Do You Know Who You Are?
“I will praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous and your works, and that my soul knows very well.” - Psalm 139:14
Maya Angelou, an American poet and Civil Rights Activist, once said “When I found that . . . I was a child of God, when I understood that, when I comprehended that . . . when I internalized that, I became courageous. I dared to do anything that was a good thing.”
That’s a wonderful statement, isn’t it? “When I found that . . . I was a child of God . . . I became courageous. I dared to do anything that was a good thing.” If you truly come to believe that you are a child of God, it will change your life.
In the 1960s and 70s, many young people were moved by a famous poem called Desiderata by Max Ehrmann. In this poem, Ehrmann declared grandly, “You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should . . ” - Max Ehrmann
The poet declares that every single person on this earth is here for a reason. The reason may be unclear to many, but everything in the universe is working perfectly as it should. Many people felt liberated and comforted by those words. But, dear Children of God, those words don’t compare to the words of St. Paul when he writes in Romans 8, “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.”
You need to know that you are not simply the product of a universe created by chance. You are the child of a loving God who watches over you from the day you were born. You are a child of God.
God’s Love for you
There will never come a time when God will ever stop loving you. Even if you spiritually wander away, God’s love for you is secure. “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.” - 1 John 3:1
Jesus makes that clear in his parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15. The son wanted to go far away from his father, and he wanted to enjoy his life through worldly pleasures and his own desires. He did not want to wait until his father was deceased to get his inheritance. He wanted his inheritance immediately! However, the father never stopped looking for his son’s return, and there was never any question in his heart that he would welcome his son home.
Being a child of God is a permanent relationship. We say that our love for our own children will never end. Then imagine how much love God is capable of. It’s so much that John declared, “He who does not love does not know God, for God is love” (1 John 4:8). Love defines God’s very nature. This is a profound truth.
Paul writes about our adoption by God. During the old Roman Empire, during an adoption, Roman society gave a child the full rights of a biological child. Because of the vulnerability of the adopted child, the new parents could NEVER abandon that child. They were responsible for that child from the point of adoption. In the same way, Jesus promised the disciples and us, “I’ll be with you always . . .” (Matt 28:20b). We are children of God and the Holy Spirit testifies to this fact. As children of God, we are heirs of God, beneficiaries of all of His power and resources, (Ephesians 1:3) and joint heirs with Christ.
God Identity of You
Many people who do not know God, struggle with their identity. They do not know their true identity in God.
Understand, if you do not know who you are, you will fall into sin and take on a false identity. You take an identity from a worldly group, and before long you will define yourself by a new false identity, a new false master. Understand that everyone is a slave to something. Everyone serves a master. That worldly master could be alcohol, drugs, lust, money, cigarettes, cars, gossip, or food. But worldly masters always make you a slave.
All too often you become enslaved by that identity. Do you know who you are? You are created in the image of God. Your identity should be founded in the light of God. “The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.” - Job 33:4. Because worldly masters will turn us into slaves, but God as our master turns us into His blessed children.
A French writer named Henri Barbusse (1874-1935) wrote about a conversation spoken by a group of wounded men during the First World War. One of the men tells another man, "Listen, Dominic, you have led a very bad life. Everywhere, you are wanted by the police. But there are no convictions against me. My name is clear. So, here. Take my wallet, take my papers, take my identity, take my good name, and my life. And quickly, hand me your papers that I may carry all your crimes away with me in death."
The Good News is that through Jesus, God made a similar offer. Something wonderful happens to us when we are baptized. When we are baptized, we identify ourselves with Jesus. When we are baptized, our lives are changed. Baptism enables and empowers us to do the things that Jesus wants us to do. We are able to identify with Jesus, because He was baptized. Such identification is life changing. That kind of identification shapes what we believe and claims us.
God’s Child, is You
But the world will try to make us believe in many lies. The world tells us many, many lies about who we are. Evil hearted people who only desire to bring us down will tell us: we are losers, unlovable, unworthy, incapable, deficient. When we hear these words, at times of trouble, we may begin telling those lies to ourselves as well. We must replace those lies within our hearts with God’s truth about us. We are children of the Most High God. We are loved with an everlasting love that gives us worth and confidence and a sense of purpose in life. We can walk through life with heads held high because God has called us His children. “Christianity is a love relationship between a child of God and his Maker through the Son Jesus Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit.” - Adrian Rogers
You are not unworthy, you are not unloved, you are not incapable, and you are not a disappointment. Hear these words today. You are blessed, you are holy, you are loved, you are capable, and you are strong. Because you are a child of God, created in His image and called as an inheritor to His kingdom. “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.” - John 1:12
Conclusion
As we leave this place today, I hope that we will do so with a new determination and confidence because of God who has adopted us as His own children. “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to son ship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children . . .” Romans 8:15-16. Amen.
