Have you ever been denied for something? Perhaps you been turned down for a loan or perhaps you got cut from a team, picked over for promotion or rejected for a date. Because so many things in our life are viewed through the lens of qualifications, we begin to view all aspects of our life in this way. Below I want to share part two in our series IDENTITY THEFT and focus on the truth that we have been made qualified by God.
Colossians 1:11-14 makes many truth statements about the condition of believers in Christ. When we fail to believe and apply these truths to our lives we end up believing lies that will rob us of who we are in Christ.
For part 1 of this series click here.
LIE #2
"I need to do better"
"I don’t measure up"
"I’m not good enough"
"I’m not smart enough"
"I’m not skilled enough"
"I’m not significant"
The Bible instructs that we ought to give "thanks to the Father who has qualified us." What does this qualification look like, what does it mean? How were we qualified? Well, we weren't qualified by our works. Weren't qualified by our good deeds. We weren't qualified by our religiosity. We were qualified when God had mercy on us and justified us--declared us righteous--not because of the things we did, but because of what Jesus did. So we became qualified because God credited to us the perfect qualifications of Jesus Christ.
It is as if we went into a job interview, not with our resume, but with Jesus', but with our name on the top instead of his. We did not measure up, we did not have the qualifications of perfection and holiness. We were sorely inadequate, but God made us qualified, in Christ.
Here's how Scripture describes this qualification:
- Spiritually Dead to Spiritually Alive
- Strangers/Aliens to fellow citizens of God’s household
- Enemies of God to Children of God
- Far off to Brought near
- Slave to Free
- Cursed to Blessed
- Guilty before God to Righteous before God
- Identified with Adam to Identified with Christ
This is the transformation, the qualification that takes place when a person trusts in Jesus for forgiveness. Yet for many, many people this is apparently not enough, because I see scores of people constantly trying to qualify themselves before God and others.
I see people striving to be special, with an impulse to be important, aiming for acceptance, a drive for distinction, an ambition toward accomplishment, in pursuit of possessions. In short, it is a constant search for significance.
- People search for significance (qualification) by bragging about what they know, who they know, what they can do, or what they have experienced.
- People search for significance by belittling others. This usually begins with "Oh yeah..." then continues to describe how their own experience, knowledge, idea, possession, etc. is better.
- People search for significance through experiences: career, vacation, golf score, crafts on Pinterest, and vicariously though professional or college sports teams, their children, or celebrities.
- People search for significance through acquiring possessions: cars make them feel important, clothes make them feel valuable, collections make them feel special, houses make them feel rich, and toys make them feel happy.
But we fail to realize that only IN CHRIST and THROUGH CHRIST can we be truly important, valuable, special, truly rich, and happy. The truth is, there is no more significance to be gained outside of being qualified by Christ.
there is no more significance to be gained
outside of being qualified by Christ.
Oh what would churches be like if each person would truly grasp this truth and let go of attempts to qualify themselves and make themselves more significant?
No more bragging
No more one-upping
No need to belittle others
No desire to have to impress people
No over valuing possessions
No looking down on failures
We would have energy to think about others, care for others, listen to others.
We would no longer be inhibited by what others thought of us or by the possibility of failure
We would no longer be focused on our own needs, or recognition, or accomplishments, but on that of others’.
We would have a Christ-centered assurance that regardless of accomplishments or differences in income, possessions, gender, race, age, or background we have all been EQUALLY qualified in Christ and that is the most important thing.
Colossians 3:11
Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian (European), Scythian (Arabian), slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.
If you know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you have been made qualified to share in the inheritance of His kingdom. That makes you significant. No amount of accomplishments, jobs, possessions, knowledge, or experiences can ever or will ever make you more significant than you already are in Christ.
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