Who Are You?

Is this a question you have a hard time answering? Have you ever stopped and considered what your true identity is? Maybe you define yourself by your occupation, your interests, your social or ethnic group, your family, your sexual orientation, your religion, or perhaps you just don’t know who you are. The world around you tries to convince you that your identity is something you have the freedom to choose, but this is a very empty answer. If you alone can define who you are, then do you really have value at all? Do you belong anywhere, or is it merely up to your own interpretation? If you decide who you are, are you really anything worth being?

Thankfully, the Bible gives you an objective, grounded answer to this question.

So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. — Ge 1:27

Did you catch that? You were made in the image of God! This means that you were made to know him, be like him, and spend eternity with him. But who is this God? The Bible goes on to tell us that God is the Creator of all things, that he is holy (which is his own, self-sufficient identity), that he is just, good, powerful, and that he is merciful and loving. You can confidently say that your true identity is to be an image-bearer of God, but unfortunately mankind has strayed very far from this image. We worship (value) things above God. We murder, cheat, steal, lie, and abuse one another. The Bible calls this sin, and it is engrained in each of us from birth. In fact, it is in everyone’s very nature to sin and rebel against this God who owns us. We either make our own gods, or make ourselves god. We have strayed a long way from who we were meant to be.

Because God is just, he cannot let guilty sinners go on sinning and will one day judge and punish all sinners who have rebelled against him! We all have this sense of justice within us, even though it is often twisted sometimes beyond recognition. But we still have that innate sense that we don’t want to see the guilty go free without paying for their crimes. But what about your guilt? The Bible again tells us more about our identity,

Indeed, there is no one on earth who is righteous, no one who does what is right and never sins. — Ec 7:20

This is the dark explanation of your current identity that you must deal with. How can you bear God’s image if you are not like him? If your actions are evil, how can you escape the justice of a good God? He cannot let evil people continue in their sin unpunished, and a day of reckoning is coming for all sinners. That is why the Bible says,

But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. — 1 Pe 4:5

to judge everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against him." — Jud 15

What hope is there for you if you are to be judged in such a way? Is there any way for you to be reconciled to the God you have sinned against? The answer is first no and then a glorious yes.

First, there is nothing you can do to save yourself from your evil actions and sinful nature. Even your good works are considered filthy before God because of the evil that taints everything we do (Isaiah 64:6). If you are trying to get right with God by good or religious works, you will not succeed. This is again a dark and humbling truth which you must grasp if you are to receive the mercy of God.

But yes, there is mercy! Undeserved goodwill and love that God shows to sinners so that the guilty can be reconciled with him. Because of his great love, God sent his Son, who put aside the glorious form of his Divine nature and took on the painful body of a human body. He endured all the trials and temptations of life, but never sinned. He was the perfect image-bearer of God in his humanity and in his Divinity, and yet he knows how hard it is to go through all the things you’ve gone through. He healed the sick, had compassion on the poor and needy, and taught people that to know God they must believe in him.

For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day." — Jn 6:40

He came to deliver us from our sinful identity and evil nature, and to restore us to our original, true identity: being an image-bearer and child of God.

Finally, he died in a bloody execution on a cross to endure the punishment for our sins on our behalf. We deserved punishment for all our evil, but Jesus willingly suffered and died in love to take that punishment away from us. He then rose from the dead three days later to powerfully give life to those who believe in him. The Bible says,

Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. — 1 Ti 1:15

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. — Jn 3:16-18 (emphasis mine)

There is nothing you can do to save yourself from the punishment both you and I deserve because of our sin. But there is nothing you need to do except believe! Jesus wants you to trust that his death was enough to save you from the eternal punishment of your sin and his resurrection from the dead is enough to save you from the power of your sin by being united with him in his resurrection. Those who are in him, who turn from their sinful life to live by faith in what he did on the cross, are spiritually alive. Whereas in our sin we are spiritually dead.

So, what do you need to do? The Bible answers that question as well,

Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. — Ac 2:38

To repent means to change your mind and the course of your life. Whoever you think you are, whatever you have identified yourself to be, God has better plans for you. He wants you to turn to him, trust in Jesus, and be baptized into his people, the Church. It won’t be easy; there are many difficulties along the way but the promise for us is that at the end of this short life there is an eternity of being with our loving and glorious God and his child in a new world. A world with no more pain, no more sorrow, and no more sin.

If you have questions, or would like to talk about these things with someone, please join one of our services and we would be glad to talk with you in a calm, non-judgmental manner. Our hope is to see you come to know the God who created you and wants to be reconciled and show his love to you.

With Love in Christ,

Pastor Andy