Who Am I?

Who am I? That is a question that has been on my mind a lot lately. This question is not centered around my purpose or my future. I know that God already has those things taken care of. But in this big story that He is writing, who am I?

When I look at the world today, and I am sure that it has always been this way, people care so much about their image. They care about their outward appearance. They care about their financial status. They care about their athletic/musical/artistic reputation. They care so much about how the rest of the world perceives them, but in the big story of God, who are they? Who am I?

I think back over my past and I can recall sin after sin after sin. I could probably tell you of how I have broken every one of the Ten Commandments in just the past week alone. The first part of Isaiah 64:6 summarizes my life when it says, "All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags." When you study the original language of this passage, you find that by "filthy rags", Isaiah is literally meaning "menstrual cloths". And some people think that we can get to Heaven by works alone? What are you planning on giving God? Your menstrual cloths?

Or let's think about it this way. If we were to number our sins each day, I am sure that we would all be in the double, triple, or even quadruple digits. But for easy math sake, let's say that we sin only 3 times a day. That's pretty good, huh? Well if I could use myself as an example, I am 21 years old. Let's multiply 3 times the total number of days I have been alive.

3 x 365 (days in a year) = 1095 sins in one year
1095 x 21 (years old) = 22,995 sins by my 21st birthday

I will exclude all the days since my birthday. Imagine now that you died tonight and you were standing before God and He asked, "Why should I let you into Heaven?" Can you imagine handing God that sort of resume? What would you expect Him to say? I would absolutely dread each day of my life if I knew that my salvation rested upon my works.

I say that last sentence as if it doesn't apply to me because, well, it doesn't apply to me. My salvation is NOT based off of works, it is based off of grace. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, "By GRACE you have been saved through faith, it is a gift of God, not by works..." By grace, God provided His Son, Jesus Christ to die for my sins. It was as if Jesus met me in Heaven with my resume and claimed it as His own. And then He gave me His, which was a completely clean, sinless list. It was a gift from God that was so undeserved.

But just like any gift, you are not forced to receive it. In fact, you have to make a decision as to whether you want that gift or not. Do you want grace or do you want to take your chances? Do you want Jesus or do you want your resume? Which do you think God will accept?

I have somewhat gone off on a tangent, but I will come back to where I started. In light of all that has just been said, who am I? Who am I to stand before my Savior and think that I am anybody? Who am I to stand before the Creator of the universe and think that I am anybody? Who am I to stand before the all-powerful, all-knowing, eternal God and think that I am anybody? My righteousness is like filthy rags.

For some reason, God has chosen to make me His son (Romans 8:12-17). He has chosen to give me salvation (John 3:16). He has chosen to give me His Spirit (John 14:16-19). And all of this is so amazing to me because who am I? Who am I that God would look down upon me and send His only Son to die for me? Who am I?

Really, based on my outward appearance, and my financial status, and my athletic/musical/artistic reputation, I have nothing to offer you. I have nothing to offer the world. I am just a sinner saved by grace. I have failed at every area of my life, but God has still given me salvation. And in that, I have everything to offer. I have faith, I have hope, and I have love. I have been given the Gospel (literally, "Good news") of Jesus Christ, and that is what holds me together (Colossians 1:17). As I have pondered the question of who I am, I have found my answer in Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 4:7 says, "But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us." What a beautiful description of who we really are. We are all jars of clay. Some jars are older than others. Some jars are more broken than others. But in reality, there is no value in any of us. But there is a treasure in some that gives it infinite value. And there is enough treasure to spread to every other jar, to every other soul on this earth.

When I travel the globe to share the Gospel, or when I stand before my church, or when I share my life with anyone, it is not because I see myself as valuable. It is because I see what I have as valuable. I have been given a treasure from the living God, and this treasure brings salvation. I could care less about my image. I could care less about my reputation. If only you could see past this jar and see the real treasure...