How Does God View Us?

Let's start off with a question here. What is the nicest thing that anybody has ever said about you? Think about that for a minute. What's the nicest thing you can remember somebody saying about you? Maybe this week a co-worker gave you a compliment, told you you were the most smartest or hardest working individual that they knew, or maybe your neighbor complimented you on how nice your yard, your property looks, or maybe somebody complimented you on the dress you're wearing or the tie you're wearing or something like that. Or maybe sometime in the last month or so your boss has thanked you for the job that you've been doing. When somebody says something nice about you or to you, how does it make you feel when they give you that kind of compliment? Well, it makes you feel good, doesn't it? It makes you feel very positive. It makes you feel good toward that person and that they would be kind and generous enough to pay you that compliment.

It also makes you want to live up to that person's expectations as well. They've given you a compliment and you want to live up to that compliment, to that standard that they have given to you. Today I would like to talk about some of the nicest things that anyone has ever said about you. But how would I know that? How would I know about some of the greatest compliments and some of the nicest things that someone has ever said about you? Well, I know that because they're written in the Bible. Because they're written in the Bible, written down in God's Word. There are many places where God talks in His Word about His people and about how He sees us.

So the title of today's sermon is, How Does God View Us? Well, take a look at that. When God looks at us, what does He see? What does He see? How does He see us collectively as a body? How does He see each one of us individually? When you're down on your knees in prayer to God, pouring your heart out to Him in thanksgiving, or because it's some problem you're dealing with and struggling with, and you need His help, you need His comfort, you need His strength in this trial or problem, what does He see when He looks at you? When you're going about your daily life just trying to do the best you can, living God's way in a world that is increasingly rejecting God and His way of life, what does He see when He looks at you? How does He view us, again, individually and collectively? And as God's people, we should always be very thankful for what we have. We're reminded every year we have a national holiday of thanksgiving to remind us of our blessings. And if there is anything that we should be particularly thankful for, it is what these scriptures that we'll be going through teach us about both about God, about His love for us, and also about what He has in store for us. We'll see a number of things that are incredibly positive, that should fill us with enthusiasm, with excitement, with thankfulness. And these are things that we should be very thankful for. As a preface to going through some of these scriptures, I'd like to point out 1 Corinthians 2, verses 9 and 10. And this is a very exciting scripture, something we can think about as we go through this sermon today. And I hope that by the time we're finished, we will have a much better idea of what this particular passage is talking about. And Paul writes here to the church in Corinth, he says, But as it is written, I has not seen nor ere heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him. And then he says, But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. So what this is telling us to kind of sum up is that God has sent before us a future that is so incredible, that is so awesome, so fantastic, so wonderful that on our own with our human minds, we just couldn't grasp it.

That it takes God's Spirit working within us to help us to begin to comprehend how great the future is that He has in store for us. It is only through that Spirit working within us, within our natural minds, we can begin to grasp what God has in store for us. And again, hopefully as we go through these scriptures today, we'll get a better understanding of what God has in store for us. So how does God view us? Let's go through a number of different passages here. Let's start over in Luke 12 verses 31 and 32. This is one of my favorite passages and scriptures. And here Jesus Christ tells His followers to seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you. And then He says something that to me is one of the most encouraging statements in the entire Bible. He says, Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Have you ever wondered what makes God happy?

What makes God happy? We know what makes us happy, but what makes God happy? Well, Jesus Christ says here that one thing that will make God very happy is when He is able to give to His children His kingdom. It says it is His good pleasure to give us the kingdom. Another version translates this as, Your Father delights to give you the kingdom. Your Father delights to give you the kingdom. And when you consider the pivotal part that that event will play in God's plan, I think that translation is probably very accurate because it probably comes very close to expressing how God will feel when that happens, when His children are revealed. The whole earth has been groaning, waiting for the revealing of the children of God, when God has the opportunity to give His kingdom to His children. This is something that God will give God great pleasure, something that He will delight in. You might think about those of you with your children over the years, how it makes you feel when you have the opportunity to give them something that they've just had their heart set on, something they've really wanted for a long, long time, some special treat, some special gift that's a little bit out of the ordinary. Maybe during the feast, like many parents, you have a custom of giving your children a particular treat, a particular toy, something like that, that they've had their heart set on. And how does it make you feel when you see their eyes just light up? You know, they're just so happy they can barely contain themselves. To get something like that makes you feel pretty good, doesn't it? And actually, that's kind of the way God feels or will feel when He gives His children His kingdom. The thing that we have had our hearts, our minds, our eyes set on for so long. And it's going to make God as our Heavenly Father feel very good. Give Him great pleasure. He will delight in the opportunity to give His children that wonderful and incredible gift. That is God's attitude, one of giving and of sharing and of great joy to be able to give good gifts to His children. It is something that, as we see here, is His good pleasure. Let's turn back now to passage in Malachi. We see something else that tells us a little bit more about how God feels toward His people. And from the context of this verse, you can tell that it's talking about the return of Jesus Christ to earth. Malachi 3 verse 16 says, "...then those who feared the Eternal spoke to one another, and the Eternal listened and heard them. So a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the Eternal and who meditate on His name." So who is this talking about? Who are those who fear the Lord and meditate on His name? Or honor His name is another way this could be translated. Well, that's talking about us. It's talking about God's people, those who do fear Him, who respect and honor Him. And then notice verse 17 where God says, "'They shall be mine,' says the Lord of Hosts, on the day that I make them my jewels, and I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him." So what we see here is that God says those who, it says fear here, that means to respect, to honor, to revere Him, will become something very precious to Him. As it says here, that we will become His jewels. Now the the NIV translates this as His treasured possession. His treasured possession. And this word translated jewels or treasured possession means something of very great value, not just a literal diamond or sapphire or ruby or emerald or something like that, but something very rare, something very valuable. So God says that we, that those of us out of all the people on the earth who respect and honor Him, are to become His treasured possession.

His treasured possession. So what this is telling us is that when God sees us, He sees that we are human. He knows that far better than we do. He knows that we are flesh and blood. He knows that we sin, we slip up, we screw up. We do wrong things. We do a lot of stupid things.

But He also sees what we will become through His Spirit working within us, through the process of overcoming and growing to become like Him. He sees a group of people who will become His treasured possession. And think about that, because that's coming from the being who owns everything, who created, who made the entire vast universe. It is just incomprehensible that we can't even begin to measure how large it is, how vast it is. But He says that out of all that He has made, all the wonders of His hands, all the works that He has made, what is going to be His treasured possession is you and me and all of us sitting here today. Again, that's pretty amazing, pretty incredible, and pretty flattering to realize that is what God sees in us.

Again, the title of the sermon, How Does God View Us? That is what He sees in us. That is how He views us. He sees that we will become His treasured possession. Another section that gives us a great deal of information about how God views us is over in 1 Peter 2 and verse 9.

And here Peter writes, But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, his own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light, who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. And we might tend to read through that. Oh, yeah, that sounds nice. That's good. That's comforting. But let's go back and take a look at these phrases and dig a little deeper and understand what Peter is telling us here about how God views us. Because what he's saying here is really incredible. It's absolutely amazing what Peter is trying to get us to grasp and to understand here. So let's go back and kind of analyze this word by word, phrase by phrase. First of all, he says, you are a chosen generation. A chosen generation, chosen here, the Greek word, means selected or marked for favor or special privilege. Selected or marked for favor or special privilege. And what a privilege we have been called to, to be the first roots in God's family, the first roots of the resurrection of the many sons and daughters who will ultimately inherit his kingdom and be a part of his family and to receive his gift of eternal life. Are you talking about a privilege? We are the most privileged people on earth to have that calling, to have that as our future for us. So Peter says that we have been chosen. Who did the choosing? Who did the choosing? Well, we know. God did the choosing. John 6, 44, and 65, no one can come to me unless the Father draws him. God did the choosing. He looked down of all the people on the earth and chose you.

Chose us for that incredible future, to be a part of his chosen generation, as it says here. So we are a people that God personally selected and chose.

Next it says you are a chosen generation. What does this word generation mean? Here it means a family or a family grown large into a race of people. In the Old Testament, who did God choose? He chose a physical people. Started with a physical family of Abraham, the father of the faithful. Then that grew into a physical nation, the physical nation of Israel. Now he has chosen us to be a spiritual people, a spiritual nation, his spiritual Israel, which is the church of God and the children of God. So we are chosen to be a part of that spiritual nation, which is the church, now the family of God, the children of God. Then he says something else very interesting. You are a royal priesthood, a royal priesthood. Royal being kings, being royalty, kings, queens, princes, princesses, a royal generation, a royal priesthood, rather. Priests and kings combined because in God's kingdom, in the millennium, that's what we will be. The roles will not be separate. The roles will be together. Rulership and priesthood, serving as priests to, and what does a priest do? Basically priests or intermediaries or functionaries to bring people to God. That will be a part of our job and our role there. And in God's kingdom, there won't be any separation of church and state. Church and state will be combined under this royal priesthood here, which will involve us.

Revelation 5 and verse 10, I didn't include this, but it says that Christ will make his followers kings and priests. Kings and priests. That's Revelation 5 and verse 10. So this is a quick overview of what this means with a royal priesthood. And then he says, you're a holy nation. A holy nation. What does holy mean? Holy means set apart to the service of God.

Set apart to the service of God or characterized by perfection in spiritual purity. Characterized by perfection in spiritual purity. Are you holy? God says you are. God says you are.

Think about that. Let that sink in there. So we are a group of people that, according to the meanings of this word, are consecrated or set apart to God's sacred service. Set apart for God's sacred service. And the second part of that definition, characterized by perfection in spiritual purity. Characterized by perfection in spiritual purity. That's what God sees in you and me. If we are allowing ourselves to be led by his spirit. If we are in a right relationship with him, that's what he says. That's what he says. Continuing on, Peter says you are his own special people.

The King James Version says peculiar, and sometimes we are peculiar to other people, but that's not really what that means. The word means specially chosen. Again, tying in with what we've just talked about there. Specially chosen. The New English Bible translates this as a people chosen by God for his own. So we are God's own special people. Meaning that we belong to him. Again, as we read earlier, we are his special treasure or his treasured possession. And why does he own us? Well, he owns us because he bought us. He bought us with the blood and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ to become his possession. No longer the possession, no longer slaves of Satan the devil, but God's special treasure, his special possession.

But why? Peter then goes on to explain why. Why God has chosen us. Why God makes us a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, his own special people. Then he goes on to explain us why. That you may proclaim the praises, or as some other translations put it, to proclaim the wondrous deeds, or to show forth the virtues, or to make known the perfections of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. In other words, what Peter is saying here, we used to live in the darkness in the kingdom of the prince of darkness, Satan the deceiver. But now we've been called out of that darkness. A person who's only lived in the darkness doesn't know that he's been in darkness all of his life. He doesn't know because he doesn't know any different. It's only when we're called out of that darkness that we begin to understand the difference.

And when we're in the darkness, we can't see anything. If we turned off all the lights in here, you wouldn't be able to see anything. We're in a black room here. But now we are living in the light of God's way of life, understanding and being able to see and to perceive through the gift of his Holy Spirit. Peter continues then in verse 10, who once were not a people, but now are the people of God, who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. So what Peter is saying here is that before our calling and our selection and our special choosing by God, we really weren't anything at all. Paul writes about how God didn't choose the wise, didn't choose the mighty, didn't choose the noble, the powerful, but instead he chose the weak, the foolish, the despised to shame the rest of the world, to show that it's not because of anything that we are inherently that great and wonderful. It's because of what we allow God to do within us, within our lives, working through us as we submit to him and his leading. We were we were nobodies. We were nothing. But now we have been chosen by God for a special purpose and a special calling and a fantastic future. We had not obtained mercy, but now by God's grace and by God's mercy we are his specially chosen people, the people of God, his treasured possession. Let's continue with this theme now over in the book of Revelation.

What God is doing with us, what his intent and purpose for us is Revelation 19 verses 11 through 16. This is kind of an extension picking up where where Peter left off there. And this is a description of Jesus Christ returning in glory and majesty and power to establish God's kingdom over the earth. In verse 11 John is describing what he sees and he says, now I saw heaven opened and behold a white horse and he who sat on the horse was called faithful and true and in righteousness he judges and makes war. And of course this is referring to Jesus Christ. His eyes were like a flame of fire and on his head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood and his name is called the word of God. And the armies in heaven clothed in fine linen white and clean followed him on white horses. Now out of his mouth goes a sharp sword that with it he should strike the nations and he himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of almighty God. And he has on his robe and on his thigh a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. So here's the title that Jesus Christ will bear when he comes back to earth, King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

And who are these kings and who are these lords? Well, it's not angels because angels are not given authority over human beings. We find the answer in the next chapter, Revelation 20 verses 4 through 6. John again is seeing this in vision. And I saw thrones. What do thrones symbolize? Well, they symbolize royalty. If you're sitting on a throne, who sits on thrones? Well, royalty. It symbolizes rulership. It symbolizes authority. And they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus, and for the word of God who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands, and they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. And this, of course, is talking about the first resurrection of the saints. Then he goes on verse 5, but the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection, when these live and reign with Christ for a thousand years. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. So we see here that those who rule and reign with Jesus Christ at his return, these kings and lords, are those who have a part in the first resurrection. And they will live and reign with Jesus Christ, all those who have died in the past over the thousands of years of human history, those who have been a part of God's church during that time in the last two thousand years, and those who will yet be alive at Jesus Christ's return.

So it is us, it is the resurrected saints of God, who are the priests, who are the kings, who are the lords of which Jesus Christ is king of kings and lord of lords. And those of us who may die in the faith, or those who may still be alive at Jesus Christ's return, will have the opportunity to be a part of that resurrection, and to be a part of that government and that administration over the entire earth. So another way that God sees us, as we see here, is as kings and as priests, as a people who are now preparing for rulership in the kingdom of God and the government of God on this earth at Jesus Christ's return. Another way that God looks at us, we find in the greetings of most of Paul's epistles. We'll just take a look at one of them here, Ephesians 1 and verse 1. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus. And Paul starts nearly all of his letters this way, to the saints who are in Rome, to the saints who are in Corinth, to the saints who are in Philippi, to the saints in Galatia, and so on. And he isn't writing, according to the popular belief of one religion, to dead people up in heaven who have performed a certain number of miracles to give them sainthood, courtesy of the pope. He's writing to congregations like this. Many of the congregations in the early church probably weren't a whole lot larger than this relatively small group here today. They weren't huge. They weren't in the thousands of people. He's writing to people just like you and me.

And he refers to all the members of God's church as saints. As saints. But what does that mean? What does that mean? What is a saint? What does the word mean? Well, it comes from the root word sanctify. Sanctify, which means to make holy. To make holy. So this word translated saint means one who is holy, or simply a holy person. A holy person. And the word holy, what does it mean? Well, we covered that a little bit with Peter's writings there. It means set apart to the service of God, or characterized by perfection and spiritual purity. So something can become holy or be holy in two different ways. The first way to be holy is to be owned or possessed by God, which we've talked about. He sees us as his treasured possession. We are owned by God. We are possessed by him. But the second way something can be holy is to be used by God, or to have his presence in it. To be used by God, or to have his presence in it. And if you if you think about it, both of those apply to us. Because first of all, we are set apart, selected by God. We are holy because we belong to him, as we've talked about. We're bought by the sacrifice, the blood of Jesus Christ, purchased. And second, we are also holy because we are used by him. We are used by him. And also we have his presence in us through his Holy Spirit, which is not just the power of God, but also the presence of God. Jesus Christ told the apostles that the Last Supper is last evening with them, that the Father and I will come and make our home with you. And they do through God's Spirit. That is God's presence within us. So we are holy to summarize this. We are holy because of how we live and because of God's presence in us. Because we live a holy life being led by God's Holy Spirit within us, and developing the very mind, the character, and the nature of God the Father and Jesus Christ within us. So we are saints.

We are saints. That's the way the Bible describes us. So that's something we need to keep in mind, and how we deal with one another. How we view one another. We are all holy in God's sight.

Let's look at another description of how God views us. 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 20. Another description of God's people. Paul writes now then, we are ambassadors for Christ. As though God were pleading through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God. The poem we want to bring out here is the phrase Paul uses of ambassadors for Christ.

What does that mean? Why are we called ambassadors? What is an ambassador, and how does that relate to us? An ambassador, according to the dictionary, is an agent or a messenger of a ruler or a government representing his government in a foreign country, a foreign territory in which he resides. He's not a citizen of that territory. He lives there, but he's not a citizen of that.

His citizenship is elsewhere. He's representing someone else. He's representing a different government. That is the case with us as well, because our primary allegiance is to God's kingdom, not the kingdoms of this world. We represent that government, that way of life, its laws, its standards. And we are messengers and representatives of that government. We represent its policies, its laws, its values, and its way of life, not the values and the way of life of the culture and society in which we live.

That is why Ambassador College was called Ambassador College for a number of years. That's why now our one-year college is called Ambassador Bible College because of this concept. Because it is to teach God's ways, God's laws, God's values, God's way of life, to people so they can go out and represent that way of life to other people.

And we truly are ambassadors for Christ. We are citizens of one country forced to live in a foreign country. A foreign country. The apostles Peter and Paul don't have time to go through those scriptures, but they both compare God's people to pilgrims and strangers who are living in one place while they're waiting for a better place. A better kingdom. The kingdom of God. So how good a job do we do of representing that kingdom to the other people that we interact with? We really need to ask ourselves that question. Do we represent that way of life as something that is positive, that is inspiring, that is a blessing, that shows love, that shows concern to our fellow man?

Well, we should. That's what we should be doing as ambassadors. And this whole concept, I like the way it's summed up in Philippians 2, verses 14 through 16, where Paul writes, Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.

So again, is this the way we represent God to those around us as blameless, as harmless as children of God without fault, shining as lights in a world of darkness, as we hold fast to the word of life? Well, we need to be. We need to be. Whenever I fly at night across country, which I seem to be doing multiple times a year lately, and particularly flying from back east, flying out here to Denver, and there's hundreds of miles where I can look out my window at night.

I try to get a window seat every time. I look out and nearly everything you see is just blackness, flying over the plains and over to Denver. And occasionally you'll see an isolated farm or ranch and maybe the lights of some cars on a road down there, maybe a little small town and city occasionally. But for the most part it's just blackness. You look out and that's all you see is darkness.

And every time I can't help but think about this scripture here and think that's what God sees when he looks down on this world. He sees an awful lot of blackness, an awful lot of darkness. And here and there is a little scattered spot of light or two or three little lights and four or five lights here, one or two over here, another two or three over here.

And that's his people. And that's his people, shining like lights in the darkness of this age in which we live.

I think that's really what he sees. Well, that's what Paul says here. That's what Peter says. Among whom you shine as lights in the darkness. You can't see a light shining if everything is lit up. No, you see light shining in darkness. And unfortunately that's the kind of world we live in.

Pitch black darkness because it is a kingdom of darkness enslaved because it's been blinded by the god of this age. And I think that's a good and helpful analogy for us. Let's continue that thought. Jesus Christ talks about this theme, Matthew 5 verses 14 through 16. A famous line from the Sermon on the Mount. He says, you are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. And you can't be a light to the world if you're just isolated, holed up, never interact with other people if you're totally withdrawn from the world. You can't be a light to them then. Jesus continues verse 15, nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket. No, you don't take your lamp and put a basket over it. That doesn't do any good. The light doesn't shine then, but instead you put it on a lampstand. You put it hanging like the chandelier here so it lights up and illuminates the room. So everyone can see that light and that example. That's the point, and that shows God's way of life in action. Light is supposed to illuminate. It's supposed to light the path. It's supposed to show the way. And that's what God compares us to. You are the light of the world.

And if the world doesn't see that light in you, where is it going to see that light? It's not. It needs to see that light in your life.

Verse 16, Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. God's Word continually talks about God's way of life being the way of light. And Satan's way is the way of darkness. And if we are being lights to the world, we're going to be teaching God's truth by the way that we live, by the example. That we said we're going to be showing that God's way works. That it does produce blessings. That it does produce happiness and satisfaction. And removes fear and doubt and anxiety and suffering and all of these kind of things. That obeying God does truly lead to great blessings. So what kind of lights are we if we are showing that God's way works, we should be good neighbors. We should be good productive employees. We should be the most productive employees in our jobs wherever we work. We should be working for our boss, our supervisor, as though we were working for Jesus Christ, as Paul writes elsewhere. Don't have time to get into that. But if we are working as though we're working for Jesus Christ, what does that mean? Well, it should mean we're going to be the most productive, valuable employee there. That's what it should mean. And with our marriages and families and children and so on, if we're striving to be the kind of lights we should be, we should have strong and stable marriages based on loving and respecting and honoring one another. There, that is what Christ means, part of what Christ means, by letting our lights shine, by our examples there.

I've told this story before in sermons when I first began attending church services with my parents when I was 15 years old. I was a sophomore in high school and at that time I couldn't have cared less about religion. I remember distinctly the first day we went to Sabbath services.

I was playing baseball in a summer league, playing baseball. So I went off to play my baseball game Saturday morning and dad said, be back by noon. And I said, why?

He said, because we're going to church this afternoon. I said, well, what? Where? Where are we going to church? He says, in Birmingham. Birmingham was a 60 mile drive over two-lane roads. I said, what in the world? But my dad was about six foot four and weighed about 250. So I didn't talk back to him. So yeah, that was my introduction to church services. I remember occasionally we'd have ministers come out to the house before that for a couple of years. And again, I was junior high then and the minister's car would pull up. And I would either go hide out in my room or I'd head out the back door and off into the woods until a couple hours had passed. And I figured the coast is probably clear and it's safe to go back in the house. So that was my attitude toward religion there. But after attending Sabbath services there for several months with my parents, I began to notice a few things. I began to notice that these people are really different. They're really different. I was just this skinny, scrawny teenager, but people were really friendly to me. All of them were. The adults, I didn't want to be around them, but they were just so darn friendly. And they would come up, they'd shake my hand, they'd talk to me like I was a real person and the other teenagers would invite me over to their house for a picnic or dinner or something such thing. These people are really nice. Maybe you ought to start listening to what's being said here. And I did. And it worked. I was too young to care which day is the Sabbath or whether we ought to keep the holy days and which foods are clean or unclean. My favorite food was ham at that time growing up in the South. I was much more interested in playing football Friday nights and baseball Saturdays. Much more than driving a couple hours 60 miles one way to church there. And the thing that really made an impression on me was the example of the church members. And that has stuck with me all these years. To me, they were proof that this really is God's way of life. A point of that, could somebody say that about your life today?

About me? Could they say that about me? That they recognize God's way of life in my life? Could they or do they? Something to think about that.

Another way that God looks at us is found over in John 15. Again, this is from Christ's last instruction to the apostles the night before he is arrested and taken away to be crucified. We read through this section of John's Gospel every year at Passover with good reason. There's a lot of good meat there. This is Christ's last instruction to his disciples. And there's some wonderful information given here. I want to pick up a couple of phrases out of this. John 15 verse 12, This is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you. And I saw that at 15 when I started coming to church. I didn't know what it was at the time, but that's what I was experiencing. This kind of love that Jesus Christ talks about. Greater love has no one than this to lay down one's life for his friends. You are my friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing. But I have called you friends for all things that I heard from my father I have made known to you. And to me, this is just utterly mind-boggling that Jesus Christ specifically calls us his friends. His friends. He is not just the firstborn from the dead, not just the captain of our salvation, not just our Savior, our high priest, our King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, but he also says that he is our friend. And that we are his friends. Just let that sink in because it's pretty mind-boggling. It's pretty mind-boggling that the very one who spoke in the universe sprang into being, into existence out of nothing. He spoke and it existed, and all the stars, and the heavens, and the earth, and all the beautiful things, and wonderful things in it, and in the universe around us, calls us his friends. The very one who came to earth as a physical human being, who performed miracles, who walked on water, who fed the multitudes, who healed the sick, who gave sight to the blind, and hearing to the deaf, and who raised the lame, and who raised the dead, and who bled, and who died, and sacrificed his life for us, calls us his friends.

Just let that sink in. Just let that sink in. The very one who is going to worship is going to return to earth in power, in glory, in majesty, as King of kings, and as Lord of lords, and who will establish a kingdom that will never be destroyed. That same being says, we are his friends. You are my friends if you do whatsoever I command you.

And as Paul said, if God is for us, who can be against us? It's just an incredible and wonderful concept here, but Jesus Christ is very plain about it.

And he says in verse 13, greater love has no one than this, and it will lay down his life for his friends. And he did exactly that for us. He gave up his life so that we could have the opportunity for eternal life. And in verse 14, he says, again, you are my friends if you do whatever I command you. So there is a condition there. There is a condition to that friendship because Amos 3, 3 says, two can't walk together unless they're agreed. So we have to agree with him. We have to do whatever he commands. If we don't keep his commands, we're not of the same mind. We can't walk together. So we have to follow his commands if we are to be his friends.

A master, verse 15, again, no longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing, but I have called you friends for all things that I heard from my father I have made known. He says, our relationship is one of friends. Yes, I've talked in previous servants. It's a master-slave relationship as well, a master-servant relationship. But in that relationship, what's different? Well there, the master dictates everything that the servant of the slave does. They do what they're told or else. And most of us have probably worked for bosses who are like that. Where a boss or supervisor gives the orders and the employee carries it out, or else. And the employees have no clue what's really going on. But Christ's relationship with us isn't like that. It's a relationship that he defines as friendship because he wants us to know what's going on. As it says here, he wants us to understand God's plan and his purpose for us. And that's why we have the Bible written for us. To give us that understanding, he wants us to understand the future God has in store, which we've talked about a bit today. He wants us to understand why the world is in such horrible shape. Because of rejecting God. And these things are hidden from a world that is blinded, but they're not hidden from us. Because he is the head of the church and he has made known these things to us. Because he loves us. Because he's called us to be his friends. We won't turn there, but we might write down also James 2 and verse 23. We see an example of that. This verse talks about Abraham and his example of faith. And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness. And he was called the friend of God. So we see here that God had a close, personal, mutually respectful relationship with a human being. A mortal human being, physically weak, who sinned, who lied, who had his problems and issues. And yet God can see past that and call Abraham his friend. And Jesus Christ can call us his friends.

Again, quite remarkable. But there's even a deeper relationship with that. Revelation 19, verse 7, let's read about that. Let us be glad and rejoice and give him glory for the marriage of the Lamb has come and his wife has made herself ready. The Lamb, of course, is Jesus Christ. But who is the bride? Well, we see a hint in the next verse. And to her it was a raid. It was granted to be a raid and fine linen, clean and bright. For the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. So this bride is clothed in the righteous acts of the saints. And as we have seen, the saints are the individual members of God's church. So the bride that Jesus Christ marries in his kingdom is clothed with the righteous acts of the members of the church. So the bride that Christ marries is us. It is the church collectively. And this is spelled out in more detail in Ephesians 5, verses 22 through 32, where Paul here goes through instructions to husbands and wives. And he says, verse 22, wives, submit to your own husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church, and he is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands, and everything. And then he says, husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for her. That he might sanctify and cleanse her with a washing of water by the word. That he might present her to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. So husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother, and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. And then the kicker. The kicker. This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. So Paul is saying is this whole marriage relationship, the love that a husband has for his wife and a wife has for her husband, the husband loving the wife to the point of giving himself as a sacrifice for her if needed, is symbolic of the relationship between Jesus Christ and the church. And as Paul says here, Jesus loved the church so much that he gave his life for it, sacrificed his life for it to make it holy, and to cleanse it, and to purify it, and to present itself to him holy and without blemish.

So ultimately the relationship that we have with Jesus Christ is much deeper than just friendship. It will be a marriage relationship, the deepest bond that we can humanly imagine and experience. So this is another way that God views us as the beautiful bride of his son being prepared.

He sees us clothed with the brightest, sparkling white linen, clean and bright, representing the righteous acts that we have done in this life as members of God's church. And he sees us as a lovely and beautiful and pure bride that is deeply in love with his son, with Jesus Christ, and willing to follow his lead in everything, looking forward to spending an eternity together. This is another way that God views us. And the last area that I want to cover and how God views us is the one that is most commonly expressed in the Bible. And that is the fact that God views us as a father does his children. As a father does his children. And I saved this one for last because it has some of the most wonderfully encouraging and inspiring scriptures written down for us. So let's turn over to 1 John 3 and verses 1 through 3. John writes here, Behold what manner of love the father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God. Therefore the world does not know us, but because it did not know him. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be. But we know that when he is revealed, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. And as I've tried to help us see today to give you a little taste of what shall be, but I know that is impossible for us to fully grasp. Our minds just are not fully capable of doing that. But I hope it is a little more real to us now that we have a better understanding. And as John tells us here, the time is coming when we will be like God, for we will see him as he is. We can't do that in this life as the Bible shows with Moses, for instance, God had to shield Moses from his presence in a cleft in the rock and cover him up as he passed by, because otherwise the experience would have killed him.

That's what the greatness and the power and the majesty of God is, be like kind of walking into a nuclear reactor or something like that. The experience would be fatal, but the time is coming when we will see him as he is, and we shall be like him.

And that glorified power and majesty and splendor of spirit existence.

And verse 3, as John says, everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself just as he is pure.

We see here there's an obligation on us now that if we are to be like God then, we have to start being like him now. If we are going to be in that spirit resurrection to an immortal spirit body, then we had better start becoming like God now with all of our heart, and all of our soul, and all of our mind, and all of our being so that we can be in that resurrection. To conclude, let's turn to Romans 8 and verses 14 through 23.

And Paul tells us here, For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are, and it's interesting he says, are not will be, but are, as God views us now, they are sons of God. For you did not receive the Spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by which we cry out, Abba, Father. So Paul is saying here we don't have a relationship with God that is based on fear or terror because we're afraid of God, but rather we have a loving relationship based on respect and reverence and obedience to God because we love him, because we love him and we want to please him, because we see him as he is, as a loving father who wants to share every good and perfect gift with his children.

Verse 16, The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are, and again are, not will be, are, as God views us, children of God. And if children, then heirs. Ears of God enjoin heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified together. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. And we do have sufferings in this life. We have problems. We have all kinds of problems and issues that can discourage and demoralize us. One of the most frustrating experiences of my recent years has been trying to find a church hall for us to meet on a regular basis and just getting turned every door slammed shut in our face and so on. But Paul says, put those problems in perspective. Put them in perspective that the trials that we face in this life can't begin to be compared with the glory that God has in store for us that will be revealed in us. Verse 19, For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly but because of him who subjected it in hope. So Paul says here the entire creation has been frustrated, has been discouraged, has been in a state of futility, but that there is hope. There is hope. And what is that hope? Verse 21, Because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also, who have the first roots of the spirit, even we ourselves, groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. Talking about the resurrection at Jesus Christ's return. So Paul tells us here to keep things in perspective. To, yes, we have problems, I have problems, you have problems, but they can't begin to be compared with the future that God has in store for us. And he says the whole creation has been like a woman in labor. That the creation is groaning and moaning and birth pangs, waiting for the birth, for the revealing of the children of God. Waiting for that first resurrection when the children of God who are going to be revealed in a resurrection, either raised from the grave where they've rested or transformed if they're still alive, to eternal life as immortal spirit beings. And Paul tells us the creation has been waiting for thousands of years for that, for the culmination of God's plan, for the revealing of the children of God.

And who are those children? It's all of you. It's all of you. All who stay faithful, and are being resurrected is the central point of God's plan and his creation. It's what the whole creation has been waiting for for thousands of years. So in conclusion, don't take lightly what God is doing with you as an individual, with all of us as a group, as a little flock, as Jesus Christ called us. Because what does he see in us? He sees in us a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a chosen people, a people being prepared for rulership in his kingdom. So as you go back to your home, as you go back to your jobs this week, as you go about the coming weeks and months, and especially as we come up to the Feast of Tabernacles and the Fall Holy Days, think about these things. Think about what God sees when he looks at you and he looks at every one of us. Look at yourself and realize that if we are going to be the beautiful, pure and lovely bride of Jesus Christ, that if we're going to be the children of God, if we're going to be the kind of priests and kings and leaders that we need to be in the kingdom of God, that we need to take our calling deeply and very seriously to realize we need to change. We need to get our act together and see that we live up to that calling, to that expectation that we've read about in these many scriptures. That we need to see ourselves as God sees us. We need to see ourselves as a holy people in the process of being prepared for the kingdom of God.