It has surprised me over the years how many of my questions of God are answered in the first few chapters of Genesis.  We live in a time where we are pulled in a thousand different directions at once, it can be easy to lose sight of things, to get off course with our lives.  Such was the case for me personally recently, and I hope my sharing will be an encouragement for all of you.  The question I was going to God with, which had been weighing on me for some time, was “who am I?”.  There are so many ways I could label myself – son, brother, friend, corporate finance worker, teacher of God’s Word, foodie, dog-lover, wanna-be-fisherman, evangelist, gym/health conscious, and on and on I could go.  Each of these labels represents time and outside forces/desires that press on me from time to time to conform me to be that thing.  Ultimately, any of those things, even good things like going to the gym are empty and easily replaced by the next thing to come along in a day.  It’s exhausting.  It’s life-draining.  It’s soul-killing.

So I spent some time last night reading through Genesis, asking the question – “who am I?” to God.  Am I the sum total of my relationships?  If so, that would be sad because I have failed those around me many times, and they have failed me.  Am I the work that I do?  It certainly reflects on what I see is important, which again is sad, because as a sinner often my “work” has resulted in pain and suffering.  Am I the love I have for those around me?  Certainly this has a more pleasant taste to consider only the best of me, but it would fall short in reality, because I know it does not encompass my whole person.  No, none of these answers would do, because I was asking a question I could not answer.  If you want to know the meaning of a painting, and you have the means, you wouldn’t ask a random observer, you would ask the painter.  If I want to know who I am, I had to find the answer from my Creator.
Genesis 1:26-27 – “God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.”, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”

God gave the answer simply – I am an image bearer of God.  You are too.  You are not the work you do, you are not your last relationship, you are an image bearer of God.  He has molded you, formed you through life’s good times and bad, such that you might bear the image of God more brightly to the world.  The rest of the world will pull on you, push you down, and claim rights over you, but their voice does not matter because the Truth is already known by you – you are God’s, you were made in His image to reveal the light of His glory into a dark and dying world.  Jesus tells us in Matthew 11:29-30 – “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”  We were not meant to be defined by anyone or anything apart from our identity from God.  If your soul needs rest, find it in who Jesus says you are in Him.  You are saved by grace alone – there is no “work” you need do, save believe that Jesus has done all the “work” that needed to be done on the cross in your place.  John 6:28-29 – ” they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” You don’t even have to try to muster up faith on your own, Jesus gives us the faith to believe.  Ephesians 2:8-9 – “by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

We have one label, one identity – and that is that we are image bearers of God.  It is who we were created to be.  We are conformed into the image of God by God Himself, the Holy Spirit in us, more and more as we see and savor God from the Bible.  Everything else we do in life must flow out from that identity, or it will be an idol – separating us from God seeking to own you.  Everyone around you who helps remind you of the gospel and your identity in Jesus is a friend and a help.  Everyone else is a mission field – an object of God’s love to call people away from darkness and into light.  We are all susceptible to allowing the world in too much where we lose sight of who we are in Jesus, it is necessary and good to daily surround ourselves with God’s people to remind us of the Truth.  Hebrews 10:23-25 – “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.  And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” 

My hope is that this will lift burdens off from you as it has me.  We don’t have to do 100 things today, we just have to do one – be an image bearer for Jesus.  We don’t have to make 100 people happy – we just have to be who we were called to be by Jesus.   Everything else will flow from that.  The only “good” that will come in my life will be what comes from Jesus in me, more of Him and less of me is a good thing.  He must increase and we must decrease for our good and joy.

 

Grace and Peace,

Adam