Who am I? (God’s view of us)

If you were to ask me who I am I would probably give altering answers according to when in my life that question was asked. In 40 years of my life I have taken on many roles that have shaped who I am today. These roles include or have been a son, student, a mascot, a husband, an Airmen, a veteran, a pastor, a dad, a brother and so on. If you were to take a moment and jot down all the different titles or roles you have held, it could be a long list too. Each one of those names you were to put down helped shape or define a part of who you are today. Still with all that, there is some greater titles and roles given to us when we come to Christ for salvation and receive Him in our lives.
Two Sundays ago, I preached on the question that Jesus asked His disciples, “Who do you say I am?” For this week’s blog I want to share what does God say I am when we come to Him for salvation. This may not be an exhausted list, but at least a little encouraging to see some of the ways God sees us.
First, we are children of God. In 1 John 3:1 it states, “3 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.” When we receive Christ in our lives we are adopted into the family of God. That of course is why we fellow followers of Christ call each other brothers and sisters. As children of God we can boldly go to the father with our requests. We are also loved by a heavenly Father; this love is a perfect love without strings attached. This also means we are heirs of the promise in Christ; that is to live in eternity with God forever.
Second, we are forgiven by grace. Paul writes in Ephesians 2:8-9, “8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.” Even though you may know this in your mind, it may be hard for us to accept sometimes. We live in a world where we must earn our way, whether it’s pay, respect and sadly in some relationships, love. Jesus, however, knew we could do nothing to take ourselves out of the sin that we were in, so He came to this world to pay the price of our salvation. Thank the Lord that we don’t need to earn it because we can’t.
Finally, we are being made new. Once again Paul states in Ephesians 4:22-24 “22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” Salvation is more than a decision made with a prayer, it’s a process, it’s forming in us Christ and the removal of the old self. For many this comes gradually and for others dramatically, but for all of us we are being made new in the Spirit.
Having a healthy view of who we are in God is just as important as having a clear view of who Jesus is. When we come to an understanding of who God sees us as, we can begin to stop dwelling in the past us and move on in the new us in Christ. Viewing who we are in God’s eyes helps us to know we are loved, changed and forgiven. Then we can start forgiving ourselves from our past and loving ourselves in a healthy and Godly way.