Last week we learned from Romans 12:3 the importance of having a correct understanding of ourselves. Otherwise, we can become arrogant, feel that we are great, smart, strong, and right, when in fact it is not. Or conversely, we can become inferior, not realizing the gifts and abilities that God has given to us so that we can use them to serve Him. Let us read the verse again, "For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you."
To avoid looking at ourselves or thinking of things that are higher than we ought to think, we must identify ourselves properly. In general, this is often referred to as a "self-image." But I prefer to use the term "self-identity." “Self-image” tends to focus more on ourselves and how we see ourselves. While “self-identity" focuses more on how we see ourselves as God sees us. Only when we have the correct self-identity can we have the right view and attitude towards ourselves.
There are five essential elements to having a correct identity:
1. We are precious humans created by God in His image. Let us read Genesis 1:26-27: "Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and overall the creatures that move along the ground.” So, God created mankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them." Knowing ourselves, as human beings created by God in His image and because of that we are unbelievably valuable, is vital for us. Especially because we live in America where many people, teachers, and scientists teach that humans are the result of the evolutionary development of apes; Therefore, in their view, humans are only animals with high intellectual abilities. With such a concept, it is not surprising that, for example, they did many abortions without feeling guilty because they do not understand the value of human beings. And because they do not believe that they are created by God who has purposed for their lives, many of them also experience emptiness in their lives.
We must know that we are humans, not animals, created in God's image. We get our image from God, not from ourselves or others. Therefore, we are valuable in the eyes of God. Something is interesting about the creation story. After God created man, Genesis 1:31 states, "God saw all that he had made, and it was very good." Before God created humans, He saw everything that He created was good (verses 10,12,18,21, and 25). But after He created Adam and Eve, He saw everything He made was very good (verse 31). After Adam and Eve, He created humans through their parents miraculously. Psalm 139 especially verses 13-14 tells “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." It is truly miraculous how 23 chromosomes from the mother in her egg cells, and 23 chromosomes from the father and sperm that are so small, can produce such a complex human being with trillions of brain cells and various body organs. They are amazing. Some say that the human brain has a memory capacity equivalent to 10 million Gigabytes. If our brain is like a music player, it can play music for 2000 years.
So, we have to respect ourselves. Regardless of our physical condition, we are still more valuable than animals and everything else. Do you still remember Lizzie Velásquez, who suffers from a genetic disorder had an abnormal physical condition? For years she was insecure, frustrated, and angry with her situation. People often bullied her and called her: "The ugliest woman in the world." However, praise God, when she realized that she was a creation of God made in His image, she gained confidence. Lizzie found the self-identity that is not based on her appearance, physical condition, intelligence, or abilities, but on the image of God in her. She is now a motivator who is invited everywhere to teach young people to have a true self-identity. As Christians, we must know that humans are higher in rank than animals. So, it would be wrong if there are people who love or prioritize their pets more than humans or their own families. It does not in line with the teachings of the Bible. Illustration: You may have heard of a cat named Tommaso who got an inheritance from Maria Assunta for $ 13 million. Or about Gigoo, a Scots Dump hen owned by the textbook publisher, Miles Blackwell. Blackwell left little Gigoo $16 million in his will. Or about German Countess Karlotta Liebenstein, who inherited her dog, Gunther IV, $106 million when she died. Those amounts of money could help thousands, even millions of orphans and poor people in many places.
With the understanding that we are valuable humans that God created, we will not only respect ourselves more, but we will also respect Him more, our Creator. We increasingly realize that we are only His creations, while God is our Creator. Therefore, we honor Him, worship Him, and submit to Him. Without having a correct self-concept of who we are, we will experience several possibilities:
A. We may not believe in God, like those atheist evolutionists. We will live without a clear and definite meaning and purpose so that our lives are only focused on ourselves, our families, and the things that exist in this world. Christian apologist William Lane Craig once wrote, "If there is no God, then man and the universe are doomed. Like prisoners condemned to death, we await our unavoidable execution. There is no God, and there is no immortality. And what is the consequence of this? It means that life itself is absurd. It means that the life we have is without ultimate significance, value, or purpose." Craig's statements have been echoed by evangelical pastor Rick Warren, who wrote in his 60-million-copy bestseller The Purpose Driven Life, "You were made by God and for God, and until you understand that life will never make sense."
B. We may believe in and worship a God who is not God as revealed in the Bible. I love watching historical films and documentaries. Some time ago, I was sad to see people in India who believed in thousands of gods and goddesses in the form of various animals such as cows, monkeys, and rats, so they worshiped these animals. You can see it from the pictures in the PowerPoint. What about Muslims, who are currently fasting, do they worship the same God as the God stated in the Bible? Many Christians think the God of Muslims and Christians are the same because they both believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But the more I studied Islam, the more I became convinced that their God is different. Their concept of God or Allah is a creation of Muhammad. For example, they do not believe in a triune God. According to them, God is one, so they wrongly view Christians as blaspheming because we believe in three Gods, namely God the Father, Jesus, and the mother of Jesus, Mary. Therefore, they do not believe that Jesus is the Son of God, who became a Man. They do not believe that Jesus was crucified so they also do not believe in the resurrection of Jesus. According to the Apostle John, they are antichrists: “This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world." (1 John 4:2-3). They also do not believe that God is a spirit. And there are still many of their concepts about God and humans that are different from Christianity. We need to pray for them so that they will gain a true understanding of God. I feel sorry for them. Many of them are kind. Some of us may have nice Muslim neighbors and friends. Sadly, they don't know that they believe and worship the wrong god.
C. We may serve God without the right understanding. Romans 10:2-3 says: “For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness of God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness." The Apostle Paul witnessed some people who devoted themselves to serving their God, like this man, Sadhu Amar Bharati who has lifted his right hand for 45 years to show his dedication to Siwa. Some people even as recently happened in many places, were willing to kill others and themselves for their god. Surely, they have a misconception about God.
So, brothers and sisters, we see how important it is for us to have a correct self-identity, centered on God, our Creator as the Bible states. We must understand "Biblical Cosmology" about the order of position in creation. At the top position is God, the Creator of everything. The second is the human whom God created in His image. Next are the animals, plants, nature, and the universe. When humans are above God, like people who do not believe in God who made themselves gods, that is wrong. When animals, trees, plants, and nature are above humans, that is also wrong. But, because of their ignorance, we see how many people worship the sun, moon, big trees, mountains, or mother nature, and various animals.
Understanding the order of position in creation can help us know what to do in certain difficult situations. For example, if two were about to drown, one was your pet, the other was a child, which one would you rescue if you could only rescue one? Of course, the boy, right? But not all people would do that. A 2013 study conducted by researchers at Regents University and Cape Fear Community College found that, when faced with a hypothetical situation in which they could save only their pet or a human “foreign tourist” from being hit by a bus, 40% of participants chose their pet. In another case, in his article on May 31, 2016, Dave Bry said: “I can't believe I have to say it: a human life is worth more than a gorilla's.” He responded to many people who protested the shooting of a gorilla to protect a young boy who fell into his enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo. Bry: “As much as I love animals – and I love them very much – the idea that the life of a cat or a dog or a lion or a gorilla is as important as the life of a human is a terrible one, a wrong one, an insulting one.”
When we have the correct self-identity, we will see ourselves correctly, we are not arrogant because we are just God's creations, and we also will not become inferior because we are made in God's image. We are very precious creatures. We will also have a right understanding of God and serve the true God of the universe. Besides that, we will also treat others with respect and care for them because they also are created in God’s image. Next week we will look at four other elements of our self-identity based on what God reveals in the Bible.
