Through Heaven’s Eyes
Philippians 1:19-26
Introduction.
One of the great joys of being a young parent these days is sharing with your children the things you loved as a kid.
You get to experience them anew with someone, and share in that joy.
One of my favorite movies that came out when I was 14 is called The Prince of Egypt put out by Dreamworks.
As you might guess, this is a movie about Moses delivering the Israelites out of Egyptian bondage.
You might get uncomfortable about a movie put out by Hollywood that focuses on a Bible story, and you would be right to.
The history of Hollywood portraying Bible stories is a very mixed bag, but mostly it’s bad—even if it’s biblically accurate, the movie is often terrible.
But The Prince of Egypt is a brilliant adaptation and an amazing film—as good, if not better than, the 1956 movie The Ten Commandments.
Religious and non-religious people alike adore this movie.
While there are some biblical and historical inaccuracies of the movie (there often have to be to portray a story like this on the big screen, especially in only 1.5 hours), they do not detract from the biblical story overall.
It is a cartoon musical, and my favorite song in the movie is: “Through Heaven’s Eyes” [embedded video at the bottom].
There are a lot of great songs in it—you might have heard Seth singing some of them.
But this one is my favorite, just how much it uplifts and inspires.
The last song “When You Believe” has, to me, a kind of a popular Hollywood religious vibe, but this song is more impactful and biblical.
Moses had just killed the Egyptian and had fled to Midian where he meets Jethro.
He feels terrible because he was complicit in the slavery of the Israelites and for the murder he committed (Exo. 2:11-15).
For these reasons he urges Jethro not to honor him as their guest, but Jethro reminds him of the good things he’s done—among them saving his daughters from the shepherds (Exo. 2:16-20).
So he sings this song urging him to look at his life through heavens eyes.
He uses two illustrations from the outset: “A single thread in a tapestry though its color brightly shine can never see its purpose in the pattern of the grand design. And the stone that sits on the very top of the mountain’s mighty face doesn’t think it’s more important than the stones that form the base.”
Preview—so we will consider these ideas today.
What Is Our Worth?
How Can We Know Our Worth?
How Does This Impact Us?
Body.
What Is Our Worth?
Many of us go through lives thinking we are worthless.
And in a sense, we are because of our sin, just as Moses in the movie thought he was worthless because of his misdeeds.
As Solomon writes, “God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes” (Eccl. 7:29).
So does sin make us worthless?
I know my own sins and shortcomings haunt me—even though the Lord has forgiven them, they are difficult to forget.
They often replay in my mind, reminding me that I am a failure in so many ways.
And in that way, I often have the feeling of worthlessness—and I’m sure I’m not alone there.
But worthiness is on a scale like holiness:
Who is holy? None but the Lord (Rev. 15:4).
But so are we as a holy nation (1 Pet. 2:9).
How can both be true? Because we are holy (set apart) from the world, but our holiness cannot compare to God’s.
This is the same with righteousness and with worthiness.
Ultimately, because of our sin, we are worth less, but it doesn’t make us worthless (completely devoid of worth).
Regardless, God is able to use all kinds of people to do His will—we see this throughout Scripture (Jacob was a liar and a cheat; David was an adulterer and a murderer; Peter was a loudmouth and a coward).
So no matter what you think you’re worth, God can use you!
On the upside, such feelings of worthlessness can help keep us humble, because we might sway in the opposite direction.
We must not think of ourselves too highly.
While God can use you, never for a moment think that God relies on you.
God “is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think” (Eph. 3:20).
For a God that is capable of doing all that, what does He need you for?
Whatever happens, God’s will will be accomplished with or without you—He is in control!
Now, it may happen in a different way, but ultimately He’s got this.
So what’s the difference between doing something and doing nothing?
You see, while He doesn’t need us, He does want us.
If you do nothing, then nothing will be your reward.
Always remember what Jesus told us to say in Luke 17:10 – “So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.’”
While He does use us – as Paul finishes Eph. 3:20, “according to the power that works in us” – it is up to Him whom He chooses.
And even if He chooses us, “we are unprofitable servants.”
There’s a balancing act there between humility and feelings of worthlessness.
We are worth something to God.
Despite our sin, we can still do great things for Him!
But let us not ever think that we are so great and holy that He can only work through us.
Compared to Him our own righteousness and worthiness is the same as anyone else’s.
Our worth can only be gauged by His Son, Jesus Christ!
How Can We Know Our Worth?
As the song says, we must look at our life through heaven’s eyes.
This means we must change our perspective.
We are, by nature, very self-centered creatures, and it’s hard to look outside ourselves to see things another way.
But we see an infinitesimal part of this world, and are utterly incapable of seeing the bigger picture (i.e. through heaven’s eyes).
What we see is subjective, our own personal experience.
What this song is urging is for us to see things from an objective perspective.
And I can’t think of a more biblical perspective than that! Objective truth exists!
We have no clue what ripple effects our actions might have down the line, for better or for worse.
So really, we can’t look at our lives through heaven’s eyes, but we can look at our life in its totality.
Have we done some bad things? Sure, we have all sinned!
Have we done some good things? Yes, we have.
It’s easy to downplay them, but we must look at the complete picture of our lives to see our worth in the sense that this song means.
One thing we know for certain is that Christ died for you and me.
Paul writes about himself that he is the worst of sinners because he persecuted the church of God (1 Tim. 1:15).
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.
Now, I don’t know about you, but I haven’t dragged Christians out of their homes to be scourged and killed.
If Jesus thought Paul was worth giving His life for, then surely you are, too.
But it’s because of our own worthlessness and inability to save ourselves that Jesus died for us.
He loved us so much that He was willing to do that!
Every life, every soul is important to Him, was worth going to the cross and experiencing such a cruel death.
He died in my place, which makes me worthy—not that I earned it, but because of what He did for me.
While I might feel worthless from time to time, Jesus never did think of me that way.
You, by the nature of being human, have worth because of what Jesus did on the cross for you and all mankind! (1 John 2:2).
How Does This Impact Us?
It is easy to say, “That’s nice,” and move on.
After all, it would be easier if, given Paul’s reminder that “to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21), to wish for death so we might be in heaven with the Lord.
But that implies that we are useless here on this earth, that we are worthless, that we have nothing more to contribute to the people who remain.
But what does Paul say after he says that in Phil. 1:21?
He continues living in the flesh to work hard and produce more fruit! (1:22).
It’s difficult to be here knowing what awaits us, but there’s still more work to do! (1:23-24).
That suggests that while you’re here on this earth, you are worth something to the Lord!
As my father would always say, “Here son, make yourself useful.”
Let us make ourselves useful to our Lord and to others here on this side of eternity!
When I was talking it over with my wife about becoming a preacher, I had delayed for so long because I didn’t think I was good enough.
I had sinned, and though that it would hinder me in whatever work I was in, even though I had repented.
But Victoria told me, “I think you are in a better position to help others now.”
And so I did, and I am grateful for those words.
God can still use the sinner, just as He used Moses to do His great works.
The second verse of the song has two more great illustrations for this point.
“A lake of gold in the desert sand is less than a cool, fresh spring.”
“And to one lost sheep, a shepherd boy is greater than the richest king.”
By most measures, all that gold is worth a lot!
But what use is it when you’re dying of thirst in the desert?
This is the same for the most wealthy of kings, considered to be “noble.”
But when that lost sheep sees his shepherd, he is far more excited than if he saw some random person who happens to be among the nobility.
It means he is found and will be going home.
And that’s where our worth lies.
Because God loved us so much that He sent His Son to die for us, it means we are worth it!
And because of His love for us, we should show that love to others by working and producing fruit (John 13:34; 1 John 3:16-18).
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.”
Conclusion.
“So how do you judge what a man is worth …”
“… by what he builds or buys?”
As the song says, “You can never see with your eyes on earth … Look at your life through Heaven’s eyes.”
And as we’ve discussed here today as shown through Scriptures, our worth is given to us by God who created us and by Christ because He died for us.
And because of His ultimate sacrifice, we are here on this earth to do good for others, regardless of whatever evils we have committed in the past.
“We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works” (Eph. 2:10).
No matter what you look like or what you have, you can help others in some way, and make yourself useful.
Isn’t that wonderful? We are not useless or worthless to God!
But there’s something we must do first to make our efforts fruitful.
Because of what He has done for us, what should we do for Him?
Become a Christian—obey Him to become one.
And live faithfully.
Then do all that we can to live every moment making ourselves useful to our Lord and to those around us.