Self-Esteem Or God Esteem?" - Lesson 3 - How To Focus On God's Image – Not Yours Series

QUESTION: If I am the problem, what is the solution?

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IV. FOCUSING ON GOD'S IMAGE – NOT YOURS

A. Self-Detachment.

1. Matt 16:24 "deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

i. Such self-denial is not the giving up of ice cream for Lent but is the actual denial of "self " itself. The real question is: "Why are you thinking about ourselves?"

2. 2 Corinthians 5:15 "And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again"

i. The call of the gospel is away from self and unto Jesus, because self is the problem and Jesus is the solution.

ii. C.S. Lewis wrote: "But there must be a real giving up of the self. You must throw it away "blindly" so to speak. Christ will indeed give you a real personality, but you must not go to Him for the sake of that. As long as your own personality is what you are bothering about, you are not going to Him at all. The very first step is to try to forget about the self altogether."

B. Death.

1. According to the theories of human behavior proposed by the noted Viennese psychiatrist Dr. Viktor Frankl, the father of logotherapy, "getting off self " is well within our capability. While Frankl's theories certainly do not offer any lasting solutions for human problems, he is one of the few theorists within humanistic psychology who accurately identifies one aspect of the problem. While most teach self-esteem and urge us to reflect positively upon ourselves, Viktor Frankl calls us to forget about ourselves. He teaches self-detachment.

2. Dr. Frankl uses the principle of "self-detachment" as the foundation for his logotherapy approach to helping people work through their personal problems. He urges those who are burdened by the meaninglessness of their daily lives to separate from themselves and become involved in other activities or develop relationships with other people. Frankl speaks of this action of getting away from self as a "coping mechanism built into the human psyche." His understanding and application of the concept of self-detachment is based upon his experiences in the death camps of Auschwitz where he was held captive during the Second World War. He noticed that those who maintained their mental and emotional stability in the midst of the horrible conditions of a concentration camp had detached themselves from themselves and had become engrossed in other activities and relationships. Frankl points out that the more one forgets oneself-- giving oneself to a cause or another person--the more human he is. He says, "The more one is immersed and absorbed in something or someone other than oneself, the more he really becomes human."

C. Understanding the Cross.

1. For the Christian, "getting off self"' is more than merely a "coping mechanism built into the human psyche." Nor is turning away from self a technique or gimmick to make us feel better. It is our only proper response to what God has accomplished in Jesus.

2. Every stance that a Christian occupies toward self and toward God is motivated by the Holy Spirit working through the revealed Word of God, producing a faith response. This is acting on the basis of what God has done! You cannot live the Christian life on the basis of humanistic psychology. While you might succeed in living a fairly decent life, it is not "the Christian life."

3. The Christian life is lived out on the basis and foundation of what God has done in Jesus. God's complete solution to the human dilemma caused by the historical fall of Adam is found in, and only in, another set of historical facts; namely, the death, resurrection, and ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is a vital truth! Since our corrupted human nature was determined by the historical fall of Adam, our new identity and life is determined by the historical redeeming work of Jesus.

4. The events that occurred in the city of Jerusalem nearly 2000 years ago were decisive events which affected all of humanity, whether they know it or not. In those events are all the benefits and provisions of God whereby we are set free from ourselves and granted a new life in Christ.

5. 1 Corinthians 15:45 "The first man Adam became a living being," the last Adam a life-giving Spirit."

a. God's purpose in sending Jesus into this world was to reverse the results of the fall of Adam whereby all of mankind was corrupted through sin. For this reason, Jesus is referred to in Scripture as the "last Adam."

6. Romans 5:18 "Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men."