What If God Saw the Real Me?
by Joe Leavell
“When God looks at you, He doesn’t see your sin—He sees the righteousness of Christ.”
That statement is meant to bring comfort. And for many, it does.
But not everyone hears it that way.
Some find themselves wondering, Wait… does that mean God doesn’t really see me at all? Is He just tolerating me as long as Jesus stays in front of me? Instead of comfort, they feel erased. If God only loves what He sees in Christ, and not what He sees in me, then what happens if He ever looks past Jesus and sees who I really am?
It can start to feel less like grace and more like spiritual hypocrisy. The words of love and care from God in Scripture don’t bring any comfort because they aren’t meant for me. They’re meant for Jesus.
A Painful Parallel
For some, this mental picture is eerily similar to a haunting scene from The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Denethor, the Steward of Gondor, looks at his son Faramir—but he doesn’t truly see him. He sees Boromir, the son he favored, the son who died. Grieving and delusional, Denethor projects his longing onto Faramir, confusing him for his beloved son. And when the fog of his fantasy lifts and he recognizes the truth that it is Faramir before him. His face changes and grows cold with contempt and bitterness. He doesn’t cherish his son, he resents him and wishes for his Boromir, saying tragically that he wishes Faramir had died and Boromir had lived.
So what does Faramir do? He risks his life trying to earn his father’s love. He rides into battle not because he believes in victory, but because he hopes that maybe, maybe, if he performs well enough, Denethor will finally see him and love him.
This is how far a son will go when he feels unseen and unloved.
If you haven’t seen the movie, you can watch the scene here:
Sadly, there are too many believers who relate to God this way. They believe that when God looks at them, He doesn’t see them—He sees Jesus instead, and the only reason they’re accepted is because God is duped. So they live like Faramir: striving, performing, hiding, hoping they can stay “good enough” to keep God fooled. They think they need to stay behind Jesus and use Jesus like a mask so that they aren’t truly seen for who they truly are.
They’re only safe as long as God is somehow "tricked" into seeing Jesus instead of the real them, as if God only loves them only because Jesus is in the way. And deep down, they fear that if God ever truly looked at them, He’d recoil in disgust at their sinfulness.
So they live in performance mode.
Always striving.
Always managing their image.
Throwing their lives at God to prove they’re worthy of his love.
Continually trying to convince God to keep the charade going just a little longer.
Hiding behind religiosity in fear that they will be exposed as frauds.
But That’s Not How Grace Works
Believer, this is not the Gospel.
The good news of Jesus Christ is not that God has been tricked into loving you. He sees your failings, fears, and sins against him. He sees the ugliness of your past and the failings of your present.
He’s not deluded. Nothing is hidden from his sight. It’s that you have been brought into union with Jesus, so that what is true of Him becomes true of you—not just positionally, but relationally.
“For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.”
—Colossians 3:3“God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” —2 Corinthians 5:21
The righteousness of Christ isn’t just something you wear like a costume when you’re performing. It’s something that becomes your own by grace.
It means that because of Jesus’ work on the cross, you’re not just tolerated—you’re adopted.
You Are Not Erased—You Are Embraced
Let’s be completely clear for those who are doubting this: God doesn’t simply cover you over and ignore the rest. No! He sees you completely—and loves you completely.
“O Lord, You have searched me and known me… You are familiar with all my ways.”
—Psalm 139:1,3
He knows every detail about your life. Every failure. Every fear. Every part of you that you wish you could hide. And yet, because of Jesus, He looks at you and says:
Mine.
Beloved.
Redeemed.
You haven’t been erased or photoshopped out of God’s view because he just wanted a picture of Jesus. You haven’t been edited out. You’ve been invited in! You are wanted in the picture!
You’ve been made new.
You’ve been brought close.
You’ve been fully seen and fully loved.
“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” —1 John 3:1
You’re Not Just Covered—You’re Welcomed
Jesus didn’t just hide you behind his back so the Father wouldn’t notice your flaws. He isn’t a mask to make sure God doesn’t see your sin. Jesus took your sin as his own. You are clean! Jesus brought you home. He made you a beloved member of the family. Now, just like Jesus, you are God’s favorite child. We all are!
“You are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.”
—Galatians 4:7“You did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’” —Romans 8:15
But Christian, hear this again and again: God is not Denethor! He is not disillusioned, delusional, or distant. You are His beloved child! You are a joint heir! It means that God is inviting you into the same joyful relationship with God that Jesus enjoys! This is staggering. He shares the love He gives to the Son with you. That’s not God seeing "just Jesus." That’s God seeing you, in Jesus, and loving you as His own.
The Love You Long For Is Already Yours
For believers, Jesus Himself tells us something stunning in John 17. Praying to the Father, He says that:
“You loved them even as You loved Me.” —John 17:23
Do you hear that? The same love the Father has for the Son is now poured out on you. Not a lesser love. Not a diluted love. Not a mistake. Not a burden. The same love he has for Jesus!
This means that when God looks at you, He sees you—in Christ, yes—but it’s still you. And His heart is full of affection. Joy. Delight.
“As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you.” —John 15:9
To be sure, this assurance and relationship only belongs to those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ. Unbelievers are invited into that same relationship, but they do not enjoy the love of Christ. They love their sin and are excluded from God’s smile and without repentance, will one day face his judgment. If this is you, today could be the day when forgiveness and reconciliation can be yours!
For those who are believers, we know that none of us deserves for God to see us with love. The mystery of the Gospel is how God looked at Jesus as he should look at us, so that he could look at us, how he sees Jesus.
So What Do You Want Me Do With This?
Rest.
Stop striving. Stop pretending. Stop trying to earn what’s already been freely given. You don’t have to perform for God's affection. You already have it—completely, unshakably, eternally.
When Jesus died for you, He didn’t just purchase your forgiveness. He purchased your complete acceptance into God’s family.
When He rose, He didn’t just conquer sin. He opened the way for you to enter the Father’s love and stay there forever. That means that God isn’t blind to your failings. Jesus wasn’t just photoshopped over you, obscuring his view of the real you. Through Christ, God sees the real you and loves you as your own!
Christian, This Is Who You Are!
You are not a shadow of someone else God loves more.
You are not given reluctant grace.
You are not “just barely covered.”
You are fully known.
You are fully loved.
You are fully accepted.
You are fully welcomed.
Believer, you haven’t been erased by Jesus. You don’t have to hide behind him, hoping not to be noticed. He doesn’t look at you with disappointment or disgust. You’ve been embraced by the Father—because of Jesus.
Of course, you haven’t been invited into the inner workings of the Trinity. But you have been brought into the same love and delight that has existed within the Godhead forever.
You are just as welcome in the presence of God as Jesus Himself. Look at John 17 again:
“The glory that You have given Me I have given to them… so that the world may know that You sent Me and loved them even as You loved Me.” —John 17:22–23
Christian, you don’t have to perform, pretend, or hide. God already sees you, knows you, and welcomes you completely.
When God Looks at You…
He sees you.
He sees you in Christ.
He sees you as His beloved child.
Not as a disappointment.
Not as an imposter.
Not as a bother.
He sees you as loved.
WOW.
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