"A human creature revolting against its creator is like the scent of a flower trying to destroy the flower-it is revolting against the very source of its power, including the power to revolt."
- CS Lewis

"God is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. Our true identity is found in accepting our status as creatures of this infinite Creator God and in rooting our sense of identity in his. Our identity is an identity derived...

Redemption is necessary because people have sinned and true moral guilt stands between us and God. This guilt does not mean that we are worthless, but it does mean that we are unworthy of acceptance by God or any blessing from God in any form. In short, we deserve judgment...
The good news is that God treats the believer not as our sin deserves, but as God's love through Christ requires. The Christian is one who knows that he or she deserves God's condemnation. the Christian also knows that he or she has received and will receive blessing, not because of anything he or she has achieved, but by God's mercy alone, accepted by faith...

To illustrate, I will tell you a parable. There was once an orphan roaming the streets, hungry and penniless, He stole a car and after a brief drive lost control and crashed into a tree. The police quickly found him and brought him to court where he discovered that the car he had stolen and wrecked had been the judge's car. There was no question of covering up his guilt; so he was told that he had to pay a stiff fine along with damages or else go to jail. At this point a strange thing happened. The judge came down off the bench and said to the boy, 'Since you have no money, you will have to go to jail, but I will offer you an alternative. My son is willing to pay the fine for you out of his own pocket. he will do this for you under two conditions. First, you must simply plead guilty to what you have done and accept his payment on your behalf as a free gift; second, you must let me adopt you into my family so that I would be your father and he would be your brother. This would not require you to be a perfect son, but to accept your status in my family and to let me help you try to lead a better life.'

Jesus came into the world as the Son of God. His purpose was not to condemn us; nor did he leave us with just his teaching and example, neither of which we can live up to. His purpose was rather to pay the debt that our sin incurs, to bear it on his own back and be destroyed by it voluntarily rather than letting it destroy us. Each person faces the choice of the orphan. Will he take his own punishment on himself by denying his guilt, the reality of the jail, the existence of the judge, the love of the son, or in any other way rejecting the gift of God? Or will he accept the free gift of forgiveness and adoption? This puts in a nutshell the choice we have through the offer of good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ...

One of the most important things to understand is that this salvation cannot be earned, merited, deserved, or paid for. It was purchased at the high price of the death of the eternal Son of God, but it is offered to us absolutely free. If we are to accept it at all we must accept it on these terms, not with any self-righteous pretensions to have earned a part of it. Faith is the step of accepting the free gift of salvation for yourself and entrusting your life to God...

God intends the Christian to live in the confidence that he or she is forgiven already, not in the fear of being rejected for not doing well enough...

What does God do about our shame? God's answer is acceptance. God accepts us personally in our shame. If you think for a minute you will see that acceptance is something beyond forgiveness. You can forgive someone and still not enjoy spending time with them or having them on your vacation with you. God's forgiveness is a legal act: We have broken the law and we plead guilty. The penalty for the crime is taken by another, and we are acquitted. But the gospel goes beyond this. God not only forgives, but he accepts us personally, wanting to be with us because he loves us. In all our confusion, sin and shame God welcomes us, not out of duty, but because he loves us.

The above was taken from "Beyond Identity" by Dick Keyes. It is a L'Abri book.