What are God’s thoughts of me?

God is like every loving father. He loves you and forgives you but loves you too much to ignore your sin.  For he knows that if he does not deal with your sin by discipline (see Heb 12), you will remain in your sin and have a lousy life.  And he has told us that “without holiness no one will see the Lord.”  So he shakes his head over your sin, and plans to discipline you to get it out of you.  Because he loves you he will discipline you. But he will not love you any less.

Every day in the life of the believer is one of repentance and faith.  We confess our sins to the holy God, but we rest in the assurance that Christ has died for our sins and has been raised for our justification. When God sees me, he sees the one to whom I am joined by faith. He does not count my sins against me, but sees the righteousness of Jesus.

You come to your Father through Jesus Christ, who is seated on a throne of grace, to confess your failures of the day but thank him for his fatherly care and his many great and precious promises. He knows and loves you as his dear child. If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us. Read Psalm 4.

As sons and daughters of the Father, our identity is defined by who we are in Christ. Apostles often address immature churches as saints, beloved, chosen and holy. Our relationships with the Trinity define who we are, not good or bad deeds. Even though our behavior does not define us, it demonstrates who we are, and to whom we belong. Therefore, Paul reminded Romans that grace is not the reason to indulge in sin (Rom 6:1-2). At times our day finishes with groanings, but even in that, we are not alone, because the Spirit is groaning with us in our prayers. The bottom line is whether I am in Christ or I am still in Adam, the old man.

God views the regenerate as his justified and adopted child. The Lord delights in your obedience, imperfect though it be, because he sees you as one with Christ, the Righteous One. God forgives your disobedience, though displeasing to him, because he sees you as one with Christ, who is the propitiation of our sins. He disciplines his children to make them share in his holiness, but not to condemn them.

Well, thankfully Christians aren’t adjunct professors: if we profess Jesus Christ in faith, we have tenure! So I don’t have to worry about getting fired, as it were. I believe in the perseverance of the saints, which is to say, in God’s preservation of the saints. Of course, this isn’t a “Get out of Jail free” card. But it’s important to realize, with Calvin, that the salvation is first and foremost our union with Christ, and that this union carries with it the double blessing of justification and sanctification. Our adoption as God’s children is secure in Christ, but we know that the Father disciplines those whom he loves, so this side of heaven we have to work out our own salvation in godly fear, but it is God who works in us to perfect us in Christ (cf. Phil. 2:12-13). 

It is good to reflect on the day that is past, to acknowledge and confess our sins, and then go confidently to sleep knowing that God promises forgiveness and the power of his Holy Spirit to guide and help us on the morrow.  God looks at his own in and through Christ; our identity comes from our participation in his death and resurrection.  That does not change from one day to the next.

God teaches us about what he wants in many ways, and one of the most significant is the instruction he gives us in prayer. We have mentioned the Lord’s Prayer, in which he teaches us to ask or “petition” him for things. He wants us to ask for his kingdom to come and his will to be done. But he also wants us to know that he cares about the provision of our “daily bread,” or physical needs. And not just that, he cares about our spiritual needs too: the forgiveness we need from him and from others, the reconciliation we need from him and from others. God loves us and so he wants all this and more for us.

He weeps for you. He still loves you. He waits for you to discover how you are robbing yourself of the good life. When you realize this and repent of your sins, rededicating yourself to him, he will embrace and bless you again. 

1. God loves me as much as ever, as a good human father loves his child even when he goes astray. But, again, like a good human father, he is displeased with my sin, and he prepares to administer loving discipline for my good and for his glory.