“So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know Him now!” (2 Corinthians 5:16 NLT)
Ideally, perspective changes with new knowledge. It happens with appliances, cars, houses, shoes, many things, not the least of which is Jesus. In the verse above Paul reminds us of how drastically his view of Christ changed after he’d walked with Him for many years. How about you? What’s your perspective, not only of Jesus, but His Church, His teaching?
Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote: “Christianity preaches the infinite worth of that which is seemingly worthless and the infinite worthlessness of that which is seemingly so valued.” In this season of my life, I see virtually everything in and about my life with a fresh perspective. The material things that once seemed so valuable have taken a backseat to the people the Lord has placed in my life. The privilege of breath, energy, a mind that treasures friendship and allows me the privilege of knowing Jesus is more vital to me today than ever before.
Perspective can heighten awareness, that deepens commitment, that enables us to have meaning and value as a person that we never dared dream possible. B.J. Thompson said: “It’s not until you come to the end of yourself that you’ll discover the ugliness of your brokenness and the beauty of God’s grace.”
Not until we see Jesus from the perspective of our brokenness can we see His beauty and majesty as our only way to heaven. Proper perspective is vital in coming to the Lord. As long as we see ourselves as capable and “in charge” of our lives, we likely won’t come to the realization that apart from the Lord Jesus we are hopeless and helpless.
When we’re believing the lies of the enemy of our soul, we won’t see the truth, not only of who Jesus is, but of who we are without Him. Jon Bloom reminds us “The devil has no authority over any Christian, except the authority we grant him by believing him.” It astounds me sometimes how easy it is to believe a lie over the truth.
The Bible assures us of our new identity in Jesus, how precious we are to our Savior, how valuable we are to Him, but the devil tempts us to believe “nothing’s changed, you’re still the same slimeball you’ve always been,” but it’s a lie. Sometimes a big part of maintaining proper perspective is refusing to believe what you know to be a lie.
We must maintain a godly view, not only of sin, but of our right standing in the sight of the Lord. The very next verse following the one above says: “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” The Lord doesn’t “remodel” us, making us a little better here and a little better there. No, He starts from scratch and builds a brand-new person, one that has never existed before. Have you allowed Him to do that for you?
When we stand before the Lord at the end of time, it doesn’t matter how we see ourselves, it only matters how God sees us. We can believe we’ve lived a good life, that God would be doing Himself a favor to let us into heaven, but unless when He opens the book He finds our name, assuring Him that our sin-debt has been cancelled, we’ll be hopelessly lost for all eternity.
The only thing that changes God’s perspective of us is Jesus. Do you know Him?
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 