Stand Before the Lord
Are we worthy to stand before the Lord? The answer is, it all depends—not on us, but on God. Left to ourselves, we fall short.
Our shortcomings separate us from God. Our sins prohibit us from standing before a perfect and righteous King.
Not Worthy
In the parable of the lost son, Jesus talks about two brothers (Luke 15:11-32). The younger disrespects his father, demands his inheritance while Dad is still alive, and leaves home. He squanders his inheritance in wild living and is hungry.
Working in a despicable job, he realizes he should return home—but not as a son, because he is no longer worthy (Luke 15:19). Instead, he plans to ask his father for a job, because Dad’s workers all have enough to eat.
Or consider the centurion, whose valued servant is about to die (Luke 7:1-10). The centurion sends word to Jesus, asking him to heal the servant.
Yet before Jesus arrives, the centurion sends word to not come, for he considers himself unworthy to even approach Jesus; instead, he asks Jesus to just say the word (Luke 7:7). Jesus does, healing the servant from a distance.
Then there’s John the Baptist. Though he pointed many people to Jesus, he considers himself unworthy to stoop to unlace Jesus’s sandals (Mark 1:7) or to even carry them (Matthew 3:11).
Yet Jesus later proclaims John as the greatest person on the earth (Luke 7:28).
Worthy Through Jesus
The lost son felt he was unworthy to return home, but his father accepted him anyway. The father in this story represents Father God, who loves us unconditionally. He offers us mercy and grace, which we receive through Jesus.
The centurion felt he was unworthy to come before the Lord, but Jesus answered his request anyway. Last, the faithful and righteous John felt he was unworthy to even unlace or carry Jesus’s shoes, but the Savior celebrated him.
In each instance, Jesus made the difference.
When we follow Jesus and become his disciple, he makes us worthy to stand before our Heavenly Father. He is so wonderfully amazing.
All we need to do is say yes to Jesus (Romans 10:9). We can’t earn our salvation. It’s a gift from God, which we receive in faith (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Live in a Worthy Manner
Through Jesus, we’re instantly made worthy from a spiritual standpoint. Humanly, however, we still have a way to go. But that’s not how God sees us. Because of Jesus, he sees us as worthy already.
But that doesn’t mean we should go through life living however we want.
Paul urges us to live a life worthy of our calling through Jesus (Ephesians 4:1 and 1 Thessalonians 2:11-12). He prays that it will be so (2 Thessalonians 1:11).
This will please God in every way (Colossians 1:10-12). Our conduct will be worthy of Jesus’s great gift of salvation (Philippians 1:27 and 2 Thessalonians 1:5).
Paul’s imperative instruction to live a life worthy isn’t to earn our salvation; we already have it. And it’s not to maintain our salvation either, for we can’t lose what we’ve already been given.
Instead, we strive to live a life worthy in response to Jesus for giving us the greatest gift of all.
Thank you, Jesus, for saving us and making us worthy to stand before our Heavenly Father.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront a status quo faith and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.
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