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Who Am I?
Presenter: Larry Kirkpatrick
Location: Mentone Seventh-day Adventist Church, California, USA
Delivery: 2007-03-10
Publication: GreatControversy.org 2007-03-10 15:13Z
Type: Sermon
URL: http://www.greatcontroversy.org/gco/ser/kir-whoami.php
Who am I? Do you ever ask yourself that question? If you do, you do not stop at the definition given on your driver’s license. For me, Sex:M; Hair: BRN; Eyes: BLU. Those attributes are correct in my case; but they could also describe a corpse.
Who am I? Asking this question, we move beyond merely physical attributes. We have also a history. Life came to us in a certain sequence and we met it with the resources and the character we had at the time. Some of our choices were virtuous, others, wicked. Some were made before knowing Jesus; others, after. And now, today, I’m me.
When a human asks this question (and only humans ask it), we are really inquiring, “Who am I—morally?” Realize that we do not exist independently from God’s law. His law is a delineation of His character, made specific for us in this time and place. Because He made our human race in His image, we cannot understand ourselves without His moral yardstick.
His law was given to illumine, not condemn. Motel Six left the light on for you, and God did too. A duck in the middle of the Sahara desert would be out of its element; ducks should be near the water; that is what they were designed for. Likewise, we should be near to God and in harmony with His law; that’s when we’ll always be most human.
We were designed to learn, to grow. The Fall of man interrupted but did not change God’s purpose.
Jesus the Express Image
In the book of Hebrews we learn something about this destiny. In the third verse we see two expressions placed in parallel, making one overarching point: Christ is “the brightness of His [the Father’s] glory, and the express image of His person.” That is, in Christ we behold the outshining of God’s glory, He is, in human form, the ultimate representation of God’s character. Genesis tells us that Adam was made in the image of God, but Hebrews tells us that Jesus is the express image.
If you are not careful, after you have made a series of photocopies, you may leave the last document copied in the machine. As you finish gathering up your copies and are about to walk away, the machine will beep at you and give a message in the viewport. It will say, “Original left on the glass.” We are only copies, but Jesus, the express image, is the true original.
Hebrews makes its starting point that Jesus is the ultimate revelation of God. In the past, He spoke to men through prophets, but in these last days He speaks to men through His Son. God entered human flesh. He came to men, He entered the thicket of the lost and stood beside them. Jesus became a man but never surrendered His loyalty to righteousness, never departed from the unselfish behavior He had known as deity through eternity. He did not remain hidden away on the other side of the sky, but came to earth. The express image came. He was and still is the light of men. He came and with our Father’s agreement, placed Himself on the glass. He positioned Himself perfectly so that men could see the express image clearly, and copy it precisely. He, if you will, put Himself in front of the photocopier’s camera if you will.
Chapters
Now the question comes, what about pressing the print button? And that takes us back to the question, Who am I?
God designed us for happiness, social interaction (“It is not good for man to be alone” (Genesis 2:18)), and morality. God gives each human a conscience, so that He may know what is good and what is evil and choose the good. He does not force him to choose the good. He is free to choose the evil. Sometimes we speak of someone who seems not to have a conscience. But it may simply be that that person has a conscience but has chosen the evil.
(Again, it may be that in a limited number of cases, a person enters existence with a deranged conscience through no choice of his own as a hard result of being born into a world of sin. In such a case, God will address that person’s destiny with absolute mercy and fairness.)
“Who am I?” is not just an identity question; it is a morality question. I am given an opportunity to exist for eternity. But this will mean a journey from where I started and then where I first began to choose to live ethically, to a truly moral life.
Before, my life was lived in solidarity with the bentness of my fallen humanity, of my disordered human organism, and with the habits and inclinations I had developed in it. Then I became a Christian. That was not the sudden attainment of holy flesh, it was the real beginning of the battle. Now the conflict began. Now there would be true war.
When you become a Christian you close one book and open another. Now you are going to write chapter one. You have just been through a series of revelations about yourself and about Christ. Many of us finish chapter one just fine. Some of us even write chapter two just fine. Step by step our lives are changed. We revisit what we do on Fridays and Sabbaths. We change what we eat and drink. We adjust what we watch and what we listen to. We return tithes and give offerings. But the farther up the ladder you go, the closer does our Lord disciple us.
By the time we get to chapter three, we are dealing much more closely with how we communicate with others, with personal stubbornness, with the challenges of working side by side with others in the church. God seems to address even deeper points of character at each level so that we can become effective soul winners and effective representatives of His character.
Just as we hold each other accountable at chapter one and chapter two, we do so at chapter three. You see, the farther you move into the book that God and you are co-authoring, the closer Jesus works to disciple you. Someone may have a long list of witnessing stories to share, but these may reflect only a superficial reality. The true situation may be very different, much more mixed. There may be many occasions where unaddressed character defects actually witnessed against God. And so, God cuts close. In fallen humanity, even converted fallen humanity, He is building in a very hard medium.
Diagnosis
The test of our experience is often revealed in whether we are really able to work with others or not. If we are not willing to let God work in us, we will get stuck in some chapter, and begin to counterwork our own Lord and deny the power of His gospel.
The following paragraph should help us to try to figure out who we are.
Those who truly love God will desire so to improve the talents that He has given them, that they may be a blessing to others. And by and by the gates of heaven will be thrown wide open to admit them, and from the lips of the King of Glory the benediction will fall upon their ear like richest music, ‘Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world’ (Matt. 25:34). Thus the redeemed will be welcomed to the mansions that Jesus is preparing for them. There their companions will not be the vile of earth, but those who through divine aid have formed perfect characters. Every sinful tendency, every imperfection, has been removed by the blood of Christ; and the excellence and brightness of His glory, far exceeding the brightness of the sun in its meridian splendor, is imparted to them. And the moral beauty, the perfection of His character, shines through them in worth far exceeding this outward splendor. They are without fault before the great white throne, sharing the dignity and privileges of the angels (In Heavenly Places, p. 367).
You see, we desire improvement so that we may bless others. Will you and I be among those who “through divine aid” have formed perfect characters? Notice the tense. “Every sinful tendency, every imperfection, has been removed by the blood of Christ; and the excellence and brightness of His glory, far exceeding the brightness of the sun in its meridian splendor, is imparted to them.” Their disordered human organism is changed in the moment of glorification, but the character defects they had cultivated, the tendencies they had cultivated, are removed during the Christian walk in this life. The brightness of His glory is imparted to them. What is this glory? It is the character of Jesus, that is, the character of the Father.
This is addressing our very point. Christ is not the image but the express image of the Father. As we copy that image the result is a maturing Christian character. We begin to take others seriously, not just as evangelistic targets or as misguided brothers and sisters in Christ, but we begin to care even more for them as fellow people, fellow believers. We are more careful of their hearts than ever before. It becomes less and less difficult for us to work side by side with fellow believers. Private agendas, attempts to prove oneself or to demonstrate our spiritual legitimacy, shrink away. God’s agenda becomes, more fully than ever before, our own agenda.
As we write these new chapters in our lifebooks, we labor with ever greater care for the blessing of others. Instead of fighting wars against those who seek to keep us accountable and to help us grow, we strive in the power of the Holy Spirit to change the way we think, which changes the way that we behave.
If we keep uppermost in our minds the unkind and unjust acts of others we shall find it impossible to love them as Christ has loved us; but if our thoughts dwell upon the wondrous love and pity of Christ for us, the same spirit will flow out to others. We should love and respect one another, notwithstanding the faults and imperfections that we cannot help seeing. Humility and self-distrust should be cultivated, and a patient tenderness with the faults of others. This will kill out all narrowing selfishness and make us large-hearted and generous (Steps to Christ, p. 121).
In the world and yes, in the church, some will treat us to unkind and unjust acts. But it is up to us whether we let them hinder our experience. When you recognize a sharp piece of glass, you treat it more carefully. You watch out for others so that they will not be cut by the glass. You steer clear of the broken glass so that it will not hurt you. In the church you find persons at all the different stages. Some are just coming to a point of conversion. Some are writing chapter one, others, chapter two, others, chapter three, and so on. Your task is to keep on writing your chapter, keep on learning how to be an ever more decided disciple of Jesus.
Choosing to Become
Your task is to determine every day who you are. Are you a growing Christian? Is your focus where God’s focus is? Are you contributing, in your local church, to its team effort in soul winning? As you grow, as you learn and shape who you are morally, you become a truer and truer witness for Jesus. Don’t dwell on the unkind and unjust acts of others toward you. Instead, dwell on “the wondrous love and pity of Christ for us.”
Jesus came. God placed the original, the express image, on the glass. When you ask the question, Who am I? and you ask it as a moral question, then and only then does it become possible to push the print button.
Who have I been? Who am I going to become? Jesus said that it was enough for the disciple to be as his Master. He was hated because of His righteous orientation. He tried to win Judas, but when Judas refused to change, Jesus told him, “What you are about to do, do it quickly.” When Judas betrayed Him, Jesus said plainly that He was betraying Him. Friend, why have you come? Are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss? Jesus told the truth but refused to accept crooked behavior.
The world has enough crooked people. God wants to transform people. What does He need? He needs at least a few sufficiently uncrooked followers that He can use them to tell His story.
Roles
When we think about who we are, we cannot help but consider roles. Who am I as a father, a spouse, a son, a student, an employee, a neighbor, a pious person, a church member? We tend to do well with certain roles, poorly with others. And yet, we should reflect Christ in all our roles.
Someone may be a thoughtful, hard-working employee, but an indifferent spouse or a missing parent. One may be a strong son or daughter always ready to help or present at time of need—but a poor neighbor. One may think one quite a strong Christian on the individual basis, but when it comes to helping at church, they do not share the load. Or one may be an attentive spouse but a slacker at work. Sometimes we represent Christ well in one setting but quite poorly in another. And yet, surely Christ Himself, in every setting, represented His Father well. And so, we must ask ourselves Who am I? and and grow by extending our Christianity into other areas of our lives. I have thought of several areas where I think I have been strong, and several where I feel I have been lacking.
Remember, being a better representative of your Lord does not necessarily mean giving people whatever they ask for. Do you recall the incident of healing in the book of Acts by Peter? He told the alms seeker, “Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk” (Acts 3:6).
Peter could have prayed to God for money for the man, but the man did not need a taller stack of coins that day; he needed healing so he would not need ask alms. Peter was a good Christian, a better representative of His Father, when He gave, not what was asked, but what was needed. Sometimes you can give exactly what is asked and that is most needful, other times it will be different. As we watch and pray, God will give us help and insight so that as we come to know ourselves, our deficiencies, and our places for growth better, we will be able to do more good as we advance.
Who am I? is not only the question of how have I been shaped but of how I have shaped others. It is not only the question of my failures but also of my successes. Christian introspection does not mean looking for ways to beat ourselves up or focusing on our failures. When we get something right we should take note of it and own it too. It will signal us how we can get things right more often, and will help us see with clarity. It is no help for us to see our own lives with only negative eyes. Humility does not mean automatic self-flagellation.
Conclusion
Who am I? I am a person on a journey. Made in the image of the man of dust, Heaven intends to remake me in God’s image. This remaking will only be wrought if I cooperate with the Carpenter day by day. My daily choices, reactive and proactive, determine what I become. Jesus is the express image of the Father. His mission had several facets, one being that he come so close that we might copy Him and thus bless ourselves and others. Who am I is the question of what we are becoming—morally.
Heaven invites us this day to be vulnerable, to admit to ourselves where we have been successful representatives of Him and where we have failed. Our God would invite us to be not only good Christians at home but at church, not only ideal employees but ideal spouses, not only godly friends but godly neighbors. I have been what I have been but I can become what I choose to become through the power of Christ.
What I choose to think determines what I become. I must select my thoughts. Some thoughts are to be accepted, others discarded. If we seek Him, if we fill our minds with His ideas, we will have a right lens through which to understand our world and choose right thinking. God will help us. GCO
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