Who Or What – Part 3

Who am I? What am I? Does God love me? It’s comforting to know that it’s true that God loves each of us. First of all, He is love, so it is His nature to love others. In fact, He loved the world so much that He sent His uniquely begotten Son to live and die among us (John 3:16). But it doesn’t stop there. That same Son, Jesus, was raised from the dead! Have you ever wondered why Jesus was raised from the dead? It’s because God not only loves us, but He wants to fellowship with (spend quality time with) us! His intention has always been to offer a way for wayward men and women to get back the lost relationship we had before Adam’s rebellion.

While it is true that by His very nature God loves us and wants to forgive us for our sin, His nature is also one of holiness and righteousness. The fact that we have all sinned – each and every one of us – requires a ransom, or payment, for that sin. In its very essence sin is a rebellion against God and His laws. This rebellion has separated us from God, and Jesus came in order to pay the price for our sin. We are children of disobedient Adam and Eve, and that is who we are. We sin as a direct result of our nature, which makes us what we are (sinners). Because of God’s love, He offers a way out of our mess, by simple faith in Christ. Through this simple faith in what Jesus has done, we receive forgiveness and a new nature from God (and so then who we are is changed). Because who we are has been changed, what we are is changed also. This is where we get into trouble; when we reject God’s plan of dealing with our problem, which is who we are, and do what we want to do instead of doing what God says to do. Man wants to do things his own way, which is what started all this trouble in the first place! As Adam did in the garden so do we. We go about doing what we want to do instead of what God wants us to do. This is the nature of sin, and because we are Adam’s children we share in his nature, making us who we are.

Imagine you are in your home and, as far as you know, nobody else is supposed to be there. You go into the living room and see someone sitting down on one of the chairs, casually reading a book. You are curious and a little distressed, right? Most people would probably say, “Who are you?” Isn’t that interesting? We can see what they are doing, but we want to know WHO it is that’s doing it! We would be apprehensive because we don’t know that person. We don’t know what they are like or what they are capable of because we don’t know who they are. We don’t know their nature! We have not spent any time with them in getting to know them.  How about a child who was raised with only one of their divorced parents? If they spend no time with the other one of their parents then they don’t know who they are. The child might know that technically that person is their mother or father, but they don’t know them as a mother or father. That parent technically knows the child is theirs, but they don’t know who they are as a person. It’s this way with us because it’s the same way in our relationship with God. You must spend time with someone in order to get to know them, and our relationship with God is developed in the same way that it is with other people.

Most people know the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, but not many know about what happened just before that event. God had sent angels to destroy those cities (there were more than just those two, by the way) because of their blatant and ongoing rebellion against Him. Before the angels went down to destroy the area they stopped by the tent of Abraham, and an interesting thing happened. God shared with Abraham what He was going to do! Why did He do this? It was because Abraham was a man of consistent character, and had spent a lot of time with God. He knew God for Who He Is and, more importantly, God knew Abraham for who he was;

Gen 18:19

For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.

King James Version

When we come to Christ and ask for forgiveness, and believe that God has raised Him from the dead, we receive a new nature. Who we are is changed, and we receive the nature of God. Who we are is changed from a nature of rebellion to a nature of submission in faith to God. We have been adopted into the family of God, and Adam is no longer our spiritual ‘parent.’ Our new spiritual ‘Parent’ is God Himself;

Rom 8:14-17

 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs — heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.

New King James Version

Given that once we come to Christ we receive a new nature, then God has effectively dealt with the problem of who we are! We are no longer separated from Him, but we are now members of His family and in His household!

This is Part Three of a multi-part series. Keep an eye out for the next installment!