Remembering who we are & Whose we are

Ask any of our three grown children about my favorite goodbye phrase … the one I’ve signed off with since they were young children. They will reply: “Remember who you are & Whose you are!”

Sound advice for all of us as we face a multitude of uncertainties in this unpredictable world where we live. The Bible says a lot about both imperatives … which in turn speaks to being equipped and mobilized to follow Jesus.

The apostle Paul wrote about “who we are” in his letter to 1st Century Christians in Ephesians 1:3–14. Among the many blessings and attributes listed below, take several minutes to ponder the ones underlined:

• “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,  just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory. In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation – having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.”

Notice, also, the causal reality behind these blessings and attributes … the Triune God … God the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. In other words, God defines our identity … not our parents, not our geography, not our income, not the culture, nor anything or anyone else … God alone determines “who we are”!

Regarding “Whose we are” Paul again makes it clear and succinct in 1 Corinthians 6:19–20 … notice the context in the preceding verses, beginning with verse 11.

• “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.”

I professed faith in Jesus as a young boy of eight-years-old, and then proceeded to live a “comfortable” Christian lifestyle through high school … active in church groups, assuming roles of leadership, and learning a lot about God’s Word … thanks largely to a strong Christian family environment. It wasn’t until my freshman year of college that God used circumstances and experiences to confront me with the reality that He owned me and my future. He had purchased me with the blood of His Son, yet I had been thinking and acting like I had control of my life.

“Remember who you are & Whose you are!” … tape it to your bathroom mirror, on your vehicle’s dashboard, at the top of your computer screen, or someplace where you’ll look at it often.

As men seeking to daily follow in the footsteps of Jesus, let’s draw our identity and our purpose from Him!

How about you? Leave a comment expressing ways that knowing “who you are & Whose you are” have impacted, or will change your daily experience.

Peace & Joy!

~ tr