Chapter 8

Jesus came to do more than reveal God to us; he also came to do the work of God, which consists of the redemption of the world. That is the theme of this chapter. As John Newton writes in his great hymn Amazing Grace, “I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see.” God finds lost people; God restores sight to the blind. God works redemption. What do these texts reveal about God? God’s work of redemption? Its impact on people?

Isaiah 52:13-53:12; Romans 5:1-11; I Corinthians 1:18-31; Philippians 3:4-11; II Corinthians 5:16-22; Ephesians 2:1-10

We talk to ourselves about ourselves all the time, whether we think about it consciously or not. We carry on an internal conversation with ourselves about the world and our place in it. Most of us don’t like what we see. But Jesus says to us, “I have made you a new creation! You belong to me. I delight in you. I forgive you. I love you.” Which often leads to conflict between how God sees us as new and how we see ourselves. Spend the next two weeks praying II Corinthians 5:16-17 into your life. Confess it every morning and evening. Pray it every morning and evening. Let it speak to you. The Christian faith is not about how you feel and think about yourself. It is not a self-help and self-esteem religion. The Christian faith is about how God feels and thinks about you. It is about what God has done for you. It is about what God has made you through Christ. It is a God-help and God-esteem religion. Your view of self will change by looking first to God, not to self. When you view yourself in a mirror, it is not what you see that matters. It is what God sees, knows and loves. Our view of self should reflect God’s view of us. Also, Google Michelangelo’s “Prisoners” and gaze at them for a while. What do you see? What do you learn?

What did you learn about redemption in the chapter, the Bible study, and the spiritual exercise? How does your view of self and God’s view of you line up?

II Corinthians 5:16-17