Oct 26, 2011
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Case Point: "I am not worthy to serve God" vs. "I have been made worthy to serve God"
Before we would lead worship we would always pray this “Lord thank You for using me, we are not worthy.”
At first glance, there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with this line. After all what we really mean is “Lord I am humbled that You have chosen to use me.” Yes that is well and good…
HOWEVER, I believe the prayer is incomplete. Rather than just saying Lord I am not worthy, I think what is more Biblical is to say “Lord I once was not worthy, thank You for now making me worthy of serving You.”
Before I go on any further I would like to establish the following points:
Only those who are in Christ are made worthy. ( 1 Corinthians 6:167)
When we accept Christ as our personal Lord and Savior we are made into new creations ( 2 Corinthians 5:17)
Christ does not just take away our sins, but He puts on us His righteousness. (Galatians 3:26-27, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Ephesians 4:24,)
I would like to stress on the third point. When we accept Christ as our personal Lord and Savior He doesn’t only remove our sins. He does something more. He puts on His righteousness on us, so that when God looks at us He sees His righteousness. God makes us holy by living in us. Just as the tabernacle and temple became holy when God came upon it.
Does that mean all believers will no longer sin? No. It simply means that even if we sin, we will still be children of God. Holy comes from the Hebrew word קדש, “qadash” or “Qal” which means to be set apart, to be consecrated. When God makes us holy, we are set apart from this world. But since we are imperfect beings we still make mistakes, but we are forever set apart by God for God. We will never lose our sonship though we sin, because God has already made us holy, He has already set us apart.
“…when God looks at us He sees His righteousness.” <--- Does that mean Christians can go on sinning and God will just overlook their sins, or not see their sins because He sees righteousness? No! Not at all! Believers are now children of God, if they sin they do not lose the privilege of being a child of God. However, as our earthly father disciplines us, so the Lord also disciplines His children who are stubborn.
As a woman and a Christian, the most common struggle I face is believing that I am worthless and useless. Satan loves to deceive us with lies about our identity in Christ.
Saying “I am not worthy” it sort of a downer. It highlights the mistakes we’ve made in the past instead of the victorious life we now live in Christ. We need to remember that our past have been ERASED and REPLACED with the RIGHTEOUSNESS OF CHRIST!
I know that saying “I am not worthy” is an act of humility. But there is also what we call Holy Pride. It is taking pride in who we are in Christ. It is a type of pride that points to God instead of us. It is the confidence we have in Christ. It is the pride that says “If I may boast-I boast only this: That I know Christ.”
Let us constantly remember that we have been made new, made holy, made righteous and made worthy of serving the Lord. You were purchased with the blood of Christ; you are no longer unworthy because of Him who now lives in you.
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VERSES:
1 Corinthians 6:17
But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit.
2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
Galatians 3:26-27
26 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
2 Corinthians 5:21
God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Ephesians 4:24
and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
1 Peter 2:9
But you are a chosen people, a royal priest hood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
John 1:12
Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God
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Well I know that I may have had my share of failing and falling But I have come to understand one thing remains By all He's done I have been made holy worthy of serving the One, the One who wrote eternity so deep in my heart Open your eyes and see The wonder of a life so wonderfully free Lift up your head, believe There is more, there so much more to see
-MORE TO SEE, Hillsong