WHO GOD SAYS YOU ARE
Real Hope In real Times Part 9
Text - 1 Peter 2:4-10
Introduction
Tonight we are going to continue with our study in the book of First Peter on the topic, “Living God’s Way.” Our text is found in 1 Peter 2:4-10 and the title of my message is, “Who God Says You Are.”
A man walked into a therapist's office looking very depressed. "Doc, you've got to help me. I can't go on like this." "What's the problem?" the doctor asked. "Well, I'm 35 years old and I still have no luck with the ladies. No matter how hard I try, I just seem to scare them away." "My friend, this is not a serious problem. You just need to work on your self-esteem. Each morning, I want you to get up and run to the bathroom mirror. Tell yourself that you are a good person, a fun person, and an attractive person. But say it with real conviction. Within a week you'll have women buzzing all around you." The man seemed content with this advice and walked out of the office a bit excited. Three weeks later he returned with the same downtrodden expression on his face. "Did my advice not work?" asked the doctor. "It worked alright. For the past several weeks I've enjoyed some of the best moments in my life with the most fabulous looking women." "So, what's your problem?" "I don't have a problem," the man replied. "My wife does."
James Dobson did a study once of 10,000 women in America and discovered that their number one problem is low self-esteem. There is an epidemic of low self-esteem in America today. We live in a put down society. Many of you tonight don’t feel good about yourself. Was Jesus ever put down when He was here on earth? Let’s look at what God says about Jesus in verses 4-8.
1 Peter 2:4-8, “As you come to him, the living Stone--rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him-- 5you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6For in Scripture it says: "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame." 7Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, "The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone," 8and, "A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall." They stumble because they disobey the message--which is also what they were destined for.”
- He is the living stone
- He is the chosen and precious stone
- He is the cornerstone or capstone
- He is the stone of stumbling
- He is the rock of offense
The Bible is showing us in this passage that God is building His church. Would you say that the church or Bride of Christ is important to God? It is so important that He has built it on His son Jesus Christ. Jesus is the foundation of the church.
Yet, in spite of who Jesus was, Peter tells us two different times in this passage that Jesus was rejected by the people. CIRCLE THE WORD “REJECTED IN VERSE 4 & 7. Why does he show us Jesus was rejected? It is so we will realize that Jesus can identify with all those who have ever been rejected or are feeling rejected even now.
It is that feeling of rejection that leads many people to have a low self-esteem or a feeling of inferiority about themselves. It is this feeling of rejection that causes us not to understand who we are in Jesus Christ.
So with this in mind, what does God say about you? Who does God say you are?
1 Peter 2:9-10, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” (NIV)
I am not who I think I am
I am not who you think I am
But I really am who God says I am!
Dr. Charles Cooley is the Dean of American sociology and says: “Your self-esteem, your self-worth or image is determined to a large degree by what you think the person who matters most to you, thinks about you.”
Does God matter to you? If He does, He wants you to know that you matter to Him.
There have been a lot of studies done throughout the past that show the way you act and react is determined to a large degree by the way you see yourself. Your self-perception, self-worth, or self-esteem tends to be a governing factor in your life. If you see yourself as a loser, you tend to act like a loser. If you see yourself as a victim you tend to let people victimize you. If you see yourself as uncreative, you seldom come up with creative ideas. If you see yourself as successful, you will tend to repeat successes that you have had in the past.
In other words, the way I think, affects the way I feel, and that affects the way I act. This is not a new discovery but rather an ancient biblical principle.
Proverbs 23:7 For as he thinks within himself, so he is. (NASB)
What you BELIEVE determines how you BEHAVE
Feelings of inferiority are the result of a decision you and I make. Your feelings of inferiority are the result of what you accept as being true. Our feelings of inferiority are just that; they are feelings. We don’t base what we are or what we believe on what we feel, but on the truths of God’s Word. Jesus said, “And the truth will set you free.”
When you have feelings of inferiority it is going to affect you in your job, in your family, with your friends and the things you would like to accomplish in life. Feelings of inferiority will hinder you from achieving and become what God wants you to become.
It doesn’t make any difference how much money you make, how much money you have in the bank, how beautiful or handsome you are, how big your house, how expensive your car, your prominence or your position in life... if you feel inferior, you will not be able to enjoy anything God places in your life.
Having a low self-esteem or a feeling of inferiority comes from thinking nobody likes you, that you’re not as good as other people, that you’re a failure, a loser, that you’re ugly, or unintelligent, or that you don’t have as much ability as someone else.
A very homely person made an appointment with a psychiatrist. The homely person walked into the doctor's office and said, "Doctor, I'm so depressed and lonely. I don't have any friends, no one will come near me, and everybody laughs at me. Can you help me accept my ugliness?" "I'm sure I can." the psychiatrist said. "Just go over and lie face down on that couch."
Peter is writing this book to first century Christians who had taken some heavy hits on their self-esteem because of the persecution they were experiencing. The world at that time hated them and as a result many of these Christians were probably feeling inferior. They were being used as entertainment and being torn to pieces in the arena by wild animals.
Because of this Peter encourages them to look at what God says about them and mentions 4 ways they should see themselves. These are the same four ways we need to see ourselves today in order to overcome our feelings of inferiority.