Who am I with respect to God and this world? If Jesus says his Kingdom is not of this world, how can I serve God and keep from being caught up in the way of this world? This world’s way is to draw me away from Christ into its labyrinth of enticements out of which there is no way. So, who am I in this world, and when temptation arises, what exactly is going on in me? Do I have the power to stop sinning? What does God require of me and how does temptation affect me with respect to His demands?
The Temptation of Christ reveals the manner in which I can be tempted. Christ was tempted in three different ways. Therefore, since He has been tempted in every element in which I am enticed (Hebrews 4:15), I can only be tempted in one or more of these three ways, namely, politics, religion and humanitarianism. However, whatever occurs during the crises of temptation cannot be really understood until I clearly understand what my identity is. If God’s word is true, then something happened to me when I received Christ as my Savior. Something or someone has affected me, and those in the world are not affected in entirely the same way. It is almost as though I have suddenly become an alien. I have been taken from this world and changed so that I am no longer of this world. Temptation is different for those who abide in Christ, not that we are enticed differently, or that we no longer feel drawn to evil, but the difference is in how we respond.
John the Baptist is an interesting figure in the New Testament, but Jesus implies he remains a figure of the Old Covenant. John is revealed as the very best of Adam’s race. There is none greater (Luke 7:28), and by his own confession he was not worthy to be the lowest servant in the household of God (Mark 1:7). Jesus agreed with John’s conclusion by saying that although John was a man unsurpassed in righteousness among those born of women (Matthew 11:11), he was not in the Kingdom of God. Therefore, if John’ righteousness did not attain to the Kingdom of God, what chance have I of ever being what God expects of me? On the other hand, God has awesome plans for all mankind! David was aware of this vast discrepancy concerning who we are and what God has intended man to be (cp. Psalm 8:3-4).
Who am I really? Why was I born? Am I only the genetic product of the union of two groups of people through the marriage of my mother and father? In this age of molecular biology with its nearly daily discoveries concerning the building blocks of life, who am I? Am I trapped within the code of my own DNA? Am I imprisoned by the laws of physical nature? Is my life related only to my family and my environment, or is there also an unseen and perhaps unaccounted for relationship? Is there such a thing as moral responsibility, or am I bound to choose and act only according to the map of life I inherited at birth? Am I free to choose who I desire to be? Am I able to desire anything other than who I am? Is there something more to me, than what others know and what I can see, hear, taste, smell or touch?
Am I related to God in some way, not because of anything I have done, but simply because I exist? Who is Jesus and how does he affect my identity? Who am I, really? Why was I born? Are there answers to these questions, or are human beings, by some freakish evolutionary happenstance, the only life form that wonders about such things?
If I should be asked, “Who are you,” what would my answer be? Would it be related to my job such as a mechanic, carpenter, or salesman? I could relate my answer to my family and say: I am a husband, wife, father or mother etc. If I am politically orientated, I might identify myself with my country and say that I am an American, a republican or democrat. On the other hand, if I am a religious person I might say that I’m a Catholic, Lutheran, Baptist or Wesleyan. Perhaps if I am very sensitive to how others thought of me, I could define myself in words like beautiful or ugly, lazy or ambitious, humorous or dull, good or bad, strong or weak. If asked, how would I answer? If my life is a product of my parents plus my environment, why is this question so difficult to answer? Is there some sense missing? For example, how would I convey sound to a deaf man, or the concepts of tune, beat or music? How could I convey color, light or contrast to a blind person? Am I missing a sense that would perhaps enable me to better know who I am and how I am known by God (cp. 1Corinthians 13:10, 12)? If so, was this quality lost in the past, perhaps in Eden?
Jesus said that he is the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6). Before I knew Jesus, Adam was my way, my truth, and my life. Who am I? I am Christ’s possession. He lives in me. In times of hardship, trials or temptation, he is my strength, my righteousness and my sure supply—he is my all in all (Colossians 3:3-4, 11). I cannot know myself nor can anyone else know me without knowing my Savior, just as any person born of woman cannot really be defined without knowing Adam, the rebel of Eden. All I was able to know, all I was able to do or to experience came from abilities and the five senses I inherited ultimately from him (1Corinthians 2:9, 11). Adam defined me, and whatever he lacked I also lacked. There was something empty about Adam after his fall, and that emptiness is found in me, and it cannot be filled! with anything I find in Adam’s world! If I am truly not my own (1Corinthians 6:19), then my identity is found in the one who is my way, my truth, and my life. If this is Adam, then Adams limitations are also my own. My moral fiber would be defined by his integrity, and I am certainly no better than he was on my best day. If, on the other hand, I belong to Jesus, knowing me is found in knowing him; the moral fiber that identifies the power, righteousness or provisional endowments I use when faced with trouble, trials or temptations, would be made clear in knowing Jesus, my Savior (1Corinthians 2:9-12); John 14:6). In other words, the answer to: “Who am I?” depends upon whose I am![1]
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[1] This Study has been updated as of December, 2024.
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