You Are a Poem Written by God: Seeing Your True Worth

Sermon outline

You are God's best: made by His breath, in His image and likeness, as His poem, so you must stop seeing yourself through poor self-esteem and see yourself as God sees you.

1. Where God plants you, He graces you

   Church is not a commodity you choose like a car; it is where the Holy Spirit plants you. Hurt, discouragement and bad experiences with people are not reasons to leave, and those planted in the house of the Lord will flourish. Don't let people who made poor choices influence you to join them.

   Illustration: Children and grandchildren don't stand up one day and leave their parents because they are tired of them; they stay because they receive protection, grace and covering there.

   “I stay in that position because where God places you, he graces you.”

   • Psalm 92:13

2. You are God's best: see yourself as God sees you

   Many Christians do not realise their value in God's eyes. Poor self-esteem is a religious problem often mistaken for humility, and because we don't realise our worth we squander our inheritance and make tragic mistakes, like an heir who sells a vast fortune for something less valuable.

   “Poor self-esteem is a common religious problem. We sometimes mistake poor self-esteem for humility.”

   • Romans 10:17
   • 1 John 4:16

3. Formed by God's hands and filled with His breath

   All of creation was spoken into being, but Adam was moulded from the dust and brought to life when God breathed into him, the most perfect sculpture ever made. The Hebrew word for that breathing sounds like an explosion, and the same breath of God comes into you when you are born again. God also gave man a will, so much of our suffering comes from our own bad decisions, not from God's design.

   Illustration: He pictures God mixing dust with water in His hands and moulding the body of man, then breathing into lifeless clay until every organ functioned perfectly.

   “God breathed himself into man and man became a living being.”

   • John 1:3
   • Hebrews 11:3
   • Psalm 33:9
   • Genesis 2:7
   • Genesis 2:17

4. Made from dust so pride would never enter

   He lists God's other created beings for the church to study: seraphim, cherubim, archangels, angels and living creatures. Lucifer was created beautiful but became proud, rebelled and was thrown out of heaven. God made man from dust and water so that man would always remember his origin, never become proud, and worship Him forever, but Satan deceived Adam and Eve.

   “Because man will always remember he's made from the dust of the ground and pride will never enter into his heart.”

   • Isaiah 6:2
   • Ezekiel 10:1
   • Job 1:9
   • Revelation 7:11-12
   • Revelation 4:4-9

5. Made in His image and likeness

   Image speaks of a photograph: when you look at yourself, you are looking at a likeness of God. Likeness speaks of an inner likeness, which is why you can be kind and forgive someone wicked. You may not yet walk fully in love, but you carry the potential for it because God's love has been poured into your heart.

   Illustration: When you forgive someone who has been really wicked to you and wonder where that came from, it came from the inner likeness of God in you.

   “What he is saying is that if you look at yourself, it's a photograph of God.”

   • Genesis 1:26-27
   • Romans 5:5
   • Psalm 139:14

6. You are His workmanship, a poem written by God

   The Greek word for workmanship, poiema, means poetry: you are not here by chance, and God is still writing your story. False humility that debases yourself and arrogance that acts like Lucifer are both extremes; God wants you on the centre road, thinking of yourself as His Word describes you. Together the local church is a book of poems, and when one is missing a page is missing.

   Illustration: At school a poetry book never held just one poem; the teacher chose one by page number from a whole collection. A church with someone missing is a book with a page torn out.

   “That means you are a poem written of God.”

   • Ephesians 2:10
   • 1 Peter 2:5

7. You are valuable and you are missed

   God came looking for Adam asking 'Where are you?', not because He couldn't see, but because Adam was not in his place. God chose, predestined and adopted you, engraved your name on His palms, and loves you not because of your good works but because He chose to. Your life is a book still being written, like the book of Acts that ends without an 'amen', and you give value to the things you own, not the other way round.

   Illustration: When he gets home and his wife isn't there, home isn't home and the food doesn't taste the same. A class without its teacher is left with a huge vacuum.

   “God loves you so much and you are so valuable that God has tattooed your name on the palm of his hands.”

   • Genesis 3:9
   • 2 Corinthians 5:8
   • Ephesians 1:4-6
   • Isaiah 49:16
   • John 11:41-42
   • 1 John 5:14-15
   • 1 John 1:9
   • Genesis 37:3
   • John 21:25
   • Matthew 6:33
   • Proverbs 10:22