God’s approval of us based on Jesus is like a Sumo suit. We can try anything in God, because even if we fall, we just bounce right back up. Failures don’t count anymore. All that counts is Jesus in us, and He never fails.
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As a believer in Jesus, you are approved by God right now, not based on your performance or merit, but based the merit and performance of Jesus. The book of Ephesians, KJV, says that we are “accepted in the beloved.”
What does that mean? The operative phrase is “in the beloved.” It could read, “you are accepted because you are in Jesus, God’s beloved Son.” The truth behind what Paul is saying is that because salvation places us in Jesus, God literally looks at us and sees only the perfection of His Son.
2 Corinthians 1:30 says that Jesus has become three things for us: righteousness, holiness, and redemption, which simply means your righteousness, holiness, and redemption (salvation) no longer depend on you, but on Jesus.
God sees you as perfect. God approves of you. Jesus took the test and gave you His grade…and by the way, He aced it. You are approved by God based on Jesus’ ability to gain God’s approval.
Why is that important? One of our greatest temptations in reading the scriptures is to disqualify ourselves based on regret for past failures, or fear of future ones. Guaranteed approval invalidates all regret and takes away all fear. God wants us free to live
In order to do what God intends for us to do, we need fearlessness, freedom, even recklessness at times, attributes seldom associated with people concerned with failure. Have you ever worn one of those giant inflatable Sumo suits? They’re tough to move around in, but the great thing is…it just doesn’t matter. Inside that suit, you’ll try anything because you’re not afraid of getting hurt…maybe stuck, but not hurt.
God’s approval of us based on Jesus is like a giant inflatable suit. We can try anything in God, because even if we fall, we just bounce right back up. Failures don’t count anymore. All that counts is Jesus in us, and He never fails.
Verses for meditation:
1 Corinthians 1:30
Ephesians 1:6-KJV
2 Corinthians 5:21
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