Who am I?

That is a tough question to answer. Artificial Intelligence told me it is a "deeply personal question with many different layers." I suppose that is true. Who am I? What have I become in 67 years of life? What defines me now? Where am I going? On and on... A lot of layers, for sure.

As a Christian, I find throughout scripture that I have an identity that is granted to me through faith in Jesus Christ. It is not an identity that I have to establish on my own. It is not based on my past or my future under the sun. I am still me, but everything that I am on planet earth - my profession, being a husband, father, and employer, the good and the bad, all have an anchor in who I am in Christ, because that transcends anything I am or hope to become. My efforts always bring me to an end. My failures always lead to shame. But being anchored in Christ gives me hope beyond measure... more than I can achieve through my greatest, most noble acts... more than my failures deserve. It is a hope that has been gifted to me and it is open to all who will believe.

IAMEPH2

Ephesians Chapter 2

Ephesians Chapter 2 gives me a montage of the things I am. Every “you,” “your,” “we,” and “us,” in that passage defines who I am. In this chapter I find that...

I am greatly loved of God.

I am alive together with Christ. (As Jesus was raised from the dead, I have been raised to life from spiritual deadness and given a new identity in Christ.)

I am seated in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. (Yes, present tense! God is eternal and he says I am as good as there. That speaks of my eternal security in Christ. No one can take me out of his hands.)

I am proof of the boundless riches of God’s grace and kindness.

I am saved by grace through faith in Christ, not by religious zeal or right living. Not by any work of my own. I am forgiven. My past is erased, My future is secure.)

I am God’s workmanship. (He is not finished with me yet.)

I am one who has access to God.

I am near to God.

I am a citizen of God's Kingdom, together with all the saints.

I am a member of God’s household.

I am unable to boast of anything because Jesus accomplished it all and gifted it to me.

I am a dwelling place for God’s Spirit.

Through Jesus Christ, I am all of these things and much more.

In short, I am a recipient of God's great mercy, love and grace. Though it costs me nothing, it cost Jesus everything and he gifted it to me.

“For 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.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)