“Who am I?“
Everything else in life flows from this one question. And it is answered in many different ways by our culture today: I am what I do. I am what I accomplish. I am who I love.
Yet this question is too big to be answered by our culture or by our personal experiences. Our jobs change, as do our loves. Who are you when you lose your job, when someone you love is lost, or when your marriage falls apart?
God’s Word says you cannot know who you are apart from knowing the God who created you. Before you can know who you are, you need to know whose you are and what you were made for.
The biblical revelation reminds us that human beings are not self-explanatory. They derive their meaning from outside themselves, from God in whose image they are made.
John Stott
Yet many Christians still find themselves pursuing their identity in the same ways many people outside of the faith do. Why? The problem is that our faith is grounded in one reality while our lives are often grounded in another– a reality in which our faith is constantly contradicted and undermined.
To live in accordance with your true self and the life you were made for, you need to develop a new kind of commitment to your faith. It’s not just about believing the right things, but about seeing yourself as part of a larger story and learning to participate in the life of Jesus, who is the very image of the invisible God.
Over the next seven weeks, we are going to explore this larger story and this central relationship. Only through these things can your given identity be fully formed as God intended it to be. We are calling this sermon series, “What Was I Made For? A Christian Understanding of Identity.”
We cannot consistently behave in ways that are different from what we believe about ourselves.
Kenneth Boa
In addition to our weekly study guides and “Between 2 Sermons” videos (which will be available on our website), you may find the following resources helpful in learning more about the larger topic of identity, both in the Bible and in our culture today:
*Click on any title to learn more
Who God Says You Are: A Christian Understanding of Identity, by Klyne Snodgrass:
*An examination of nine factors that shape human identity and how they fit within God’s greater purpose for our lives
Known by God: A Biblical Theology of Personal Identity, by Brian Rosner:
*A balanced and down-to-earth study of what the Bible says about personal identity
Identity: Who You Are in Christ, by Eric Geiger:
*A short study on seven images the Bible uses to talk about a Christian’s identity
Garden City: Work, Rest and the Art of Being Human, by John Mark Comer:
*A readable and practical theology about calling and meaning in life
The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness, by Tim Keller:
*A short, published sermon on gospel-humility and the freedom it brings from self-condemnation
The Weight of Glory, by C.S. Lewis:
*A famous sermon given at the height of World War 2 that explores the concept of heavenly glory that is rooted in the dignity of every human being created in the image of God
*A readable history of the thinkers and writers who helped bring about a redefinition of human nature from the Enlightenment to the present
I look forward to diving deeper into these topics with you in the weeks ahead.
Pastor Rob
