lamp with untrained eyes.  My appraisal is inaccurate.
We need to trust the integrity of the antique dealer if we don’t understand its value. 
It’s value is best measured by the price an expert appraiser is willing to pay for it.

God in mercy paid the highest price for us simply because He loves us that much.
When God loves us that much and pays that kind of price for undeserving sinners,
why do we think He expects us to earn His love? You can't earn a love freely given.
If we believe He loves us as much as He actually does, we won’t strive to earn it.

Since mercy 'costs everything to the one who gives it', that's why it 'costs nothing to the one who receives it'.

Humble child-like faith accepts the appraiser’s estimation as an accurate appraisal.
Despite any ‘proof to the contrary’. They refuse to think they know better than God.
The proud reject their Creator’s appraisal in favor of their own.  Which will you be?

With the lamp story, I still want to figure out what the buyer saw in this lamp. In the same way, I resist simply accepting God's appraisal of my worth. I 'know' what I'm like. So it doesn't make sense for Him to pay such a price for me. What does He see in me?! This just breeds confusion as I see through eyes of judgment and love accordingly. He sees me through eyes of mercy and loves accordingly. I don't see myself as He sees me. Even when I see a glimpse of myself from His viewpoint, I can't hold on to it. I don't 'get it'!  So until I can I am choosing to simply believe Him. 
 
He made me and knows my value better than I. He sees the inside as well as the outside. He sees the beauty in me that I can't see. He sees all that is good and precious in me. He knows the depths of my sin better than I,  yet He also knows how much I love Him. Even on the days I please myself, He sees my desire to please Him. Which pleases Him.
 
Bottom line: He loves me. And like a good parent, God will do whatever it takes to love me. Regardless of the cost.
And regardless of whether I think I'm pleasing Him. What pleases Him is when I believe Him and let Him love me.
What displeases Him is when I don't. Psalm 149:11 says “The Lord delights in those who hope in His unfailing love".

Someone discovered a prayer journal dated in 1667. It belonged to Margie Kempe. She not only wrote out her prayers to Jesus. She also wrote out what she thought Jesus might say in reply to her. Listen to one particular entry.

"My dear Margie. Far more pleasing to me than all your prayers, pleas or acts of penance
is that you would simply believe I love you."
Jesus
(From Margie Kempe’s Prayer Pournal –1667)

God seems to show up when you least expect it. He also seems to show you love when you least deserve it.   
One place I didn’t expect to run into God is at the Iowa City Public Library. Actually, He ran into me.  Deliberately.   
 
I pastored a small rural church an hour away. I had taken our family to Iowa City kids museum for a daytrip. We got there too early so we stopped at a local library. As usual, I went to the religion section. Though I didn’t feel very  religious that day. I recently had to leave a job I loved with no idea why and God wasn’t talking. So I didn’t either.
I saw His silence as absence, so I began avoiding God. I knew He must be as disappointed in me as I was with Him. 

This is where my heart was at when I picked up a book, opened it at random and saw the name ‘Jack’ on the first line. Jack was a pastor who felt just like me. The author prayed for him out of Isa 62. Here’s the gist of his prayer.  

“Father, will you help Jack see what he’s not been able to see? His failures have blurred his vision.
Show him how you feel about him. He is your son. Of royal blood. You gave him a new name. He is
not ‘forsaken’. His name is ‘Hephzibah’ for you delight in him. Help Jack see himself as you see him.” 

That library aisle suddenly became holy ground. I wept like a baby. I read it over and over. Through a veil of tears.     
I had not called on His name for a long time.  Yet He called me by mine. I no longer asked what was on His heart.
Yet He wanted me to know that I was on His. I was finding my delight in His gifts. He still found His delight in me. Though I wasn’t seeking Him, He showed me that He was seeking me. I mean He ambushed me in a public library!
 
Friend, if you’ve lost interest in God, He’s still interested in you. If you no longer find your delight in Him, He still delights in you. He wants a friendship with you! If you doubt His love, consider the cost He paid to make you His.
When accusing thoughts batter your soul, see yourself through His eyes. Hold on to His view of you and don't let go!

'Eyes of Mercy'
When I am weak, that's when You are strong. When I let go, I fall into Your arms
I take up Your yoke, I know that it's so easy.    I take up Your burden, it's light
I look into Your eyes of mercy.   I look into your eyes of love.
I remember that Your heart, it's for me.
I'm holding on to Your Divine Love.   I'm holding on and I'm not letting go
It's not my zeal, it's that Your love is strong.  It's not my strength, it's that You're faithful.
I'm holding on to the love that has laid hold on me.
(Lyrics by Jon Thurlow)