Skip to main content

Who


Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. (John 6:35)

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)

“Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” (John 8:58)

           Yesterday’s post was about God’s glory and ours. I suggested that we glorify God by acknowledging God as God and that our best glory comes from acknowledging ourselves as what we are. Jesus knew who he was. The book of John is replete with Jesus’ “I am” claims.

          One of the problems is, of course, that we don’t tend to know who are or what we are. The story of the ugly duckling comes to mind, but it would work equally if we told the story of the ugly cygnet. When we misidentify ourselves or are misidentified by others, we end up as a parody of what we think we are or are supposed to be.

          I keep hearing that we think too lowly of ourselves. People point out that we are more than conquerors, that we are the daughters/sons of the Lion of Judah, the daughter/son of the king, co-heirs with Christ, victors, etc. Those things are true, but what does conquering mean to God? What does being a lion cub or prince(ss) entail? Jesus knew Himself to be the Son of God, the Messiah. He was not afraid to speak up or to take a stand, but part of being someone’s child is a general lack of the need to prove it to them or to anyone else.

          A second problem is time compression. We are not yet what we will be.  We are the children of the Lion of Judah, but it takes time to learn what that means.  We say “Hurry up!” and God says, “Not yet.”

          Who we are is important. I keep thinking that the key is not who we are, or what we are, but whose we are. Are we really convinced that what we declare to be real is really real? After that, are we content to actually be who we are or are we seeking someone else's glory?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The List

              Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,   through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;   perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)           Think about it. We have been justified. At least, we could be justified if we stopped insisting that our justification be based on our merits. We have peace with God, or could have peace if we stopped throwing temper tantrums. We have gained access into grace i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Listen!

  While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” (Matthew 17:5)            Do you like roller coasters? I don't. You spend forever climbing a hill. You get to the top and have half a second, then you race down to a low point. Sometimes the racing down involves tying your insides into knots. At the bottom, you either have to be dragged up another hill or you get off the ride. Peter's life was a roller coaster from the time he met Jesus. There would be miracles, and then Jesus would teach things that didn't always make sense, and then they'd go out and perform miracles, and return to be taught. Peter was praised for giving the right answer to "Who do you say that I am?" Jesus said that said answer came from God. Peter was at the top of the hill.            ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Prayer Lists

                 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. (I Peter 2:2-3)   In connection with what I wrote yesterday about the possibility that I’m wrong, I’m feeling the need to go back to basics - craving spiritual milk because somehow, I missed something. It’s a little embarrassing, craving milk like a newborn, but the truth probably is that we are newborns many times in many ways in our lives. From God’s perspective, we may never be anything more than newborns, forever needing that milk. On the other hand, being a newborn can also be exciting because so much is new. My mind is playing pinball - ricocheting from one idea to the next and through six more before it happens to hit the third again. The main topic is prayer. I have at least seven organizing structures all somewhat influenced by the movie War Room , which I’v...
Post a Comment
Read more