God’s opinion

Sermon by Dumisani Masango, Summary by Chrismè Visagie

We all have opinions. We have opinions about what we want to eat, about what we want to wear, about what others should wear. We have opinions about politics, about church and about the teachers at our children’s schools. We have opinions about the family that moved in next door and about the girl that was at church last Sunday who smoked a cigarette after the service. And then we have opinions about ourselves. But how often do we still ask God what his opinion is?

Our opinions are always flawed. We never have the full picture. There is just no way we can know everything about every situation – only God can. We look at outward appearances and actions and make decisions about what we see, but that is not the way God does things.

In 1 Samuel 16 we read the story of how Samuel went to the house of Jesse to anoint the new king. He looked through all Jesse’s sons, wondering whom the Lord has chosen as the new king.

1 Sam 16:6-7 So it was, when they came, that he looked at Eliab and said, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before Him!” But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

The Lord does not see as man sees. This is important to remember when we are tempted to judge other people, but it is just as important to remember when we go through difficult times. When the pressures of the world are threatening to overwhelm us, when we don’t know the answer to a problem, when people bombard us with their advice and opinions – take a step back and remember to ask God what his opinion is.

In Isaiah 26 verses 3 and 4 we read: You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You. Trust in the Lord forever, For in YAH, the Lord, is everlasting strength.

In any situation, focus on God and his opinion about the matter and you will experience peace.

In Luke 15 the scribes and Pharisees were baffled that Jesus would spend his time with sinners. They did not understand his opinion about people. So Jesus told them 3 parables.

1. The parable of the lost sheep: v 4-7 “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.
2. The parable of the lost coin: v8-10 “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!’ Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
3. The parable of the prodigal son. We all know the story about the rebellious son who demanded and then spent his whole inheritance. Yet what was the father’s reaction when the son returned home? “And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ “But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry.

The sheep went missing because of his nature, the coin went missing due to circumstances, the son went off on his own due to his choices. No matter what the reason, it does not change God’s opinion about you!

Abraham was called a friend of God – yet he was not without fault. Twice he lied about Sarah, telling first the Pharoh and then Abimelech that she is his sister and not his wife.(Gen 12 and 20) and willingly gave Sarah to them! This did not change God’s opinion about Abraham.

David was called a man after God’s own heart – yet he was not without fault. He committed adultery and then plotted and murdered the woman’s husband! Yes, there were consequences, but God still loved David and blessed him. It did not change God’s opinion about Abraham.

Saul hated Christians, persecuted them, threw them in jail and stoned them. Yet God chose him to proclaim the gospel to most of the gentile world! What is even more amazing is that God chose him even before he was born and though he chose against God’s plans for him, it did not change God’s opinion of him. And it did not change his destiny.

Gal 1:13-16 For you have heard of my former conduct in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it. And I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my own nation, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers. But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles…

Paul was a murderer and a zealot, yet it did not change God’s opinion of him! Paul call himself the worst sinner, yet God counted him faithful.

1 Tim 1: 12-15 And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. 

The grace of our Lord is exceedingly abundant! If he could forgive Paul, the chief sinner, there is absolutely no reason he can’t (or won’t) forgive anyone else.

God has chosen you, you can’t be unchosen!

John 15:16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. 

1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

Eph 1:3-6 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.

You are blessed, you are chosen, you stand holy and without blame before God, as a child of God, because of what Christ did on the cross for all of us. Can you choose to accept it, believe it and live it?