What is God's Opinion of Christians?

Next to the Bible, the book that's impacted me the most is The Search for Significance by Robert S. McGee. It's premise is that God has an incredibly lofty view of Christians, despite their low level of performance. This begs the question: how can the Lord be pleased with his children when they continually fail to live up to the high standards the Lord Himself set? McGee offers a four-point answer.

First, God loves us immensely.

God's children are sweeter and more beautiful than a Double Delight Rose

1 John 4:9-10 says, "In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." The starting point was how the Lord loved a humanity that did not love Him. This love became manifest (visible) when He gave Jesus as a propitiation for our sins. Jesus bore the punishment we deserved. God did this so that we might truly live. John 3:16 puts it similarly.

McGee's second point: those who believe in Christ are completely forgiven and fully pleasing to God. We are justified through faith in Christ's blood (Romans 3:24-25). This means the Lord declares us not guilty, and views us as righteous in His sight. This is a positional righteousness, not based on our good works. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." God sees us as 100% righteous because of what Jesus did on the cross on our behalf. Therefore, Christians are fully pleasing to the Lord. This is God's lofty view of us right now.

McGee's third point is that believers are accepted and approved by God. This is because of something called reconciliation. Colossians 1:21-22 says, "And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him." There is no longer a wall of hostility between us and God. We are reconciled to God and completely accepted by Him.

McGee's fourth and final point is that Christians are new creations, complete in Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation: the old has gone, the new has come." The new creation is also known as the new birth, being born again. The theological term is called regeneration. When a person believes in Christ, two things happen. First, the Holy Spirit literally enters the Christian's body and stays there. Second, the believer is given a new heart, which is complete and full. Regeneration is tied to Christ's resurrection. Romans 6:4 says, "...as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life." The new birth means we have actual power to change. It's a lie that says I am hopeless and can't overcome destructive strongholds. The Lord is my strength!

So there you go. This is how God views Christians. Our actions don't merit these blessings. But He loves us, has forgiven us, accepts us, and lives inside us. I call this good, good, good, and good.