Who We Are

Most of us have heard that commentary about the question, "Who are you?" If you haven't it goes along the lines of someone asking someone else, "Who they are?" and then they give them a varied amount of responses, each of which gets shut down. They give him their name, not good enough, They give him their job. "That's what you do, not who you are," he responds. They tell him about their family. "That's your loved ones, not who you are." And so on. The whole thing is laughable, but brings up a good point. Who are we? Most of us would respond, I'm a child of God and beloved of Jesus Christ, covered in his blood and forgiven of my sins. Which essentially is who we are. But what does that mean? I think it's important to know us in the face of the world who demands that we derive our identity from what we consume, what we do, what we go to school for, etc. Here was what I thought about who we are as God's own:

1) We are free! And that's not just emotionally set free from sin, but we are free to have as MUCH of God as we want. Jesus dying on the cross gave us "unlimited access" to God, as many have said. But what does that mean? We can get up at 4 am and pray to him without sacrificing a lamb? That sounds off to me. It means that we can be as close and as intimate to God as we desire. Jesus came to earth to save us and to tell us he was going to marry us one day. When Jesus said in John 14:2-3, "I am gong to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am." (NIV) As John Eldredge pointed out in Journey of Desire, this is what a fiance would say to the woman he intended to marry. The couple moved into the man's house and he would go back and build them a place to live on the house. Jesus desires us to be completely one with him, always. And neither sacrifices, nor making sure to read the Bible every day, nor speaking about Jesus in front of others, or keeping the entire law makes him satisfied. The only thing that does is when we draw near to him in intimacy and worship him.

"The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming-not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship." Hebrews 10:1 (NIV)

2) We are apart of God's family. As Jesus' we have the promise that one day we will walk before him and say our I do's to the Son. He desires us. He wants us to wake him in his arms, every day, for the rest of forever. He wants to be one spiritually with us, always. Just look at his intentions. He made the world originally a flourishing, gorgeous place where we walked and lived and loved him in the midst of the garden. There were no boundaries, Adam and Eve were naked with Jesus. They had no one casting shame on them for being bare with God. Satan was unknown for the moment. There was unfettered intimacy with Jesus. That is what he is trying to redeem. And will redeem, and then some, when he returns. This time it will be a city, not a garden (although I'm sure there will be quite a few parks and gardens in the New Jerusalem). The Tree of Life even makes its appearance there. God will not rest until he has us in his arms once again. As Eldredge wrote:

"There is no union on earth like the consummation of the love between a man and a woman. No other connection reaches as deeply as this one was meant to...after creating this stunning portrait of a total union...God turns the universe on its head when he tells us that this is what he is seeking with us." (Journey of Desire, p.130)

He quotes Ephesians 5:31-32 next:

"'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife; and the two will become one flesh.' This is a profound mystery-but I am talking about Christ and the church." (NIV)

Jesus wants a spiritual intimacy with us that is the original of what earthly intimacy images. He tells us, I want you and I want to marry you! And so we have the hope that one day we will walk away in our Prince's arms. But not only do we get our Lover, we get our family as well. We are free in our Father, our wonderful Heavenly Father. We are free to talk and converse with our Best Friend, the Holy Spirit. We truly are free in him.

3) We are lamps on a lampstand. After Jesus has created a world of love inside of us, he wants us to show it off to the entire world. So many people still have no idea of what God's love really means. Many Christians still do not have an idea as many live their relationships in a distant manner with him. The thought of being naked before God and being in his arms and his tender embrace as two lovers is uncomfortable and unsettling. But Jesus wants us to be near to him, to worship him, to pursue him, desire him. Everything is all about Jesus Christ when we are in love with him. And that's how it is suppose to be. He is our God, he is our everything, our heart's desire. Be free and worship him and let that light shine before others that comes out of your relationship with Jesus. People need to know God's heart and only we can show it to them right now.