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Who Are You?By Greg Quinn March 18th, 2014
One of the biggest questions that we face in our lifetimes is the question of our identity. “Who am I?” is a common question that most of us ask many times throughout our lives. So this is something that perhaps we should take a look at carefully in order to clear this up once and for all. “Who are you?” This is not just a song written by Pete Townsend of The Who. It’s a valid question. Following this question, we often ask, “What am I supposed to do?” “What am I here for?” I give you the following statement that will provide the answer for all these questions:
When you know WHOSE you are, then you can know WHO you are, and WHAT you
are supposed to do. I have a very dear aunt named Mary Evelyn Kent. Aunt Mary we always have called her. Aunt Mary is without a doubt one of the sweetest people God ever created. I know of no one in my lifetime that is as sweet, nice, polite, and kind to everyone as Aunt Mary. Growing up in rural Tennessee farm country, Aunt Mary was like a second mother to me and us other Quinn boys. Aunt Mary was the sister to my dad, JP Quinn, and her husband, Charles Kent (we called him “Uncle Hambone”) was the brother to my mother, Lorene Kent Quinn. Aunt Mary always had, and still does, a great Christian kindness to everyone she met. She never met a stranger, and if she did, she would give him or her anything they needed. To this day, every time I see Aunt Mary she hugs and kisses me and talks to me as if I were still the little boy that played in her house. Now, unfortunately, Aunt Mary has Alzheimer's disease. It has affected her memory so that sometimes she doesn’t know who she is, where she is, or who others are around her. One day my mother was coming back from taking Aunt Mary to the store for groceries, and after some time of silence, Aunt Mary looked at my mom and said, “Now who are you?” While this is somewhat funny to us, and also somewhat sad, it resonates that we all often ask this question of ourselves and of others. When you know WHOSE you are, then you can know WHO you are, and WHAT you
are supposed to do. Whose are you?
Going beyond a reply like “son or daughter of so and so”, or
“wife or husband of so and so”, or “employee of such and such company”,
before we can really understand who
we are, we need to understand whose
we are. I think all of us realize that even the best of us, including Aunt Mary,
is not perfect. We have all sinned
(“no, there is none righteous, no not one” Romans 3:10).
We have all come short of the glory of God.
God created mankind to be his friend, to communicate with him.
Mankind fell because of the sin of Adam and Eve.
Because God is a holy God that cannot accept sin (wrongdoing,
imperfection), there was this great gulf fixed between us and God that prevented
mankind from being one with God again. There
had to be a sacrifice to atone, or make right, man with God.
This sacrifice had to be perfect, unblemished, without sin.
There was no such man. Only
God was perfect and without sin. So
God sent his son, Jesus Christ, to come to earth and be born and live as a man,
although the Son of God, to become the sacrifice for our sin.
Why would God do this? Because
of his great love for us. John 3:16 says: “For God so loved the world, that he gave
his only begotten son, that whosoever believes on him should not perish, but
have everlasting life”. On the cross, Jesus paid the price for our sins.
He took upon himself the punishment of sin.
He took upon his body the stripes that yield our healing.
All sin of the ages, all disease, all sickness, all pain, all suffering,
was placed upon Jesus. As he gave
his life on the cross in order to redeem us, or make us right with God, he took
upon himself all of the sin and the punishment for that sin that was rightfully
ours. Why would Jesus do this?
Because of his great love for us. But Jesus, being God, rose from the dead, and vanquished sin.
He took away the sting of death. He took away the travesty of sickness,
disease, heartache, pain, suffering. He
rose victorious over sin and death, defeated both, and stands today at the right
hand of God the Father to be our intermediary (our counselor, our defense
attorney) to intercede for us. As
children of God, through Jesus the Son of God, we too can enjoy life everlasting
for eternity with God in Heaven, and while here on this sinful earth, can still
enjoy victory and joy in our lives because of the great hope we have in what
Jesus has done for us. The Bible puts it this way. We were bought with a price. Jesus paid the price for our sin. The punishment that was put upon us was transferred to him, and the glory and health and joy and peace that belonged to Jesus was transferred to us. What a great exchange! 1 John 4:17 says this: “Herein is our love made perfect,
that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in
this world”. So what are we in this world? We are as Jesus is. Is Jesus, the Son of God, who lives in Heaven forever, sick? No, so neither are we. Is Jesus without hope? No, so neither are we. Is Jesus without friends? No, so neither are we. Is Jesus powerless to defeat sin? No, and neither are we. If we ever really, truly grasp the magnitude of God’s love for us, then we will truly realize the significance of Jesus and his sacrifice for us. God was willing to lay down his life, and endure the punishment, where we wouldn’t have to. God bought for us eternal salvation, hope, peace, happiness, health, wealth, joy, and an eternal home in Heaven, through is sacrifice, because of his love for us. No other reason. But love. Why does God love us so? Because
we are his. So, now you know WHOSE you are. You belong to the creator of everything.
You belong to the God of the ages. You
belong to the same God worshipped by David, and Moses, and Noah, and Abraham.
You belong to Jesus. God
loves you so much that he willingly died to give you victory.
He bought you with a price, a price none of us would or could pay.
So, we belong to Jesus. You
are His. This is WHOSE you are. Now that you know WHOSE you are, you can figure out very easily WHO you are. You are a child of the most high God. You have royal blood through Jesus. You have been provided a home in Heaven, the ability to achieve peace on earth. You have the opportunities of the ages in your hands. You are someone great, someone so loved by God that he sent Jesus to be the sacrifice to set you free. Jesus gladly paid the ransom for your freedom. This is WHO you are. So how do you get this freedom, peace, victory? It’s there for you. The price has already been paid. The gift is already provided. It is wrapped up and handed to you. You don’t have to “do” anything. There is nothing you can do to achieve eternal life, and peace and joy and happiness. Jesus already has done it for you. The gift is there. Just receive it. Once you receive Jesus, then you are a child of the King, you are heir to the promises, peace is yours. Then, you know WHOSE you are, and because of that, you know WHO you are. Once you know WHO you are, then you can figure out WHAT you should do. The promises of God are yours as a child of God. So read your Bible to find out what those promises say. They tell you a lot about WHO you are, as well as WHAT you should do. Reading further up in 1 John, it tells us to love one another. This is one thing you can do…. 1 John 4:7 “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God;
and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. 8 He that loveth
not knoweth not God; for God is love. 9 In this was manifested the love of
God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that
we might live through him. 10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but
that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. 12 No
man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and
his love is perfected in us. 13 Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he
in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and do
testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. 15 Whosoever
shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.
16 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is
love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. 17 Herein
is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment:
because as he is, so are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love; but
perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not
made perfect in love. 19 We love him, because he first loved us. 20 If
a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth
not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? 21 And
this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother
also.” If we love one another, we won’t kill, cheat, lie, steal, etc. If we love one another we will be at peace. So one of the “what’s” we can do is love one another. Spend time reading God’s Word to you, the Bible, in order to find out other “what’s” you can do. Now that you know WHOSE you are, and WHO you are, then it is easy to discover WHAT you should be doing. Actually, it’s a fun journey. Life has new meaning. You can understand joy and peace when you know WHOSE and WHO you are, and WHAT you should be doing. So when you listen to the guitar riffs of The Who’s “Who Are You”, you can smile knowing WHO you are, because you know WHOSE you are. When you meditate and think about WHO you are, you realize you are not just the son or wife or husband or daughter of so and so. You realize that you are more than the title on your business card. You realize that you are so wonderful that God himself came to earth to pay the price to set you free, to give you peace, to give you joy, to give you life eternal. When you know the real you, the one God loves, then you can appreciate WHO you are because you know WHOSE you are. When you know WHOSE you are, and then WHO you are, then it’s easy to find out WHAT you should be doing. All of us, regardless if we haven’t yet discovered Jesus, or have known him for many years, need to be reminded of this great truth. I wish you peace as you continue the discovery of life. It begins with this understanding…… WHOSE you are determines WHO you are, and dictates WHAT you should be
doing. May God richly bless your discovery of life.
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