Josh McDowell's Blog, page 5
October 22, 2024
When God Feels Distant
“Lord, my God, who am I that you should forsake me? The child of your love – And now I become as the most hated one-the one you have thrown away as unwanted-unloved. I call, I cling, I want-and there is no one to answer- no one on whom I can cling- no, no one.-alone. The darkness is so dark.”
This is an entry from one of Mother Teresa’s journals. I did a double take the first time I read it and thought, “wait, the woman who was known for her service to the poor and who is attributed with doing so much good?” Yes, even Mother Teresa experienced disappointment and a felt distance from God.
I’ve felt similarly at certain times in my life. Either when praying and asking for guidance and feeling like my words are expressed into an empty void, or attending a Sunday morning service and leaving feeling nothing. Most tangibly I’ve felt great distance when wanting to believe God is good, but doubting the foundations of my faith. This distance is usually expressed in questions toward God: Why do I not hear your voice? Why do I not feel your presence? Why do my prayers feel silent? Why have you not answered?
This distance seems to be at odds with what the psalmist writes in Psalm 139:7-10:
“ I can never escape from your Spirit!
I can never get away from your presence!
If I go up to heaven, you are there;
if I go down to the grave, you are there.
If I ride the wings of the morning,
if I dwell by the farthest oceans,
even there your hand will guide me,
and your strength will support me.”
Watch: Divine Hiddenness and the Problem of Evil
The God portrayed here is one who is inescapable, so why do we sometimes feel distant? The first thing I learned about what is commonly known as Divine Hiddenness, is that it is often a result of violated expectations. So often the inspirational Christian stories we hear include hearing the audible voice of God, or an unmistakable nudge from the Holy Spirit. And we long to connect with God in a personal way, so we can expect to experience the same. But life is not a consistent highlight reel, more often its short lived peaks and drawn out valleys.
How can we make sense of this felt distance?Part of God’s nature is love (Ps 118:1. Ex 34:6), and love requires choice. A definition of love my dad once shared with me goes like this, “A commitment of my will to another’s needs and best interests regardless of the cost.” Love cannot be forced, it must be freely given. God creating humanity in His image includes giving us a will to choose, which enables the capacity to love. This choice requires some space to not overwhelm one’s will.
Think about a helicopter parent or friend who hovers around another person and seeks to control their choices. Often with unhealthy consequences, an overbearing parent or friend demands love and attention. But forcing someone’s hand with an overwhelming presence cannot produce love. God, in his goodness, leaves the choice to us. I believe that part of God’s seeming “hiddenness” is to allow us to use our will to love and trust him.
In light of the choice before us, how do we respond when God may seem distant?First, instead of our feelings, we must find an anchor in what is true. Ask the question: What is true of God?
God is GOOD as revealed in Scripture.
Mark 10:18
“And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.”
1 Chronicles 16:34
“Give thanks to the Lord, for
he is good
; his love endures forever.”
God is NEAR as revealed in scripture.
Psalm 145:18
“The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.”
Psalm 34:18
“The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed spirit.”
Acts 17:26-27
“And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him.
Yet he is actually not far from each one of us
, for ‘In him we live and move and have our being,’”
God SPEAKS through Scripture.
Hebrews 4:12
“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing the division of soul and spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
There is a subtle heart check here and question to ask yourself, Why do I want to hear God’s voice or feel his presence? Bring that to God. I’ve found that In searching for an answer, or some new revelation, God has already laid something on my heart that I am not listening to. Sometimes, I want God to answer because of personal gain. God does not speak in code, clarity is kindness. Maybe God is giving you the space to open clenched hands, learn about him, and trust him.
Sometimes, this trust is manifested by simply getting out of bed to proclaim that living is valuable; sometimes it’s continuing to open God’s word; and sometimes it’s opening your hands and letting certain things go.
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October 16, 2024
Two Easy Ways to Reveal the Wonder of God
Our culture has lost the ability to see the wonder of God in the workings of this world. Ancient cultures would marvel at the mysteries of why we are the way we are and why the processes of this world (and universe) work the way they do. But what was once observed as marvelous is now ignored amidst the hasty and mundane routines of daily life. The world no longer marvels at the vast complexity, beauty, and mystery of life. This is not how it has to be.
Awakening people from this slumber and creating in them a desire to wonder can be a powerful apologetic to revealing the King and Creator. How can you do it? Two ideas come to mind, and both of them can be used in the next conversation you have today.
Reveal the wonder of God in our obsession with order
“Order” may seem like an odd place to showcase the wonder of God, but that’s what makes it interesting. We are obsessed with order. We have kitchen cabinets for specific dishes, shelves in nearly every room designated for specific things, and dresser drawers for specific clothing items. Beyond our living spaces, we have planners galore to help us order our days, time management tools to help us order our time, and in the midst of a chaotic day we even desire a moment to order our thoughts! But here is the question: why is there so much desire for order?
We can’t simply explain it away as a cultural preference, because the desire for order transcends all cultures. It can’t even be confined to humans, because animals show innumerable evidences of order. Beyond that, the various cycles of our planet and fine tuning of our universe scream, “order!” When we help others stop and think about this innate desire for order and take time to help them see the presence of order all around us, something begins to happen – they begin to wonder at something that seemed so simple just a moment ago. That opens the door of opportunity to talk about the One who is behind it all. From the creation account to the final Amen in Revelation, the Bible describes a God of order. So a world created by Him would be a world of order, and a people created in His image would be people obsessed with order – which is exactly what we find.
The next time you’re at the house of a friend who doesn’t know the Lord, take the opportunity to point out an example of order and simply ask, “have you ever wondered why we’re so obsessed with order?”
Show the wonder of God in our obsession with hope
Everyone is continually hoping for something. And what happens when someone attains the thing they have been hoping for? They immediately begin hoping for something else! We are hardwired for hope – always looking to the future to attain the next thing, and consistently left unfulfilled. This leads to a pretty simple conclusion that C.S. Lewis pointed out long ago in Mere Christianity:
“If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world.”
Why not introduce this seasoning into the traditionally ho-hum conversations we have with others? Consider asking, “Have you ever wondered why people are always hoping for ‘the next thing’ even after they just got ‘the last thing’ they were hoping for? How we are simultaneously hopeful and unfulfilled at all times?” It would not be surprising to receive a response like, “I’ve never really thought of that before.” And suddenly, an opportunity opens to take a deeper look at a seemingly mundane truth about all people. All cultures across all time are obsessed with hope. What an opportunity to share how we are hope engines built by a Designer who is the only One who can fulfill our hopes. While hope here is always seeking and never fulfilled, the Bible tells us not just about lasting hope, but a living hope!
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (1 Peter 1:3).
Finding the wonder of God everywhere
So many other examples could be used as well. Consider entertainment. Why do we seek to escape the world via entertainment? Could it be because the world is not as it should be – a broken version of a once perfect paradise? How about justice? Why is “let all do as they please” a policy in zero cultures? Why are we obsessed with punishing those who violate laws, orders, and rules? Could it be that since this desire transcends all cultures, something outside of culture is behind this desire for justice? A Perfect Judge? It goes on and on.
These (and many others) are great conversational questions that can awaken people to deeper truths and open opportunities to show how behind the seemingly mundane, lies a marvelous reality that ultimately points to King Jesus.
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October 14, 2024
Three Crucial Truths When God’s Judgment Seems Too Severe
How many times have you winced at a story of God’s judgment in the Bible, unsure of how to respond or what to make of it?
Stories of God’s Judgment in the Bible can be difficult to swallow. In response to reading them, Christians often tend to avoid discussing these stories or thinking too deeply about them. Sometimes, like with the flood in Noah’s day, they have even been turned into sing-along songs or bright and colorful children’s books. But let’s face it: The Flood of Noah isn’t a happy story of an old man with a beard upon a floating petting zoo. It’s a story of God’s severe judgment.
How can Christians continue to believe that God is good when God’s judgment seems so outrageous? After many hours studying and wrestling with the judgment of God, I have found three crucial truths most helpful.
God’s Judgment in Light of God’s CharacterThe first truth when thinking about God’s judgment is this: The Bible tells us plainly and repeatedly that God is good. For example, 1 Chronicles 16:34 says, “Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good!” Psalm 25:8 says, “The LORD is good and does what is right.”
I recognize the skeptic inside of you may be asking, “So what? Couldn’t the Bible be wrong?”We have many other articles on josh.org showing why we can trust the Bible, but my point in mentioning this first crucial truth is that if this: People often worry that if all these stories of God’s judgment are true, then God must be a horrible person. But if the Bible is true, then God is always good even if we don’t understand how God could be good in light of His judgments.
If the Bible is true, then however we understand God’s judgments, we cannot conclude that God is not good. Those conclusions have already been made for us in the same Bible that tells of God’s judgments. When we (or others) conclude differently, we must have misunderstood something about God, goodness, or the context of God’s actions. And that leads us to our second truth.
God’s Judgment in Light of God’s HighnessI often put it this way: A spider does not understand the deep things of a dog, a dog does not understand the deep things of a human, and a human does not understand the deep things of God. Consider Isaiah 55:8–9:
“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the LORD. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.
When it doesn’t make sense how God can be good in light of Noah’s flood, the warfare in Joshua, or even the doctrine of hell, don’t panic. God’s ways are higher than ours, so it makes sense that it doesn’t make complete and total sense to us. Consider this: if you have a disagreement with the author of knowledge, who do you suppose is the one confused here?
Don’t misunderstand me. I am not saying that the judgment of God is one big mystery, and we have to rely on blind faith against our natural intuition. I wrote Why Did God Do That? specifically to show how God reveals his goodness in the hard passages of Scripture. When you really study the Bible and dig into the context, you find answers. Good ones. Yes, challenges remain, but we can know enough to trust God is good even when things still don’t make complete sense.
A good God has good reasons for his acts of judgment in the Bible. Even still, something is missing from the equation.
God’s Judgment in Light of God’s MercyWhenever we see stories of God’s judgment in the Bible, we may view God as an angry tyrant or a vengeful dictator. Not so! Lamentations 3:32–33 says, “Though [God] brings grief, He also shows compassion because of the greatness of His unfailing love. For He does not enjoy hurting people or causing them sorrow.” Similarly, Ezekiel 33:11 is a heartfelt cry from God pleading with His listeners to repent because “I take no pleasure in the death of wicked people.” We must take these verses with us when we journey to the difficult stories of judgment in the Bible. They show that just as a good judge does not enjoy locking people away, God does not relish executing judgment. God delights in showing mercy.
Consider this: God’s laws in the Bible were intended to bring life and fulfillment. But something went wrong. All throughout history, people have chosen not to follow God’s ways. The Biblical word for this is “sin.” Since God is perfectly just, He must punish sin. So God came down in human form and took the punishment of sin Himself when he died on the cross. It’s as if God looked upon the judgment before us and said, “Over my dead body!” The difference between the expression and reality being that Jesus Christ then defeated death and rose from the grave.
Take the DareMany people think the Bible is a scary place, and anyone who takes it seriously will give up on Christianity. This is simply not true. The Bible teaches God is good, His understanding is higher than our understanding, and God’s heart is to show mercy. So press into those challenging stories of judgment, like the flood of Noah, the plagues of Egypt, or the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. I dare you. Properly understood, you will find that God reveals Himself as good even in those difficult stories, and you will be ready to share that with others who continue to struggle.
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September 30, 2024
Two Reasons Skeptics Believe Jesus is not God
One of the most important features of Christian faith is accepting that Jesus is God. Christians are in trouble, then, if Jesus never made such a claim of himself! Yet many have argued that this is exactly the case: Jesus never claimed to be God, they say, and his divinity is an invention of the Christian church. Is this true?
I have found that there are two main reasons why people think Jesus never claimed to be God. Let’s take a look!
Jesus never said the exact phrase, “I am God”
Some people believe Jesus never claimed to be God because, in reading the Gospels of Jesus, they simply don’t see Jesus saying “I am God” (or something along those lines). While it’s true that the Gospels never quote Jesus saying, “I am God,” the Gospels still include statements from Jesus that clearly identify him with God. Examples include “The Father and I are one” (John 10:30) and “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). I work through many more verses In one of my early YouTube videos, “Did Jesus really Say He was God?” While it’s always possible to reinterpret or raise skepticism over the meaning of any statement, the most natural and common-sense understanding of these quotations is that Jesus is claiming to be God.
The Gospel of John is not reliable
The second reason given to deny Jesus’s claim to divinity is this: to challenge the historical reliability of the Gospel of John. It’s well understood that John has the clearest examples of Jesus claiming to be God, and it was (probably) also the latest of the four Gospels written. So, many conclude that Jesus never claimed to be God, yet legend developed over time that he did. The earliest Gospels—Matthew, Mark, and Luke—did not include this legend because not enough time had passed. But John, which came later, has the legendary stuff. Notice how this argument admits that John presents Jesus as God, but it denies that John is a good source to use.
This second approach is a more thoughtful and sophisticated argument than the first. However, it has some big challenges:
1. Although it is difficult to date the Gospel of John, the more liberal, late estimates are around 100 AD. This is, at most, about 40 years after the earliest Gospels were written. Are we really saying such a crazy legend of Jesus developed in the 40 years between John and the other Gospels? This is hardly enough time for legend to develop. Normally, legends develop after centuries of time, and the original eyewitness of the event, their children, and their children, have long passed away. In the case of the Gospel of John, many of the original eyewitnesses of Jesus could have still been around when the book was written!
Watch: Can Jesus be fully God and fully man?
2.The ancient writer Irenaeus knew Polycarp, who knew John (a disciple and eyewitness of Jesus). Irenaeus informs us that John wrote the Gospel of John (Writing to Florinus H.E. 5.20.5–6). Given how John dedicated his career to spreading the message of Jesus, his memory would have stayed fresh, and it’s unlikely that he would have allowed such a massive mistake to slip into his Gospel in multiple places.
3. Even if we don’t use the Gospel of John, there are still clues that Jesus saw himself as God in the other Gospels, which came earlier.
In Matthew 9:12–13, Jesus quoted God from the Old Testament, speaking as if God’s words were his own words.In Matthew 23:34, Jesus said, “I send you prophets.” Yet, in the Old Testament, God is always the one who sends prophets.Jesus taught from the Old Testament that you must worship God alone. (Mt. 4:10; Lk. 4:8). Yet he allowed himself to be worshiped. (Mt. 14:33, 21:15-16, 28:17.)Jesus refers to himself as the “Son of Man” over 80 times in the gospels. In Matthew 16:27, Mark 14:62, and Luke 21:27, Jesus connects the “Son of Man” to the person in Daniel 7, coming with the clouds of Heaven, given glory, authority, sovereign power, and worship by all peoples of every kind.4. We have Christian writings calling Jesus God written at the same time or even earlier than Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Romans 9:5, Philippians 2:6, and Colossians 2:9 are some examples of this.
So, although the “legend” theory may sound impressive, it fails to make sense of everything we know historically. A much more reasonable explanation for these ancient Christian writings calling Jesus God is that Jesus, in fact, claimed to be God.
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More Than a Carpenter Revised and Updated for Today's Culture.Learn more!
September 17, 2024
Do We “Get Jesus”?
Opinions abound surrounding the “He gets us” advertisements that heavily populate all forms of media. The campaign highlights ways in which Jesus understands (or “gets”) us and often highlights some of Jesus’ most popular attributes: loving, accepting, and forgiving. Regardless of your opinions on this campaign, the phrase “He gets us” itself should provoke a different, and I think critical question: “Do we get Jesus?”
Oh, the myriad Bible passages we could look at to examine the majesty of our risen Savior; the Lord of Glory who is sovereign over all His creation. Just thinking through some of them now drives me to worship. However, for the sake of our brief time here, let’s just unpack one verse to help us answer the question, “who is Jesus?”
The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. – Hebrews 1:3
Jesus is the radiance of God’s glory
Jesus is the perfect expression of God’s divine nature. Just as radiance cannot be separated from light, Christ embodies God’s glory and makes it visible to humanity. He is not merely a reflection but the very essence of God’s presence and character, fully revealing God’s holiness.
Jesus is the exact representation of God’s being
Consider the implications of this astounding moment in John 14:8-9:
Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know Me, Philip? Whoever has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
Jesus didn’t simply do the works of God or have the power of God. Jesus is the exact representation of His being. He is God.
Related: Did Jesus Say We are all Divine?
Jesus sustains all things by His powerful word
Jesus is the Word through whom all things were made according to John 1:1-3 and Colossians 1:16. Additionally, He “holds all things together” according to Colossians 1:17. Take that in for a moment. Jesus sustains ALL things and holds EVERY molecule of everything perfectly together. How? Because Jesus is the creator and sustainer of everything. Everything.
Jesus provided purification for sins and sat down
I love, I mean love this section of Hebrews 1. It has a similar repetition in chapter 10:12-14. Take this in:
But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until His enemies should be made a footstool for His feet. For by a single offering He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.
Through this wondrous, single sacrifice, Christ demonstrated His unfathomable love for us. He then sat down, meaning the work had been completed. What we see next is the most quoted Old Testament passage in the New Testament, Psalm 110:1, where the enemies of the Lord will be made His footstool. Every enemy of God is defeated. And then the passage culminates with the reminder that all who are in Christ are “perfected for all time.”
What now?
While only a fragment of the majesty of Christ is covered in this article, one point is clear. When we truly understand Jesus, it should change everything about how we interact with the world. People all around us are in desperate need of knowing the true and living Savior. Unfortunately, they are often satisfied with a depiction of Jesus that falls far short of who He really is.
Start today by looking for opportunities to share with someone about who Jesus is according to the Bible. Maybe it’s after an airing of the latest He Gets us commercial or passing by one of the latest billboards related to the campaign. Maybe it’s time to ask that neighbor who knows you’re a Christian but hasn’t heard much about Jesus from you: “I’m curious, have you ever thought about who Jesus is according to the Bible?” Maybe you simply need to meditate on the person of Jesus in the midst of this anxiety-filled world to ground yourself in the truth of who is really in control. However, you move forward, don’t let these truths pass by. Take time to apply them in the way the Lord leads you to do so today.
September 12, 2024
Sharing Jesus with the Apathetic
“Well, I’m kind of indifferent toward Jesus. I think he was a good moral teacher, but he really has no impact on my life. I’m just trying to be a good person and I’m ok with that.”
Not long ago I was introduced to some new friends and the topic of Jesus came up. I asked if they had any spiritual beliefs, and the quote above was one response. It seems that most of my spiritual conversations, and many that I watch online end with, “Well I’m glad that works for you, it’s just not for me.”
There is a growing spiritual apathy caused by the popular belief that all religions teach the same things, and lead to the same place. The resulting personal quest for fulfillment has been coined, Apatheism: indifference towards religious and nonreligious beliefs.
Despite the growing apathy toward Jesus, many have attested that the person of Jesus portrayed in the four gospels is compelling. Jesus’ compassion is attractive, His wisdom is cunning, and His teachings are persuasive. There are countless stories of doubters and skeptics who opened the New Testament and shared that it was the person of Jesus who drew them to the Christian faith. But there are still many who have not read any of the eyewitness accounts of His life and see no need for Him or Chrisitanity in their life. They are apathetic towards Jesus and His teachings.
How do we share the truth of Jesus to someone who is apathetic toward Him?
Look for the anxiety at the root of apathyI was working in a coffee shop recently and a group of young adults walked in and sat at a table nearby. Their private conversation quickly turned public as everyone around us overheard one of the girls say, “I just feel this anxious energy that I am not the good person I portray. I do all these things, and still have a negative energy about who I am. I mean I give to people, I help, I volunteer, put all this good energy into the world and still feel like I’m not doing enough.”
Heather Havrilesky, a columnist for “Ask Polly,” in New York magazine wrote an article not long ago sharing that millennials who write to her “feel guilty and inadequate at every turn.” I believe many of them simply don’t know about the life Jesus offers. We can begin to share this by speaking into areas of anxiety.
Related: Do we Create or Discover our Identity?
An area of anxiety is a place in someone’s life where they are searching for goodness, meaning, purpose, freedom, or identity and despite being told by the secular world where to find it, they don’t. The result is anxiety and disappointment when the expectations of personal fulfillment are let down. It’s like the woman at the coffee shop who tried to volunteer, help and give to other people to feel better, but in reality still feels guilty and is still searching.
Consider asking a question like, “what makes you feel most anxious about the direction of culture?” or “Where do you most feel your efforts fall short in changing yourself? What kind of anxieties come from that?”
Show how Jesus is better than “being better”Everyone knows there is something wrong with the world, and feels the need to “be better.” There are an overwhelming amount of self help books, charities to get involved in, movements to champion that may appease some of the guilt we all feel, but in reality they will all fail to satisfy because they can’t offer what Jesus does.
Speaking into areas of anxiety awakens a felt need for which only Jesus is the ultimate healer. Jesus offers a unique and unparalleled solution to our guilt, Himself. Instead of saying we need to perform, Jesus invites us to receive His love and trust in His payment for our sins on the cross. His death and resurrection provide appeasement for our guilt, and proclaim acceptance into our lives that fulfills.
Consider asking a question like, “May I share with you where I have found hope in the midst of anxiety?” or “As a Christian, I’m not immune from anxiety, but where “being better” and “trying harder” had left me exhausted and defeated, trusting in Jesus has changed everything. Would you mind if I shared more?”
For those who have no background in Christianity, many times they need to hear why Jesus matters to build the plausibility for the gospel. Many people who are apathetic toward Jesus simply need to hear the truth of who Jesus is and the life He alone offers.
September 5, 2024
Did Jesus say we are all divine?
We live in a culture where more people than ever label themselves as “spiritual-but-not-religious.” Many in this group speak fondly of Jesus and even use some of His teachings to support their beliefs. Unfortunately, their teachings often get twisted to mean something Jesus never meant. One example is their claim that Jesus taught people are divine. But did Jesus really teach that?
Luke 17 and the Kingdom of God
Some may argue “yes” using Luke 17:20–21:
When [Jesus] was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming with something observable; no one will say, ‘See here!’ or ‘There!’ For you see, the kingdom of God is in your midst” (CSB).
The KJV translation, which seems to stick in many people’s memories, puts it differently. Jesus says, “The kingdom of God is within you.” This has led many creative thinkers to express how Jesus was trying to help them realize their own divinity. For this to work, “Kingdom of God” needs to mean something related to “divine nature,” and “within you” needs to mean “your identity.” Even if that wasn’t a stretch, it would be a difficult interpretation to believe in light of everything else Jesus taught.
A closer look at Luke 17
Jesus consistently spoke about entering the kingdom, not the kingdom entering people. This is why most modern Bible translations say the kingdom is “in your midst” instead of “within you.” It’s still a perfectly valid translation of the text itself, but it makes way better sense in context. Jesus is king, expressing God’s rule over the land. He is standing right there among the Pharisees. So God’s kingdom is among them. It’s not something they see (like a giant castle or an army of angels) but something they must recognize through a proper understanding of Jesus.
John 10 and “you are gods”
Another commonly used passage comes from John 10. The Jewish leaders are about to stone Jesus because “you—being a man—make yourself God” (v. 33 CSB). Jesus responds in verses 34–36:
Jesus answered them, “Isn’t it written in your law, I said, you are gods? If he called those to whom the word of God came ‘gods’—and the Scripture cannot be broken—do you say, ‘You are blaspheming’ to the one the Father set apart and sent into the world, because I said: I am the Son of God?
It seems that Jesus’s response is to basically say, “Relax, guys. I know I called myself God, but Scripture says we’re all gods.”
The correct view of John 10 and “you are gods”
Jesus is quoting Psalm 82:6. The passage is difficult to understand, though it’s generally understood that the Hebrew word for “god”—Elohim—is a flexible word that may be used for creatures other than the one true Yahweh God. The opponents of Jesus are ready to stone him because Jesus used the word “god,” of himself, so Jesus responds by pointing out that they haven’t really thought things through.
The Bible and divinity
Scripture is crystal clear that Jesus’s divinity goes far beyond what is true of humanity (Phil. 2:5-11; Col 1:15-17; Hebrews 1:3). God in the Old Testament also makes a clear-cut distinction between himself and humanity (Ps. 9:20, 50:21; Isa. 31:3, 43:10; Exe. 28:1–10). In Acts 12:23, Herod absorbs God’s glory for himself by letting others worship him as God. So an angel struck him down, and “he was eaten by worms and died” (For Herod’s sake, hopefully not in that order).
The Takeaway
There are many teachings in the Bible that elevate the status of a Christian to remarkable heights. We are heirs of Christ (Rom 8:17), we have Christ “in us” (Col. 1:27), and we are even told to imitate God (Eph. 5:1). However, as amazing as these statements are, the dividing line in Scripture between God and his creation is clear – and Jesus is not on the same side of that line as us. Only Jesus—who alone is both human and divine—can be a suitable bridge between us and God.
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September 4, 2024
Three Lies Christians Believe About Themselves
Growing up, I heard a lot about God’s love when I went to church. While I heard that God loved and forgave me through Jesus, I didn’t hear that He valued me, had a positive view of me as His image bearer (Genesis 1:27), and deeply cared about me.
This poured gasoline on the fire of worthlessness and shame I was already facing from the abuse I had experienced growing up from my parents and friends. It led me deeper into cycles of depression and numbing my pain through viewing porn and overeating.
Throughout my years of ministering to others, I’ve seen many Christians believe lies about themselves. Worse, many think the lies they believe are biblical. This deeply matters because our behavior follows our beliefs. The way we view ourselves affects the way we treat ourselves. And how we think of ourselves directly impacts our view of God who created us in His image.
Three lies in particular have risen to the surface in today’s culture
Lie #1:We’re worthless and wretches
The truth is, every human being is made in God’s image, possessing inherent value and dignity. You likely know the hymn Amazing Grace, by John Newton. It’s arguably the most popular Christian hymn in history and has been sung by Christians globally for hundreds of years. While the hymn contains so much beautiful truth, I’d argue that its reference to “a wretch like me” can be misapplied in an unbiblical way.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines a wretch as a despicable or vile person. This is not a biblical understanding of our identity in Christ. God calls us “children of light” (1Thess 5:5), His handiwork (Eph 2:10), and His special possession (1 Pet 2:9-12). While Christians can and do pursue despicable and vile acts at times, God is the one who defines our identity. If we are made in God’s image and co-heirs with Christ, what does referring to ourselves as despicable or vile say about the God who made us?
“Yet you made them only a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honor.” – Psalm 8:5 (NLT)
Lie #2:We’re still sinners
Truth is while we still sin, that is not our identity. Christians are almost always referred to as saints in the New Testament. We are not sinners who saint, we are saints who sin. Take the example of a butterfly. While at one point it was a caterpillar, it no longer is. Just as we don’t refer to a butterfly as a converted caterpillar, why would we refer to ourselves as converted sinners when we are saints?
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” –2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)
Lie #3: We’re only loved and valuable because of Jesus’ death on the cross
The truth is that God loved and valued us so much that Jesus went to the cross to redeem us. Jesus didn’t die on the cross for trash; He died for those He loved, wanted, and deeply cared for. Notice, He didn’t die for the fallen angels who rebelled against Him. He didn’t die for plants, animals, or insects. He died for those made in His image, who were created as the pinnacle of creation. Those who were made to be His representatives to all of the earth, to rule and reign on his behalf, who were created by Him as “very good” (Genesis 1:31).
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” – John 3:16 (NIV)
No matter the source of the lies we believe about ourselves as Christians, we can start to see ourselves the way God sees us. So begin by diving into the Bible and studying what it says about your God-given value, identity as a saint, and how loved you are. Then, begin noticing the lies and negative thoughts you have about yourself daily and redirect them to God’s truth about yourself.
For more resources on growing in seeing yourself as God sees you check out our mental and emotional health initiative at resolutionmovement.org or our free bible plan Overcoming Shame.August 28, 2024
Do we Create or Discover our Identity?
During multiple times in my life, I’ve been stopped by the question, Who am I? We cannot walk through life without asking this question. It usually pops up in the most vulnerable of moments, when our identity is shaken. The ability to reflect on it is one of the attributes that sets humanity apart from all of creation. If we don’t have a satisfying answer to it, we can wander through life aimlessly without meaning and purpose.
“Who am I?” is a deeply personal question of our sense of self and sense of worth. Throughout history, people have sought to answer this question in a few ways. The first is by looking up to a transcendent being in whom we discover our identity, the second is by looking around to our society and culture to find our identity, and the third – and dominant narrative today – is to look within ourselves to create our sense of self, and sense of worth.
While each of these strategies has their own benefits, only one leads to flourishing. Let’s look at each strategy in a bit more detail.
Identity Formation by Looking In
Growing up in America, I unconsciously absorbed the idea that I had the freedom to do anything and be anyone. The narrative of young people today is that no institution or group of people could tell them what to become, because the possibilities are endless. The only moral absolute among youth today is to be yourself and follow your heart as long as it does no harm to others.
Through this narrative, people are seeking to answer the question “Who am I?” And with the freedom to do anything, one looks inward to their desires and feelings to create their identity and express themselves to others who affirm them. This view is seen in the cultural mantras of today: Follow your heart, live your truth, be your authentic self.
The promise of this viewpoint is freedom and fulfillment, yet it does not seem to be working. Anxiety, loneliness, depression and other mental health struggles are only increasing among young people. In fact, every survey that measures mental health trends has shown a dramatic spike in rates of clinical-level depression from 2012 to 2024. So while looking inward to your desires to create your sense of self and worth may sound liberating, it does not work for a multitude of reasons. Let’s take a quick look at these.
First of all, we all know our desires conflict. Sure, we all have desires to be a positive influence in the world, but we also have deep desires of selfishness or to numb out the world by harmful actions and substances harmful to ourselves. So which desires do we follow? And are we our true self when we are following virtuous desires or harmful desires? The view that our identity is formed by following our feelings is incoherent and disorienting.
Second, this leads to pseudo friendships. It’s an illusion that we can just live out our desires and build a sense of self and worth all on our own. We cannot bless or affirm ourselves. We are relational beings, so we look outward for others to affirm us. When authentically living out one’s feelings and creating an identity, naturally one will look to others to only affirm them. There is no room to call out negative actions or thoughts because everyone is living their truth. But this creates friendships based on flattery, and not reality. True friendship involves more than encouragement, it involves calling each other to be better. If friends never tell you what you need to hear even if it hurts, you stop trusting them to be truthful even when it feels good.
Identity Formation by Looking Around
The more classic view of identity formation is to look around to others and our community to define our sense of self and worth. Without the many options and notion of freedom of expression that we have today, most people in the past lived in communities where they had to provide through farming, or follow in the trade of their family. Communities were far more communal than individualistic.
Related: Three Profound Truths about Being Made in the Image of God.
Looking around for affirmation is not a bad thing. We are created for relationships and healthy communities offer belonging and support. But if our identity is placed in our community, what happens when the community lets us down? Communities are formed by people, and people are not perfect. They fail us, are disloyal, change opinions, and often do things for selfish gain. When the community lets us down, the identity placed in it will crumble.
In addition to this, finding your identity in your community can be crushing. Proving your worth to others to belong means you are working to achieve their approval. The expectations of others are often for their gain, not yours, and can be unbearable. Instead of living as who we were created to be, we just conform to someone else’s desires.
Identity Formation by Looking Up
The Christian story shares that our identity is not created but given by God. It’s inherent to every human being. Rather than an identity that’s based on shifting feelings or imperfect people, what God says about us is rooted in His character, therefore unchanging and eternal. This promises a solid sense of self and worth capable of withstanding the realities of life. Looking in and looking around cause instability because they are not what we were created for.
Now, this is very different from gaining an identity by religiosity. Religiosity says obey and therefore you are accepted. That’s not the Christian story. We do not perform to be accepted, we are accepted, therefore we obey. We receive our identity rather than achieve it. This is freeing.
Who does God say you are?
You are Lovable
Romans 8:38–39 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, [39] nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
You are Valuable
Ephesians 5:2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
You are Competent
Ephesians 1:13-14 “ 13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.”
2 Corinthians 5:20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
When creating our identity by looking in, what feels like freedom is actually bondage as we are subject to our next desire and the affirmation of others. In looking around, what may feel like acceptance and belonging is just another type of conformity as we work to meet others expectations. When looking up, we receive and rest in our true identity from God who sees us as lovable, valuable, and competent.
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August 14, 2024
Three Profound Truths about Being Made in the Image of God
The greatest, most exciting, astonishing reality of our identity is that we are made in the image of God. According to Genesis 1:27 (NIV):
So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
This high view of humankind applies to all people, no matter their sex, ethnicity, religious beliefs, mental struggles, or anything else. The view is also unique to Christianity. Even Judaism, which sees Genesis 1:27 as Scripture, cannot recognize the fullest, deepest meaning of the grandeur of this truth. But what does it even mean to be made in God’s image?
This question may be more difficult to answer than you originally anticipated. To say we have God’s image cannot simply mean that we look like God. After all, people with physical deformities or missing limbs are just as much in God’s image as anyone else. So, over the years, theologians have speculated what the image of God means. Some have argued that the image of God refers to our soul, our rationality, or our original righteousness before sin entered the world. Perhaps the two most common views today are that the image of God refers to our ability to have relationships or our dominion over other created things. It could be that some or all of these views are correct. But I find there are deeper, more profound, and exciting meanings that virtually all Christians can agree on.
Related article: Self-Image: See Yourself as God Sees You
We have unique position because we are made in God’s image
We see in God’s story of creation that only humans have the privilege of being made in God’s image. So, of everything in the universe—animals, forests, oceans, mountains, stars, planets, galaxies—NOTHING resembles God more than we do.
We have unique value because we are made in God’s image
We are not just a random result of a mindless, thoughtless, evolutionary process in an uncaring universe. We were made as the crowning piece of God’s handiwork, reflecting the glory of the artist himself. This means that no matter who you are, how you feel, what you’ve done, or what’s been done to you, you have infinite dignity, value, and worth as a human being. Nothing can take that away from you.
We have unique purpose because we are made in God’s image
God’s image gives us undeniable meaning and purpose. We are made to reflect who God is to the world around us. This is why I suspect God called the first humans to have dominion immediately after they were made: because God is the king of the universe, and we, bearing God’s image, share in that quality. Later, more ways to reflect God would be revealed, like in Leviticus 11:45— “Be holy, because I am holy.” Notice that our reason for holiness is the nature of God. Why does that matter? It matters because we bear God’s image.
It’s interesting that when Genesis 1:27 says we are made in God’s image—this bombshell of a statement—it doesn’t tell us plainly what that even means. It’s as if the Bible intentionally left us to ponder, chew on, and marvel at the depths of this mystery. Indeed, Christians and religious Jews have mined the depths of its meaning for centuries. But then, something happened that both added focus and opened the doors even wider.
Related Video: What it means to be made in the image of God
We marvel at the One who is the image of God
Arguably, what is possibly the greatest, most exciting, astonishing description of Christ is Colossians 1:15–23. Read it and marvel. But pay attention to what is often missed in verse 15: that Christ, the supreme head and ruler over all things, IS the image of God (See also 2 Cor. 4:4)! Reading on, Colossians 2 says that those who receive Christ Jesus as Lord are “brought to fullness” or “made complete” in Christ! What?!
Breaking all odds, Christians now have a wider, vaster cave of riches to mine than God’s people in Old Testament times. If we are made “in” the image of God, and Christ “is” the image of God, what does it really mean that we are “in” Christ? I wish I had all the answers! It seems that we will never truly understand what it means to be human until we begin to grasp who Christ is and what he has done for us.
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