God’s View vs. Man’s View
🗣️ Speaker: Pastor Derrel Strickland
In his sermon, Pastor Strickland emphasizes the importance of viewing life from God's perspective rather than solely from a human viewpoint, using biblical examples like Peter and David to illustrate how divine perspective can transform our understanding and reactions to life's challenges. He encourages believers to adopt this heavenly viewpoint to see beyond earthly fears and understand God's broader plan for our lives.
The core takeaway from Pastor Strickland's sermon is that adopting God's perspective over human viewpoints not only deepens our faith but also transforms how we respond to life's challenges and opportunities, urging us to see ourselves and our circumstances through the lens of divine purpose and potential rather than earthly limitations and fears.
Additional Info
The info below was generated by an AI from the audio recording of the sermon.
Introduction: Embracing a Divine Perspective
In our journey through life, we often encounter situations that challenge our understanding and reactions. The biblical stories of Peter and Jesus, as well as other scriptural examples, teach us about the importance of adopting God’s perspective over our human viewpoints. By shifting our focus from earthly concerns to divine insights, we can transform our approach to life's challenges.
The Call to Divine Perspective
The interaction between Jesus and Peter in Matthew 16 highlights a fundamental discord between human fears and divine directives. When Peter reacts out of fear to Jesus' prediction of His sufferings in Jerusalem, Jesus rebukes him, urging him to adopt a heavenly perspective. This moment underscores the necessity of aligning our thoughts with God’s purposes rather than our human inclinations.
Examples of Godly Vision in Scripture
David facing Goliath and Samuel’s selection of Israel's king from among Jesse's sons are pivotal stories that illustrate the value of seeing beyond the obvious. David’s confidence in facing Goliath sprang from his godly perspective, seeing a victory where others saw defeat. Similarly, Samuel learns to look beyond external appearances when anointing David, understanding that God values the heart over physical stature.
The Impact of Perspective on Our Daily Lives
Our perspective profoundly affects our daily reactions and decisions. Consider the story of a young boy navigating his fear in a graveyard at night. His initial despair transforms into determination when he encounters another person in the same predicament. This shift in perspective—from fear to action—mirrors the potential we have to change our responses when we view our circumstances through a godly lens.
Practical Ways to Cultivate a Godly Perspective
Developing a perspective that aligns with God’s view involves engaging deeply with Scripture, participating actively in community worship, and reflecting prayerfully on our life experiences. These practices help us gradually replace our natural human viewpoints with insights informed by our faith, leading to a more empowered and purposeful life.
Conclusion: The Transformative Power of God’s Perspective
Adopting God’s perspective allows us to see beyond the limitations and fears that often govern our human experience. By embracing a divine viewpoint, we open ourselves to a broader understanding of our purpose and potential, which can lead to a more fulfilling and impactful existence. This shift not only benefits us personally but also enhances our ability to contribute positively to those around us.
Call to Action: Implementing Change
Reflect on areas in your life where a shift towards God’s perspective could make a significant difference. Consider the changes you might implement to align more closely with divine insights, and share your journey with others to encourage a collective shift towards a more faith-filled community.
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Use the questions listed below as a launching point to discuss the sermon points together as a family. These are great for dinner table discussions and small groups.
How does seeing life through God’s perspective change our reaction to challenges or failures?
In what ways can we start practicing viewing others as God sees them, especially those we find difficult to love?
What does it mean to live by faith, not sight, in practical, everyday terms?
How can remembering God’s view of us impact our self-esteem and interactions with others?
What are some steps we can take to cultivate a heavenly perspective in our family, workplace, or community?
Can you remember a time when adopting God's perspective helped you overcome a personal struggle?
How does the story of Peter's rebuke by Jesus illustrate the conflict between God's plans and our understanding?
What role does prayer play in aligning our perspective with God's?
How does the concept of potential, as seen with David, challenge the world’s standards of value and success?
In what ways does adopting God’s perspective empower us to live out our calling?
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Connecting our kids to what we as adults are learning and hearing on Sundays is vital to passing on our faith to the next generation. Use the summary below as a great way to talk about the message we heard with your kids.
Pastor Derrel talked about how sometimes we look at things one way, but God looks at them in a totally different, special way. Like when Peter didn’t want Jesus to go to a dangerous place, but Jesus knew it was part of a bigger plan. It’s like if you’re scared of the dark, but you remember your room during the day and know it’s safe. God wants us to remember that even when things seem scary or impossible, He has a plan, and everything is under control. Just like when David wasn’t afraid of the giant because he knew God was with him. So, we should try to see things the way God does, not just the way we do.
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Understanding the lordship of Jesus in the context of the early church involves appreciating the radical nature of this claim in a polytheistic world. In the Roman Empire, confessing Jesus as Lord was subversive, as Caesar was considered lord. Early Christians, by proclaiming Jesus as Lord, were declaring their ultimate allegiance was to Him above any earthly authority. This confession could lead to persecution, as it was a direct challenge to the imperial cult. Therefore, Peter's bold proclamation and the early church's insistence on Jesus' lordship was not just a theological stance but a deeply countercultural and risky declaration of faith.
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Recently, while reading my devotion, I was reading a passage of scripture, a very familiar story. Matthew, chapter 16, verse 21, where it says, from that time, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and the chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside.
Can you imagine taking Jesus aside? Peter was a bold fella. I just cannot imagine saying, hey, Jesus, come. I need to tell you something.
We don't want the rest of these people here, but you don't need to go to Jerusalem because they gonna kill you. That's what he said. He says, far be it from me, Lord.
This shall never happen to you. But Jesus turned and said to Peter, get behind me, Satan. You are a hindrance to me, for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.
I was reading that in the new living translation, and this is what that verse said in the new living translation. Jesus turned to Peter and said, get away from me, Satan. You are a dangerous trap for me.
You are seeing things merely from a human point of view and not from God's. That thought resonated with me from several angles. God's view, man's view, the worldview, heaven's view, man's perspective.
God's perspective. How many knows that that's a constant thing throughout our lives? God's view on one side, man's on another. Peter wasn't doing anything wrong.
He just wasn't seeing things from God's perspective. See perspective. Now, that thought has resonated with me for a while, but we even have a saying that there are two types of people.
What are they? One that sees a glass half full and one sees it half empty. That's all from a perspective. We all see things from a different perspective.
And God wants us to see things. And he was trying to direct Peter. And I believe eventually I can relate to Peter.
We're slow learners. Hey. Peter and I are slow learners.
But I think he finally got it. I think he finally got it. Listen.
That God's view and God's perspective and man's perspective are two different things. Most of you have heard this story with this little boy that played a little bit too late. One day it was getting dark, and he had to get home before dark because that was what his mama told him to do.
And so in order to do that, he had to take a shortcut through the cemetery. And as he ran through the cemetery, he fell into an open grave. And he tried his best to get out, but he couldn't get out.
And then he just sat down, and he kind of relaxed. I said, kind of because, see, he knew his mama would come find him. He knew his mama would come looking for him.
But he also knew what was going to happen after she found him. So he sit down, waiting, and it wasn't too long. It wasn't his mom that he heard coming.
It was the town drunk. And he was singing and carrying on and doing all kinds of things, you know, just having a jolly good time. And he fell into the other end of the grave, and he did his very, very best to get out, but he couldn't until the little boy said, you can't get out either.
But he did. See, all you need is a little motivation sometimes a different perspective. Because before the little boy spoke, he said, hey, I'm in a hole.
But whenever a voice from that hole spoke to him, he decided he looked at things from a different perspective. See, it's all about perspective. Now back to that passage.
I think most of us here understand that Jesus was on assignment. Jesus was on assignment, and he knew that that assignment was about over, and he was seeing things totally from a different perspective than Peter was saying it. He said, I'm going up there to finish my assignment.
And Peter says he's going up there to die. That's two different perspectives. That's totally two different perspectives, because Peter was looking at from the human perspective, the earthly perspective.
Was Peter wrong and striving to protect Jesus? Certainly not. But he was viewing it from a different perspective. Samuel gives us another great example in Samuel, chapter 16.
It tells us this in verse six. When they came speaking of Samuel coming to anoint a king, he looked on Eliab and thought, surely he is the lord's anointed before him. See, he was the oldest brother, and undoubtedly he was a real handsome man.
He was a big guy. He was a strong, manly man. And he said, hey, this is the one.
But the Lord said to Samuel, do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature or on, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees. Man looks on the outward appearance.
But the Lord looks on the heart. See, the only thing we can see is the outward appearance. I said the only thing we can see is the outward appearance.
And we can get a different perspective. I mean, I'm gonna tell you, we all know that there's some beautiful, beautiful people if you look at them just from the outward appearance. But when you get to know them a little bit better, they're not near as beautiful.
And then the other side, there's some that's not all that handsome and all that good looking. But, man, when you get to know them, you realize that's seeing them from a different perspective. See, this was the same Eliab that when David come to bring him cheese, he made fun of him.
Now, he was probably a little bit ticked at him. I mean, I should have been king. I'm the best looking.
I'm the biggest, I'm the oldest, I'm the strongest. But that's not how God saw him. He saw this little runny kid.
The Bible calls him Rudy, red faced, seemingly nothing going for him. But see, God saw him from a different perspective. God saw him from a different perspective.
Even when they were talking about Goliath. See, Eliab saw Goliath along with all the other people. He is so big, we can't win.
He's so big, we can't win. David looked at it from a godly perspective. He's so big, I can't miss him.
Huh? Same thing. One big guy. Oh, we're fearful.
Hey, if I can hit a little target like that, I can sure hit him in the forehead. He's so big, I can't miss. All because of perspective.
Well, second corinthians, chapter five tells us something. Verse 14, for the love of Christ, controls us. Now, I could camp right there on that verse and finish out this whole thing.
Because that perspective is a perspective that we need to have. For the love of God, controls us. Because we have concluded this, that one has died for all, and therefore all have died, and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves.
They might no longer live for themselves, but for him who raised for their sake died and was raised. From now on, therefore, reregard, no one according to the flesh, even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone, anyone, anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.
The old has passed away because the new has come. Now, the NIV says in that, verse 16 says this. So from now on, we regard no one from the worldly point of view.
The new living testament says this. So we have stopped evaluating ourselves by what the world thinks about them. Folks, we could get rid of a lot of misery and heartache if we'd quit trying to judge ourselves with the worldly standards.
I said if we would quit trying to see ourselves from the worldly standards. Because I'm gonna tell you, there's, generally speaking, going to be somebody better than you, bigger than you, stronger than you. There's going to be an eliab and you're going to be a David.
But when we begin to see ourselves through God's eyes, when we begin to see a heavenly perspective, a godly perspective, not a worldly perspective, not a manly perspective, but not an earthly perspective, but a godly perspective, we realize that we are valuable and God loves us. Now, most of you know, if you've been around me much, know that I have no artistic ability. If you will loan me a quarter and give me a ruler, I can draw a decent stick.
Man, I gotta have the quarter to make the head. I have no artistic ability, but I am told that people with artistic ability sees the finished product before they begin. Now, I can't understand that because, like I said, might not stick figures as far as I can go.
But, Bill, they see a finished product. That's a different perspective. See, when I look at a chunk of wood, I see a chunk of wood.
A carver may look at it and say, man, that would make a beautiful duck or cardinal or any other thing that they have artistic ability and they see it before it's ever made. I can't imagine that perspective. I look at it, say, a chunk of wood, but when I think about any type of artist, whether it be a painter, a sculptor, a musician, any of them, any of them, I realize that none of them can stack up with the masterpiece of God.
He is the greatest artist. And you know what his greatest creation is? Us. Now, if it had been me, I'd have done better, but it's not me.
That heavenly perspective said that God created you and I, all mankind, after his image, and he sees us as a finished product. I said, he sees us with all our potential. Now, I've done just enough coaching to know very, very, very few people live up to their total potential.
But God sees the potential in you. Now, the world says not that one. The world says there's no potential because of this, because of that.
But if we would stop evaluating ourselves by what the world thinks and start getting God's perspective, then we would accomplish so much more. God sees us from a different perspective than anyone else, he sees a masterpiece. Ephesians, chapter two gives some insight.
Ephesians, chapter two, verse one through ten. And you were dead in trespasses and sins. And once, you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air.
The spirit is not working. The sons of disobedience. See, that's the two perspectives.
You got Satan's perspective and God's perspective. And if we're not governed by God, guess who we're governed by? And that's an ugly picture. But when we can see ourselves through God's perspective, that we're no longer under his reign, we're no longer under his jurisdiction, but we're under the reign of the Lord Jesus Christ.
That changes our perspective, that changes our future, that changes our present, among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind and were by nature. See, that's the other side. By nature, children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
But God. Let me say that again. I like saying that.
But God being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us. Yes, he loved us according to Romans, even while we were yet rotten. See, I don't remember that verse.
He calls it sinners, but we were rotten even while we were without God as sinner. He gave his life for us. Even before he gave his life, he told Peter, he said, I gotta go to Jerusalem to die.
And the human perspective said, no, you can't do that. We want you here with us. We want you to keep loving on us.
We want you to keep caring for us. But Jesus said, I'm looking at it from a different perspective. I've got to go give my life, even while people are still sinners, made us alive together in Christ.
By grace you have been saved. And raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith.
And this is not your own doing. Did you catch that? It's not your own doing. It is the gift of God, not a result of the works, so that no one can boast, for we are what his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works.
An amazing thing. When he sees you, he sees your potential to be totally unique because he's got a totally specific assignment for you. That's the way the perspective that God sees you not as a failure, but he was made for that purpose.
I've seen a few of those that I just know. I think of David, how in the forest, David how was made for that job. And I'm glad it was him, not me.
He grew up in the forest, he grew up there. He's not afraid of that there. God made him for that.
Now, he didn't make him good looking, but he made him for that job. Excuse me, Dave, he might watch this once, but where his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Now let me ask, is the right perspective important? Well, it was important enough that when Jesus was teaching the disciples to pray, he said this, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as what? As it is in heaven.
And when we see things from a godly perspective, it changes our prayer life. It changes our prayer life, because when we see it from a godly perspective, we begin to pray, not my will, but your will be done. Because God, I've made a mess of it by myself.
Can you help me straighten it out? And he said, you bet it, buddy, I'm with you. We can handle this because I made you to be you. Thank you, Lord.
Now I'm gonna tell you what. Yes, thank you, Gator. I'm just being comment.
I'm glad that there's not two gators or two darryls. I'm glad. Yeah, his wife said, me too.
And I didn't hear my wife, but she probably echoed that. Me too, because we're unique. You got that right.
We're unique. But you know what God says? He's one of my masterpieces. He's one of my masterpieces.
I don't even have this written down, but there's one scripture in Jude, just one verse near the end of it, it talks. And Jude was Jesus earthly brother. And when he brought it says that he's going to present you and I to God and say, this is one of ours and he's going to do it with pride.
Why? Because you're unique. He looks at you from a different perspective. Now, we understand there's some people that see a different perspective of you, but not God.
He says, you're special. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done. See, when Jesus was teaching about what was needed for eternal life, remember the rich young ruler? And they asked him, what's the need for eternal life? And he shared a great truth.
And he told him simply believing. But then he said this, what is impossible from the world's perspective, what is impossible from the world's perspective or with man is possible with God because they look at a, from a different perspective perspective. Worldly thinking creates fear.
Godly thinking produces faith. And if you're living fearful, you know what I can tell you? You've got the wrong perspective. You're looking at it from the world's view, man's view.
Why did Jesus accuse Peter of being an agent for the devil? Because he was promoting fear, not faith. Now, I have to be careful how I say this, but there's a lot of godly people in the world today, or professing godly people that are producing more fear than they are faith. And I believe we need to see it from a different perspective that our God says.
When we're seeing it from God's perspective, it's going to produce faith, not fear. I know people. We need to face the facts.
We need to speak the truth. And I want to tell you there's some rotten things going on in this world. Will you agree with me on that? That's from the human perspective.
But God's perspective said it stinks. But I can tell you something else. God wants us to be agents of faith, not agents of fear.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done. Do you think there's fear in heaven? Now, I know this is going to shock you, I know this is going to shock you. But I've been waiting for the last several weeks for God to call me and ask me how I can help him.
I have not received that phone call. I hope you understand I'm being facetious. God doesn't need us.
We need him. And the reality is, nothing that's going on is upsetting God. It's causing him frustration.
It's causing him sadness and sorrow. But he knows, because he sees it from another perspective. He knows that we win.
And guess what? Chances are between now and November, you're going to be hearing all kind of stories about all kind of things. But God is not shaking in his boots. God's not fearful, and he's looking at it from a different perspective.
And maybe if we would look at it from a perspective. Okay, God, how are you wanting to change us so that we can change the world? That's not even in my notes. That's free.
I won't even charge you for that. Let's look at first Corinthians. First Corinthians.
You got to hurry. First Corinthians, chapter two, verse one. I'm going to begin reading verse six simply for lack of time, where it says, yet among the mature, we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or the rulers of this age, those are doomed to pass.
That's talking about the world. All the wisdom of this world, the world system as we know it, it's gonna pass. But we impart a secret and a hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for his glory.
None of the rulers of this age understood this, for they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as is written, what no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor heart of man, imagine what God has prepared for those who love him. These things hath God revealed to us through his spirit.
For the spirit searches everything, even the gifts of God. Drop down to verse 14. The natural person that means from the human perspective, does not accept the things of the spirit of God, for they are folly to him and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
Can I just mention to you, those of you that are believers, that are strong believers, and you're trying to convince the ungodly and teach them and show them from your perspective. They're blind to that perspective. They cannot understand that perspective because they're seeing it from carnal and human eyes, not godly eyes.
Now am I saying that to rebuke them? No, because we were all like that before God opened our eyes. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as destructive.
But we have the mind of Christ. Let me just ask this. Do you think the mind of Christ lives in fear? Does it live in doubt? No.
And I know this is going to offend you because this is your favorite topic. Does he live in worry? And as I've already said, I've yet to get a phone call from God. Ask him for my help.
Why? Because different perspectives now. I'm striving to have the mind of Christ. Now I said I'm striving because when we get saved, we have the mind of Christ and we begin the sanctification process.
But I've looked around and I ain't seen any totally sanctified here. And I hope I don't see them anymore soon because that means they're already dead. See, we're not going to get above sin.
And so we have to fight against the worldly perception. We have to fight against those things. So how do we do that? I'm striving to have the mind of Christ.
I'm trying to resist the devil. But in order for me to resist the devil, I've got to do something else. And, man, that's hard, because you know what you have to do before you can resist the devil? Submit to God.
What does that mean? That means, God. I don't want no beans about what I'm doing. I need your perspective.
I need your guidance. I need your power. Because I know as a man, I cannot understand totally the mind of Christ.
I'm getting there. I'm learning more. I know more today than I did 20 years ago, but I still don't have the total mind of Christ.
If I did, I would be perfect. But I'm still going on toward God. But until I have to fight the battle between those two perspectives, God's perspective and man's perspective, even the way we and the world perceives death is important.
You know, the ungodly say, it's so bad, it's all over. And the godly perspective says, it's just beginning. Huh? It's just beginning.
And then the ungodly says, the body has been entombed, but in Christ, we've been set free, all because of perspective. I love the words of a song by Craig Edwards says, if you only knew. Now, we've had to lay some people to rest recently, and I can tell you I don't enjoy doing that.
But I do enjoy doing that if they're godly, because, see, from my perspective, they're more alive than you and I are. That's what Billy Graham told them before he died. Billy Graham says, people come to my funeral.
I don't want them mourning because I'm more alive than they are. And from God's perspective. And I totally understand this people.
I've lost a lot of almost all my family, my siblings. I've only got one left out of seven, my parents. So I know what grieving is.
But the most difficult part of being a pastor is to visit a godly saint. Now, that part's not hard, the visiting a godly saint, because I leave more encouraged than I went and encouraged them. But when they say, pastor, would you please pray that God would take me on home because I'm ready to go.
And as soon as I leave, their family calls me, said, pastor, would you pray that God would heal mama? That's two perspectives. I understand it, but the Bible says to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. And so that's the perspective.
So what perspective. This song kind of sums it up. It says, have you prayed for a loving one? Struggling hard with pain you ask the Lord for healing.
But that healing never came. And in spite of all your efforts, the good Lord called them home. It's hard to let go when you're trying to hold on.
Now you're down in the valley looking up to the sky. You're praying. Lord, you know what's best.
But I don't understand why. If you could hear your loved one speaking now to you, they'd say you wouldn't be grieving. If you only knew.
To be absent from the body is present with the Lord. I'm in the arms of Jesus now. I'm not suffering anymore.
Hand in hand, we'll stroll down heaven's avenue. And we're having a big celebration. If you only knew.
If you only knew. I'm just going home. Your prayers have been answered.
My sickness is gone. Things look much better from heaven's view. The sun's always shining and we're having a time.
If you only knew. Whoa. The different perspective I could tell you some stories, but I don't have time.
Just want to close and say, well, how do we look at it from a different perspective? How can we see it from God's point of view? David, who the Bible says, or God, called a man after his own heart. He wrote a lot of the psalms, and he wrote psalm 139. That whole psalm is worth reading, but let me just read the first couple of verses.
O Lord, you have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up, you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways.
Now, what's he saying in old. In old Oxford English? What he's saying in Oxford English is, God, you know me better than I know myself. You know all my mess ups, all my failures.
You have searched me and you know me. It's kind of interesting that he says, you have searched me. At the beginning of the chapter, in the closing last two verses, he invites him to search him.
And that's how I'd like to close this today. That we say, God, search me. Search me, o God, know my heart.
Try me and know my thoughts and see if there be any grievous way in me and lead me in the way everlasting, that we would have the perception that we have the same view, that we have the same perspective. God and I can assure you that if we view things from God's perspective, I'm not going to say we won't have any worries, but we won't be worried. There's a difference.
I said, I'm not going to say we won't have worries. I'm going to say we won't be worried because we see it from a different perspective. Let's pray.
Holy Father, I'm so thankful that you look at every one of us and you do not see us what we were, but you see us where we are now. And you see the future. And you see.
Have a great, great perspective. You see treasures, you see masterpieces. And, God, many of us are like me.
We feel like we fail so often, but yet you still love us. You still care for us. And so, Father, I ask you in the next few moments and in the days ahead, God, that you would help us to see things from your perspective, from your viewpoint, that some of those people that we see, that they're so unlovable, they're so despicable, that we would see them with the eyes of the Lord and say, they need Jesus love, they need his power, they need his forgiveness, they need his hand, their life.
So, Father, we ask you to do this in the next few moments of this service. God, if there are those here today that do not know Jesus, that they would begin the journey, that they would begin the journey and just ask you to have your way in their life, you already know it better than they know themselves. So just minister to them right now in Jesus name.
In Jesus name. We're gonna ask the worship team to lead us in some worship. And if you're here and you need prayer, whether it be for salvation or something else, feel free to come forward.
We'd be glad to pray with you. And I want us to see things from God's perspective, not our perspective, not from Fox News or CNN News. We want to see it from God's perspective.
