Life Series — Part Two — Who Am I?

Welcome to GodSaidManSaid.  We’re so glad you’ve come.  May the face of the Lord shine upon you and your house with light and truth.  This series, which we’ve titled the “Life Series,” will surely deliver the fundamental secrets of dominant victory—not just an occasional victorious day, but a dominating confession supported by the God who can assure that today is the best day of your life and that tomorrow will be better.

Dear visitor, have you embraced the very first secret of dominant victory, of eternal life in Christ Jesus?  Have you been born a second time?  Do it today!  Would you like peace and everlasting purpose?  Would you like to be free of fear and uncertainty?  Would you like to be absolved and delivered from all guilt and shame?  Today is your day of salvation—the day of your new beginning.  Click onto “Further With Jesus” for instant entry into the Kingdom of God.  NOW FOR TODAY’S SUBJECT.  

This is Part Two of the “Life Series.”  In Part One, we reviewed various scriptures that denote who God is.  The common misconceptions concerning who God is are colossal.  He is surely not the smiley-face bumper sticker.  A special note: do not short-cut this series.  If you have not read or listened to “Life Series – Part One – Who Is God?” do not continue until you do.  Click on it above, and then return here to continue.  We will wait for you.

A quick review of Part One follows:

1. God is the Creator of all spiritual and physical things.  Following His owner’s manual, the Holy Bible, delivers optimal life.    

2. God is Truth.  Two plus two equals four, and 3.9 just won’t do no matter how reasonably it is presented.  God has zero tolerance.  That’s the nature of truth.

3. God is Light.  God is the illuminator and life-giver of all that pertains to man, both spiritually and physically.  The secret to Proverbs 4:18 is “Route 7 North—Obedience.”

4. God is Love and His love is surely not unconditional.  His love is solely found in His only begotten Son, Christ Jesus.

5. God is the God of fierce judgment.  He is not to be trifled with.  Hebrews 2:3: “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation;”

6. God requires true fidelity.  Only the First Voice will do and Cherubims guard the way.

“Part Two” is “Who Am I?”  Believe me, we are not who we think we are.

GOD SAID, Deuteronomy 32:7-8:

7 Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations: ask thy father, and he will show thee; thy elders, and they will tell thee.

8 When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel.

GOD SAID, Luke 3:38:

Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.

MAN SAID: Man is basically good, and given enough time, he will evolve into a utopian, beautiful, benevolent “animal” void of the need of any god or supernatural input.

Now THE RECORD.  It’s imperative when approaching God to know who God is and to know who I am.  The present dilemma of sin and death, under which the world finds itself laboring, is a result of something that transpired in the very beginning of time.  Students of the Word of God know that the world’s first man, Adam, who was a son of God, and his wife Eve were created perfect and immortal.  The Spirit of life dwelt in them.  They dwelt in Paradise.  And, yes, they were to live forever.  When Eve, in an act of unbelief and disobedience, ate of the forbidden tree, and when Adam followed her lead, they lost the Spirit of life.  They died spiritually that very day.  Later they would also die physically.  Because our great-grandparents lost the Spirit of life, they could no longer pass it on to their progeny.  Consequently, all sons and daughters of Adam have been spiritually stillborn.  You and I came into this world as a son or daughter of Adam and Eve, and not a son or daughter of God.  Ephesians 2:1:

And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins:

Basically, we were born wrong.  We were born dead—spiritually dead.  God’s cornerstone to the solution of this horrendous problem is a way of escape known as the plan of salvation, through the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten Son.  This makes it possible for mankind to be born-again—born a second time.  This time we’re quickened, or made alive, by the Holy Ghost.  If you are born-again, you have begun the journey to eternal life as a son or daughter of God.  If you are not born-again, you are still a son or daughter of Adam, dead in trespasses and sins.  Click onto “Further With Jesus” to discover how to end this dilemma now.

The preliminary recap of this feature article so far on “Who Am I?” is as follows.  We have established that:

1. All mankind are sons and daughters of Adam and Eve.

2. Because of the fall, we were all spiritually stillborn.

3. The only way of escape is to be born a second time.

4. At this moment, you can only be in one of two conditions: born-again or not.

When one is born-again, it is the beginning of a development process where all true children of God begin to be fashioned in the likeness of Jesus Christ.  The day one is born into the family of God is not the end of the journey, but rather its beginning.

Whether one is born-again or not, all must deal with basic carnal traits—traits which are extremely hard to detect.  Proverbs 21:2:

Every way of a man is right in his own eyes:

Who am I?  Basic nature says to us: “If I do it, it’s all right, or at least I can justify it in my own eyes.  But if someone else does it, that’s another issue.”  For example, if an individual knows of someone who is unfaithful to his or her spouse, that unfaithful spouse is seen as a tramp or lustful low-life.  Conversely, if the shoe is on the other foot, the same individual will attempt to rationalize his or her infidelity with arguments such as, “He doesn’t love me anymore,” or “I don’t love my mate anymore,” or “God couldn’t possibly want me to live in a relationship without love,” or “This marriage was not made in Heaven,” or “My spouse refused to satisfy my personal needs,” or any of many excuses.  Of course, the Word of God is correct: “Every way of a man is right in his own eyes:”

Along the same line of thought, Discover magazine, in a December 2005 article, quoted a particular psychologist in a story titled, “Why People Behave Nicely.”  He said, “We humans have a variety of ways of perceiving ourselves as smarter, more skilled, and more appealing than we are in reality.  ...  People also tend to consider themselves more attractive than others says they are.” [End of quote]  For more info on this subject, click onto “Basic Nature” on GodSaidManSaid. 

Who am I?  Another very common and dangerous trait is to trust your heart.  Jeremiah 17:9:

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

Do you know your own heart?  Do you love your children and not your neighbors?  Do you love yourself and not your neighbor?  Do you say you love God while you hate your brother?  Jesus said in Matthew 15:16-20:

16 And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding?

17 Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught?

18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.

19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:

20 These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.

The pure heart that has been sanctified by Christ, on the other hand, will bring forth good things.  Luke 6:45:

A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.

The regenerated heart must also be maintained and monitored.  Proverbs 4:23:

Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.

The heart requires extremely close scrutiny.  Many times, love is choked out and justifiable bitterness will grow up in a believer who does not rule over his heart with authority.

Who am I?  How do I approach God?  Do I approach Him as confident in my own knowledge in an issue, or comfortable with my opinion?  Our approach is critical beyond explanation.  On GodSaidManSaid, a fictitious story was recounted of a man seeking wisdom.  He searched the world over without success.  One day, he heard of an ancient wise man who lived at the top of a very high mountain.  The seeker of wisdom mapped and meticulously planned his trip to seek an audience with and gain wisdom from this venerable sage.

After considerable effort and numerous dangers, our seeker of wisdom arrived at the very top of the wise man’s mountain.  There he found the wise man’s abode.  At the entrance stood a guard who asked the seeker the purpose of his visit.  The guard went in to inform the sage and returned to usher in the visitor.  The old man sat behind a large, round, rock table that seemed to protrude from the mountain.  In the middle of the table was a small fire upon which sat a teapot.  The wise man asked the visitor of his quest.  The visitor said he had searched all over the world for wisdom without success and that with this visit he hoped to have finally found it.  The old man took two empty tea cups and set them at the table.  He took the teapot and filled both cups to the brim.  Then he handed the teapot to the visitor and told him to pour tea into the cups.  The visitor rightly responded that he could not for the cups were full.  The ancient sage said, “Neither can I give you wisdom for your cup is full.”  We must approach God with humility and an empty cup and not carnal self-confidence, invariably thinking we are more knowledgeable than we actually are.                                                                            

Who am I?  Do I really know myself?  Am I a compromiser?  Do I tell white lies?  Do I deceive?  Am I a spiritual sloth?  Am I a hypocrite?  Am I a gossip or tale-bearer?  Am I a ready judge of others?  Do I manipulate things from those I love?  Do I judge myself?  Do I hunger and thirst for righteousness?  Do I take God’s promises in my mouth, but cast His Words behind my back?  Am I a tare?  May God have mercy on my soul.

Who am I?  The Word of God declares in Romans 7:18, 21-25:

18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.

21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.

22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:

23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

Jesus Christ, His precious blood, and God’s mercy are the solution to the carnal dilemma.  Romans 8:1-2:

1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

Telling the truth in my heart is not as easy as it seems. 

Let’s review what we’ve discovered in this article:                          

1. All mankind are sons and daughters of Adam and Eve.

2. Because of the fall, we were all spiritually stillborn.

3. The only way of escape is to be born a second time.

4. At this moment, you can only be in one of two conditions: born-again or not.

5. Salvation is a journey that is finally completed when we see Jesus face to face and become as He is.

6. Basic carnal traits are extremely hard to detect.

7. Every man’s way is right in his own eyes.