Knowing Who You Are 2 Series

Title: Who Am I – 4

“Knowing Who You Are – 2”

Text I Peter 2:9

It is essential for every believer to understand and know who they are in Christ. So far, in this series, we have determined that the only person who determines who we are is us.

The majority of Christians feel unworthy to be used of the Lord for one reason or another. We don’t feel qualified, we don’t feel that we have what it takes, but I want to show you in the Bible that God thinks differently. For the past couple of weeks we have been exploring the lives of several men in the Bible that felt the same way that most of us feel. Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should deliver your people out of Egypt?” Jeremiah said to God, “I can’t do what you are asking me to do, I cannot speak for I am only a child.” Isaiah said, “I am a man undone, I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. I cannot do what you are asking me to do.” God’s response to every one of these men was the same. Don’t be concerned with who you are in the natural, only be concerned with who is with you. He promises them, “I will not leave you. I will go before you. I will be with you every step of the way.” We know that God never changes, so if He promises to be with these men, He promises to be with you in every area of your life. He is reminding you today, “Don’t be concerned with who you are outside of me, just be concerned who you are with Me on your side.” After all, He is in covenant with each and every one of us.

DAVID

Last week we talked about one man that knew he was with God on His side. He was confident. David was a man that killed a bear and a lion with his bare hands. He went up against Goliath and took that giant down without breaking into a sweat, didn’t just knock him down, but chopped his head off and picked it up for all the enemies to see. He knew who he was in God.

Today, we want to talk about one more man that knew who He was. We have spent a considerable amount of time in the Old Testament, so today we are going to flip over into the New Testament and see a man that knew who He was in Christ. It is one thing to have God on your side, but something greater to have God within you.

PAUL

I love the confidence that the Apostle Paul had in Jesus. There is instance after instance in the Bible where we find that Paul knew who he was.

II Timothy 1:7; “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”

This Scripture has become our theme Scripture for 2010. If you have missed Tuesday Bible studies, you have missed some really good teaching on this subject of fear. Paul is in prison and he wants Timothy to know that he is not afraid, and we are going to read why he is not afraid, and also wants to remind Timothy that all fear comes from the devil. No fear allowed in our lives. If we really know who our God is and who we are because of the God we serve, there is no room in our lives for fear. This whole chapter gives us an inside peek at Paul’s life and he makes no mistake in telling people how much faith he has in His God. Read on:

II Timothy 1:8-10; “Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God; 9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, 10 But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:”

Paul makes it clear here that he is afflicted and later on we find that he is persecuted, but he also has not given up on the calling that the Lord has placed upon him. He knows that the Lord has saved him, not because of the good man that he was, and placed on him an holy calling. He knows it is not by his own merits, but it is only by the grace of God. Read on: