“How deep the Father’s love for us,
How vast beyond all measure,
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure.
How great the pain of searing loss –
The Father turns His face away,
As wounds which mar the Chosen One
Bring many sons to glory.

Behold the man upon a cross,
My sin upon His shoulders;
Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice
Call out among the scoffers.
It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished;
His dying breath has brought me life –
I know that it is finished.

I will not boast in anything,
No gifts, no power, no wisdom;
But I will boast in Jesus Christ,
His death and resurrection.
Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer;
But this I know with all my heart –
His wounds have paid my ransom.”
- Stuart Townend

Take some time to read and reread the beautiful words of this hymn. We struggle so often to have a correct view of ourselves, which is especially magnified in a culture that values the idea of self-esteem so highly. Our view of ourself can depend sometimes upon our circumstance or many times how we are treated by others. If we have trusted in Jesus Christ as our Savior our identity changes, and therefore our view of ourself should change. No longer should we value ourselves so highly that we esteem our own needs over others. Nor should we give in to self-loathing when thinking of ways we feel we do not measure up to some standard set by the world, or when we consider the sin we struggle with this side of heaven.

In Christ we are a new creation, bought with a price, and sealed with a promise! When we consider what God did in choosing to make a way before the creation of time and space to save us from our sin there is no place for boasting. “But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” (Galatians 6:14 ESV)

We should also see the value that God the Father has placed upon us.  “See what great love the Father has given us that we should be called God’s children—and we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it didn’t know him.  Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when he appears, we will be like him because we will see him as he is.” (1 John 3:1-3 CSB)

All who have called upon the name of the Lord for salvation are now the children of God! The Holy One, existing outside of time and space, Creator of the universe, and all-powerful; that is who we call our Father. He is as fully good as He is holy and as equally merciful as He is just. Which is why only Jesus could pay the price for our sins as he is both fully God and man. Brothers and sisters in Christ, you are loved by a merciful Father! We cannot boast in anything given to us by our Maker, but we can boast in Jesus Christ whose wounds have paid our ransom.

Matt Jacobs