In God’s jurisdiction, esteem and identity are not bought but imbued. We are twice love and twice owned. God made us, and then bought us at a price. It is from those events, creation and redemption, that a sense of our enormous value and distinctiveness as Christians is derived. In Christ, our fallen nature is restored and our fragile identity is reestablished. We are declared ‘God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved’ (Col. 3.12).

David W. Henderson, Culture Shift (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1998), 65.