Who am I? What’s the purpose of my existence? Some of our most piercing questions will plague us to our final gasp. How did I get here? Did I simply evolve from an amoeba over millions of years simply because some galactic protein locked in ice and rock fell to earth; then somehow developed into this amazingly complex human being, or could there really be a grand designer and a grand design that I’m a part of? In every university this question is fiercely debated and yet neither side can prove the other wrong – so I’m confident to enter the fray.
Although it seems impossible to know for sure, in this post, I make the bold assertion that I do know the answer. You see, I know there is a grand designer and a grand design, simply because I’ve met the designer – but please allow me to explain. I’m sure you’ve heard the expression, “having a personal relationship with God.” I have such a relationship. What a bizarre statement. I can hardly believe it myself. But it’s true. I also know the Designer has had us in His mind from the very beginning – not only in His mind, but romantically and steadfastly in His heart. This isn’t a secret I’m now revealing to the world. He has been telling us this from the first time we asked: through direct communication to us in prayer and also in His many letters to us. For example, The High Priestly Prayer of Christ before His crucifixion.
“I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me. Father, I want these whom you have given me to be with me where I am. Then they can see all the glory you gave me because you loved me even before the world began! (John 17:21-24 TLB)
By this we know that who we are is integrally connected to God and our relationship with Him. Without a relationship with God, we are lost souls constantly asking the questions that have the answers right in front of us. But this poses another question: who is God? The answer, unfortunately, is only revealed by faith. In other words, He’s not revealed to us until we first believe. This in itself is an enigma – a paradoxical conundrum. The famous nuclear physicist, Edward Teller wrote:
When you come to the end of all the light you know, and it’s time to step into the darkness of the unknown, faith is knowing that one of two things shall happen: either you will be given something solid to stand on or you will be taught to fly. (wikiquote)
So, in order to know God, you must first be willing to “step into the darkness”. Yet it’s not quite stepping into darkness. We have sufficient, if not plentiful evidence of His existence. The incredibly amazing world around us, in itself, is evidence, if one would only have eyes to see. Additionally, God has given us His Word – again, if we would only open it and read with the anticipation of veracity, instead of doubting skepticism. By faith, God reveals Himself, in nature God reveals Himself and in the bible God reveals Himself as the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ), and the Spirit. The apostle Paul in his letter to the church in Colosse, inspired by the Spirit, provides us with a clear and succinct portrayal of who Jesus Christ is.
Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see—such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. He existed before anything else, and He holds all creation together. Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So he is first in everything. For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ,and through him God reconciled everything to Himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross. Colossians 1:15-20 TLB)
And so it is by faith we meet God. It is also by faith we get to know God. In meeting and getting to know Him, we are saying yes to Him. In this life there is nothing more important than this. It is paramount. There is so much riding on this one decision. The full import and significance is arcane without, first by faith, opening our mind and believing. But there is so much noise, so many things we want, so much to see, hear, feel – we’re distracted by all the stuff of the world, our own selfish desires and what we perceive to be important. We live in the world and are caught up in the busyness of our lives – but it’s just noise. The noise of the urgent keeps us from hearing, seeing and believing the One who has loved us from the beginning. When we finally say yes to Jesus, we see through the haze of the world and sense in our spirit the overwhelming love the Father has for us.
Yet the knowledge of His love for us has been obscured by our own resistance. This resistance and rebellion has not only obscured His love, but has also become a wall between us; a wall of sin that separates us from God’s forgiveness. It’s difficult for us to fully understand this. We don’t understand the seriousness of our sin and rebellion. We compare it to rebellion against this world’s authorities, like the traffic patrol or our parents. The payment for that sin is, perhaps, a fine or standing in the corner for a while. But the cost of our sin to God is so serious, so incomprehensibly serious, that the penalty is death by the shedding of blood. For thousands of years, man has been paying for his rebellion with the spilling of blood in sacrificing animals.
In fact, according to the law of Moses, nearly everything was purified with blood. For without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sin. (Heb 9:22)
When we read the Old Testament, we are stunned by all the bloodshed and unthinkable horrors, like when Moses came down from the mountain and found the Israelites worshipping a golden calf, he said, “who is on the Lord’s side!? And the Levites rallied to him. Then he told the Levites to strap a sword to their thigh and go up and down killing the ones who chose not to, even their own family members. Three thousand died that day. (Exodus 32:26). The copious sins of Israel are written in blood in every book of their history and the prophets. And as we read, aghast, we ask why. Why was it necessary for them to slaughter an innocent white lamb and sacrifice it on the alter? None of it makes sense – until we learn that it was written for us to understand the terrible cost of sin, the price to be paid for rebelling against God.
Each sacrifice we read about in the Old Testament is a type of the one final sacrifice made on that fateful day when God’s own Son became the lamb of God. When John the Baptist first sees Jesus coming He cries out to the crowd, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). But we still don’t get it until our spiritual eyes are open and we see the horrific consequence of sin – the wrath of God. Being cut down by a sword is nothing compared to what follows in the afterlife for those who continue in their rebellion. When we trust Jesus for our salvation, it is in being saved from the unimaginable horror of hell. In Matthew 10:28, Jesus tells His disciples not to be afraid of those who can kill the body but not the soul, rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both body and soul in hell. There are many descriptions of hell but essentially, it is separation from God. This is described by Jesus as “weeping and gnashing of teeth”.
God knew that the only way to fully restore His relationship with us was to pay the price of sin Himself. He needed to be the final sacrifice. Only God could be sacrificed in death and still restore full forgiveness and His relationship with us.
For God loved us so much that He sacrificed His only Son, that whoever believes on Him and accepts His forgiveness will not perish eternally, but have eternal life. (John 3:16, paraphrased)
His love is truly incomprehensible. Even if there was only one person in the world, He still would have sent His Son to earth to take on sinful flesh, to become the embodiment of sin. The Father knew from the beginning this moment in time would come: the final sacrifice. Imagine the scene in the garden of Gethsemane. The Father listened as His Son cried out, “Please Father, don’t send me! If there is any other way, Father, don’t lay all the sin of the world on me. I’m begging You.” And with tears streaming down His cheeks begging with such intensity that blood oozed from his pores, the Father with His heart breaking, turned away. And He did so because of the intensity of His love for us. Even after we spurned His love, rebelled and wilfully sinned against Him, as Romans 5:8 tells us, that even while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Rom. 6:23)
Imagine it, the gift of eternal life – a gift so precious it cost the very life of God through Jesus Christ, the Son. How could one refuse such a gift? And yet a gift is not a gift until it is received. The gift of eternal life is the very life of Christ. His Life in us and our life in Him. This is His gift – salvation. And, like the ones who crossed over and ran to Moses, a type of Christ and our running to Him, were saved from the consequence of sin, we are also saved from the consequence of eternal separation from God in hell. Those who have made the decision to run to Christ and accept His gift of eternal life have nothing to worry about, but for those still sitting on the fence – it’s time to run to Jesus!
But why doesn’t everyone run to Jesus? Why do some hesitate? What is wrong with the atheists? Why did three thousand Israelites not run to Moses? Now, just as Moses called out, “Who is on the Lord’s side?!”, what is our response? What is your response? Who is on the Lord’s side? Who are those drawn to Jesus by the Father? Whose names are written in the book of life? Answer: Those who run to Jesus. They are the true believers. Those who trust in Him for their salvation are those who were in His mind from the beginning. They run to Him because they are His. They are those who are redeemed by the blood of the lamb.
They are also members of God’s extended family, now called the Body of Christ and upon His second coming will become the Bride of Christ reigning with Him for eternity. They are the ones who have been reborn.
Even in his own land and among his own people, the Jews, he was not accepted. Only a few would welcome and receive him. But to all who received him, He gave the right to become children of God. All they needed to do was to trust him to save them. All those who believe this are reborn!—not a physical rebirth resulting from human passion or plan—but from the will of God. (John 1:12,13 TLB)
Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters. (Heb 2:11, NIV)
But how do you know if you are His? You know you are His because you believe and trust Him, you strive to walk in His ways and sense Him communicating with you in your spirit through prayer.
So in summary, “who am I?” You are a very precious creation of God. He had you in His mind and heart from the very beginning. His plan for you was for the ultimate good – to become a part of His own extended family. He made you to be with Him forever. But, because of sin, we’ve become separated from Him. In Christ, you can be reunited, if you say YES to Jesus, to believe in Him – to accept Him and live your life through Him.
This, however, requires faith, a faith in Him whom we cannot see. As Peter writes in 1 Peter 1:8,
Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy,
All of this takes place in the unseen world, the other world God created, the dimension of reality that is presently invisible. As Paul wrote, and we read earlier in Colossians chapter 1.
God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see.
So, then, where exactly am I?
From Philippians 3:20, we are told by Paul that our real home is in heaven (the unseen spiritual dimension). But he also says that it is from there that we wait for our saviour. So the question is, where is heaven? In an earlier post, A Sneak Preview, we learned that we are not essentially flesh and bone, but are essentially a spirit clothed in flesh – like we are wearing an overcoat. We read earlier in Colossians 1, that He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see—such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. This is the real world. This is where we exist. Everything else is temporal and illusory.
James 4:14 tells us that our life here is like a vapour that briefly appears, then is gone. This is where we need to begin. Whatever we do, we first need to get oriented. Once we realize that we are primarily operating at a spiritual level in a spiritual domain, we can be more effective. We can clearly identify what our real objectives should be, see who our real enemy is, what their strategy is in defeating us and understand how to overcome using the weapons at our disposal. In Ephesians 6:10-18, Paul tells us how.
Last of all I want to remind you that your strength must come from the Lord’s mighty power within you. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand safe against all strategies and tricks of Satan. For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against persons without bodies—the evil rulers of the unseen world, those mighty satanic beings and great evil princes of darkness who rule this world; and against huge numbers of wicked spirits in the spirit world.
So use every piece of God’s armour to resist the enemy whenever he attacks, and when it is all over, you will still be standing up.
But to do this, you will need the strong belt of truth and the breastplate of God’s approval. Wear shoes that are able to speed you on as you preach the Good News of peace with God. In every battle you will need faith as your shield to stop the fiery arrows aimed at you by Satan. And you will need the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit—which is the Word of God.
Pray all the time. Ask God for anything in line with the Holy Spirit’s wishes. Plead with him, reminding him of your needs, and keep praying earnestly for all Christians everywhere.
When we realize the enemy, Satan, has already been defeated and is completely powerless because of the victory won by Christ, and we come to understand the power we wield because of our position in Christ, no demon in hell can stand against us. James 4:7 tells us to submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee. As Satan is virtually powerless, the only thing in his arsenal is deception, and he is a master of deception. Every victory won by Satan is because we have believed his lies. He’s like a roaring lion without teeth. When he roars, we only need to look to Jesus and he slinks away.
As an example: When I first became a Christian, I was tested and given a lesson I’ll never forget. I was sitting on my bed, then out of nowhere I began to have terrible thoughts, murderous and violent thoughts. I glanced at the end of my bed and visibly saw a hideous looking demon climbing from the floor onto my bed. Fear gripped me like a vice; then more appeared. I could clearly see and hear them. They were all different in size and appearance. Five in all appeared and were all equally hideous. I crawled as far as I could into the corner of my bed and the wall and tried to pray. My mind, however, was clouded and bombarded with wicked thoughts. I hadn’t been raised in a Christian home. But thank God, we were taught in school to recite The Lord’s Prayer each morning before class. I began to recite the only passage I knew, and as I did I sensed their power diminishing. I looked up and they were turning into vapour and disappearing. The wicked thoughts left and I began to sense God’s peace. I then saw four angels at each corner of my bed. They looked small like they were a mile away, but they were there guarding me from a distance. I realized that I was in different reality. It was in the same place as the physical reality, but a different dimension, a spiritual dimension, unseen until God opened it before me. I now know that God was preparing me for what lied ahead. I still had a lot to learn. I still needed to learn my true purpose in life.
As an example: When I first became a Christian, I was tested and given a lesson I’ll never forget. I was sitting on my bed, then out of nowhere I began to have terrible thoughts, murderous and violent thoughts. I glanced at the end of my bed and visibly saw a hideous looking demon climbing from the floor onto my bed. Fear gripped me like a vice; then more appeared. I could clearly see and hear them. They were all different in size and appearance. Five in all appeared and were all equally hideous. I crawled as far as I could into the corner of my bed and the wall and tried to pray. My mind, however, was clouded and bombarded with wicked thoughts. I hadn’t been raised in a Christian home. But thank God, we were taught in school to recite The Lord’s Prayer each morning before class. I began to recite the only passage I knew, and as I did I sensed their power diminishing. I looked up and they were turning into vapour and disappearing. The wicked thoughts left and I began to sense God’s peace. I then saw four angels at each corner of my bed. They looked small like they were a mile away, but they were there guarding me from a distance. I realized that I was in different reality. It was in the same place as the physical reality, but a different dimension, a spiritual dimension, unseen until God opened it before me. I now know that God was preparing me for what lied ahead. I still had a lot to learn. I still needed to learn my true purpose in life.
Why Am I Here?
I believe we’ve all wondered at one time: Who am I? Does my existence have any meaning? The very first question of the Westminster Shorter Catechism is: what is the chief end of man? The answer to which is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. I believe this is also the chief end of all creation. And when He returns, every knee shall bow and lift their voice in praise (Romans 14:11). Only He is worthy to be praised and glorified. If we were to be silent, the very rocks would cry out (Luke 19:40). In the way by which we glorify God is in everything we do. (1 Cor 10:31)
We have, however, additional assignments, such as to love one another, expand His kingdom and care for the earth. But when I think of the primary reason we’re here, I believe that from the very beginning, God’s plan for us was to be in partnership with Him, to reign with Him forever as His eternal companion. Paul E Billheimer, in his short but insightful book, Destined For the Throne, points out that this life of ours, on this tiny spinning planet, is “on the job training” for our queenly role in reigning with Christ.
When I consider the authority we’ve been given in the spirit realm and the enormous cost Christ paid to free us from the bondage of sin and death, I’m humbled at its implications. For example, in 1 Cor. 6:3, we’re told that we‘ll judge the angels. Christ told His disciples that they’ll do even greater works after His ascension (John 14:12). In Luke 10:19, He tells His disciples that He has given them authority to trample on snakes and scorpions (demonic entities) and to overcome all the power of the enemy.
From these few passages, I understand that we are to continue in His work. In other words, as He did, so must we. This is our mission – this is the purpose of our lives. This is why we were born. This is what God had in mind for us from the very beginning. In 1 Cor. 12:17, Paul tells us that we (the true believers) are now the body of Christ.
So, how does this actually look? What is God telling us? It is here we learn what our next priority in life is. Earlier we learned that, first and foremost, before anything else, we are to answer God’s call on our life. We can do nothing of eternal value until we have God’s Spirit indwelling us. Once we are born anew, we come to the next most important priority in our life; and that is to be who we are meant to be, we are to do what we are meant to do, we are to be His body on earth.
I recently read an article in Christianity Today titled, 7 Priorities that Guided Jesus’ Decisions by Mike Fleischmann. What he says in the beginning of the article, I’m sure we’ve all heard at one time or another, “What Would Jesus Do?” What a great principle to live by. Mike Fleischmann gives us a good description of our duties in living as Jesus lived and in doing what Jesus did. In brief, here are the seven priorities he lists:
1. He sought the Father. Jesus demonstrated intimacy with God by seeking him continually in prayer.
2. He embraced the outcasts. Jesus demonstrated the love of God by accepting the castaways of society.
3. He restored broken lives. By the power of God’s Spirit, Jesus provided for people’s physical and financial needs.
4. He confronted hypocrisy. Jesus demonstrated the heart of God by standing against lifeless religion. He openly confronted religious hypocrisy. He cleansed the temple because people were using God’s house for their own gain (Luke 19:45-46).
5. He taught God’s Word. Whether addressing curious crowds or the committed core, Jesus took advantage of every teachable moment.
6. He served. Service marked Jesus’ life from start to finish. He served through sacrifice, putting the needs of others above his own.
7. He equipped leaders. Finally, Jesus demonstrated God’s character by equipping leaders who continued his mission and changed the world after his departure.
In light of the vast terrain we have just traversed, my prayer is that we will see things differently. In understanding who we are, where we are and why we’re here, we will also become more effective members in the body of Christ and victorious in spiritual warfare. We’ll also become better prepared for our future role as the Bride of Christ in our reign with Him in the world to come.
