Kyle Gangel

Imagine King David stepping out onto the roof of his house on a cool, clear evening and staring up into the night sky (having learned his lesson not to stare down at others). As he ponders the magnitude of God’s creation, the thought enters his mind, “… what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.” Psalm 8:4-5 (ESV). David is immediately struck by two truths that seem to be in tension with one another:

The insignificance of humanity in relation to God.
The significance bestowed on humanity by God.

Like many doctrines in tension (e.g. God’s sovereignty & man’s free will, God’s love & God’s wrath, etc.), it is easy to sympathize with one above the other. We are tempted to believe we need to diminish one to uphold the other. However, in order to have a proper understanding of who we are, we must affirm both our insignificance and our significance, our unworthiness and our worth, our depravity and our dignity.

What is Man that You Are Mindful of Him?

Two characteristics of humanity cause David to ponder our insignificance. First, we are created. As David considered the ease with which God created the entire universe, he began to wonder why such a powerful God would ever take notice of man. After all, the moon and the stars are the work of God’s fingers. Why would God stoop so low as to care about an individual, even someone as powerful as King David?

Not only are we created beings, but we are rebels against our Creator. Genesis 3 records what is commonly referred to as the Fall. Adam and Eve were given one prohibition not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Naturally, a prohibition seemed intriguing and with a little help from the Tempter, they disobeyed God. Since that tragic moment rebellion has been characteristic of humanity. In light of our rebellion against this all-powerful God, we stand before God as unworthy beings. Certainly, as unworthy beings God views us as worthless, right? Not so fast.

Crowned With Glory and Honor

It is clear from the opening pages of Scripture that man is the crowning glory of God’s creation. The fast-paced creation narrative slows down when it describes the origin of Adam and Eve. God rewinds in Genesis 2 for a closer look at man’s creation. Despite the immensity of the universe, it is man who has been “crowned with glory and honor” (Psalm 8:5). There is something significant about mankind that sets us apart from the rest of creation. The distinctive feature of humanity is that we are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27). Herman Bavinck says it this way, “…among all creatures only man is the image of God, the highest and richest revelation of God and therefore head and crown of the entire creation.”

We are crowned with glory and honor because we are made in the likeness of the King of Glory. It is this high position and calling of being an image bearer that makes humanity dignified above the rest of creation. R. C. Sproul sums it up well, “Man’s dignity rests in God who assigns an inestimable worth to every person. Man’s origin is not an accident, but a profoundly intelligent act by One who has eternal value; by One who stamps His own image on each person.” As those made in the image of the infinitely worthy God, we possess worth and dignity that far surpasses the rest of creation.

Our significance, our worth, and our dignity are grounded in the truth that we are created in the image of God. This is important because many Christians have overreacted to the self-esteem/self-worth movement by insisting that we are worthless. It can sound righteous to say, “we are trash, we are worthless, we are nothing.” However, in affirming both the unworthiness and worth of man, David simultaneously rejects a therapeutic—improve your life by improving your self-worth— view of man and an overly spiritualized—man is totally worthless—view of man.

What does it mean to be created in the image of God?

If our dignity comes from being made in the image of God, we must have a firm grasp of what it means to be an image bearer. There are two primary features of the image of God. First, God created us like himself in many ways. We are not God; we are not little gods; we will never be gods; we are, however, made “in his likeness” (James 3:9). As those who are made in the likeness of God, we can think, feel, speak, desire, choose, create, and relate on a level that is unknown to the rest of creation. This is possible because we are made in the image of God who thinks, speaks, desires, chooses, creates, and relates.

God not only endows every person with immense worth by stamping them with his image, but he also commands each person to reflect his image by obeying his Word. This is the second aspect of being made in God’s image. We were created in the likeness of God, so that we might represent him as living, breathing pictures (images) of him. One of the most important ways we were supposed to do this was by reflecting God’s character. We were designed to be holy because God is holy, just because God is just, Kind because God is kind, etc.

Unfortunately, we continually fail to reflect his image. Though we remain image bearers in our essence, we imperfectly mirror him as a result of our sin. The irony of sin is that we use the very abilities we have as image bearers and use them for our sinful gratification. For instance, We abuse our ability to communicate by engaging in slander and gossip. We abuse our ability to reason by rationalizing our sin away. We abuse our ingenuity to find new ways to rebel against him.

Our Ultimate Hope

Needless to say, the answer is not found within ourselves. We needed another to come to our rescue. Surprisingly, the rescuer came in the form of an image bearer. God became a man. He became the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15) and the perfect picture of God’s glory (Hebrews 1:3). Our ultimate hope rests in Jesus, the perfect image of God, who himself became a little lower than the angels. Hebrews 2:9 says, “But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone” (ESV). He tasted death for us by bearing the wrath of God on the cross that we deserved. He rose from the grave offering forgiveness and reconciliation to all those who would turn away from their sin and rely on his finished work.

In God’s wisdom and grace he begins to transform his followers into the image of Christ. We progressively begin to look more and more like the perfect image-bearer. What was broken at the fall begins to be restored until one day the recreating work of God will be complete as we become fully like Christ when we are with him in eternity (1 John 3:2). We will perfectly image God forever.

Credits

Photo by Marc-Olivier Jodoin on Unsplash

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Ps 8:4-5). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

RC Sproul. In Search of Dignity (Ventura, CA: Regal, 1983), 94.

Herman Bavinck. Reformed Dogmatics Vol. 2: God and Creation (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2004) 531.

“If you are 99% sure you are saved, you are 100% lost.”

“If you don’t remember the day and time you called on Christ, you are lost.”

“That voice in your head saying, ‘you’re not saved’ is not the devil, it is God trying to get your attention.”

These statements might make for “good” preaching at a revival meeting, but they flow from poor theology. For the ones who have struggled with doubts about the genuineness of their faith, assertions like these only bring about further hopelessness and confusion.

Is true assurance of salvation found in feeling saved? Will we find true assurance by analyzing the events of our conversion? Or, do the Scriptures give us a better way forward?

Not surprisingly, there is both help and hope in God’s Word. Let’s start with hope.

You Are Not Alone

In college, I traveled as a member of the basketball team. I spent multiple road trips staring out the window of the travel bus wondering, “if Jesus came back right now, what would happen to me?” I played scenarios in my head. Would I be welcomed by my Savior? Or would I hear the dreaded words, “depart from me, for I never knew you?” Neither outcome would have surprised me.

I was convinced that I alone struggled like this. I assumed the other Christians on my team had it all figured out. Surely they wouldn’t understand if I ever gathered the courage to share my doubts with them. I kept quiet, unaware that many on the bus were pondering the same questions in their hearts.

It is an odd comfort knowing that we are not alone in our doubts. It is not as if we want others to suffer through temptation the way we have. Instead, there is comfort in realizing we’re not some sort of an oddball.

God’s Word shatters our understanding that our temptations are unique. 1 Corinthians 10:13 says, “no temptation has overtaken you except that which is common to man…” (1 Cor. 10:13). It is an odd comfort knowing that we are not alone in our doubts. It is not as if we want others to suffer through temptation the way we have. Instead, there is comfort in realizing we’re not some sort of an oddball. There is even greater comfort in knowing that many believers throughout the history of the church have faced similar temptations and have walked in faithful obedience.

There is consolation in knowing we are not alone, but our ultimate hope for change rests in the faithfulness of God. The verse goes further, instructing us that “…God is faithful, and will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide a way of escape” (1 Cor. 10:13). One of the ways God has demonstrated his faithfulness is to supply us with every resource in Christ to respond to our temptations in a way that glorifies him.

So, where does change begin for the doubter?

Gospel Assurance

Too often we want to look to ourselves to find assurance. We ask ourselves, “did I really mean it when I called on Christ?” We silently wonder, “was my faith strong enough to truly save me when I asked Jesus to save me?” Soon we convince ourselves that we could say the ‘sinner’s prayer’ again with more faith, more vigor, more earnestness. This time, we surmise, it will actually work because we will mean it more. Our reflections quickly become all about us and we eventually lose sight of the Savior. In seeking to assure ourselves by ourselves we only create more doubt. As Everett (George Clooney) affirms in Oh Brother Where Art Thou, “It’s a fool that looks for logic in the chambers of the human heart.”

If it is foolish to look to ourselves as the primary means of assurance, where do we look? The alternative is to look away from ourselves and toward Christ. In other words, we must learn to rely on the sufficiency of Christ’s death and resurrection instead of relying on a past experience of asking Jesus to save us.

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” – Romans 8:1

The gospel is that Jesus has done what we could never do–lived perfectly, died sacrificially, resurrected victoriously–in order to give us what the Law could never give us (forgiveness of sins and a heart to obey God). Let that be our foremost means of assurance. It isn’t about us, our efforts, the strength of our faith. It is about the work of Christ for us. That is news in which we can find rest for our doubting hearts.

The Evidence of Faith

Only after we can affirm that our faith is resting in Christ for our salvation, can we look at our lives for evidences of genuine faith.

In addition to affirming the gospel, our attitude towards sin is one of the greatest indicators of genuine faith. Paul suggests that those who are in Christ experience a desire to put off sin and put on righteousness (Romans 8:4). The Apostle then builds on this assertion, pointing out that these desires for righteousness are not natural, but are the result of the presence and work of the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:9). Further, everyone who has the indwelling of the Spirit is saved (Romans 8:9-10). Finally, all those who are saved count God as their heavenly Father (Romans 8:15-17).

Working backward then we might put it this way:

How can I be confident I’m God’s child? You can be confident you are God’s child if you are saved.
How do I know if I’m saved? You can know you are saved if you have the Holy Spirit living inside of you.
How do I know if the Holy Spirit is living inside of me? You can know the Spirit is inside of you if you battle sin and desire godliness.

Conclusion

It is not wrong to examine the authenticity of your conversion, in fact, God commands it (2 Corinthians 13:5). However, you do want to avoid examining yourself on grounds the Bible doesn’t commend. Feelings or past experiences are poor evidences of real salvation. Instead, look to the gospel itself and ask if you are truly trusting in Christ’s person and work for your salvation. Further, consider if you are demonstrating an attitude of repentance (turning away from sin) that is consistent with someone who is born again.

Photo by Jez Timms on Unsplash

Author: Kyle Gangel

My Worth and My Unworthiness