Who I Am

Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?  For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.
1 Corinthians 6: 19-20 NKJV

It's something I often wondered before discovering the truth of Jesus Christ.  Just who it is that I am?  I'm talkning of that person beyond the flesh and blood that this world sees, who am I really?  There are alot of thoughts out there of just what this entails.  However, it takes a unique realization for one to come to grips with who they truly are inside.  Are we truly good or wicked beyond redemption?   I believe that neither of these truly define who we truly are.  I believe where we need to start in our realization of who we truly are is to revisit just how it is we were created.  Where do we come from?  Yes, physically we have our human dna, but where did that originate?  I don't  buy the once popular narative that mankind somehow evolved from apes.  For even these ancestors needed to be created from something.

So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them..
Genesis 1:27 NKJV

It is in the begining, in the very first chapter of genesis where we get a clue as to who we would eventually become.  For with His spoken word, our heavenly Father breathed life into a lifeless form.  From that moment forward, mankind walked the earth which God created.  This is  the origin of who we really are, created in the exact image of our loving Lord.  One important thing that needs mention here is the appearance of  the very image of our creator.  I believe that this is not a physical image, but a spiritual one.  So, while we were indeed created in the image of our Lord, that image is not physical but spiritual.

"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself  for me."
Galations 2:20 NKJV

The truth of our true identity is revealed to us by the apostle Paul in Galations 6:20.  It is here where Paul tells us of the true identity that now inhabited him.  Yes, he was flesh and blood as we ourselves are, but that did not define him.  The truth that Paul realized is revealed here, "It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me."  Now, how much different of an opinion  would we have of ourselves knowing that Jesus Christ lives in us?  We know the virtues of Jesus, sinless, kind, merciful and loving.  As the spirit of Jesus resides within us, so does His character.  For we ourselves, can be Jesus.  Well, we ourselves can exemplify him through actions.

"You are the light of the world.  A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.  Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."
Matthew 5: 14-16 NKJV

If Jesus is indeed in us, as Paul tells us, then we can exemplify Him each and every day.  I believe that this is part of our Lords intimate relationship with His creation, that He may work in the lives of  others through His creation.  That is not saying that our Lord can and does work through those who do not know Him, for we are ALL created in our Fathers image.  This is not a christian and non believer issue, for when God breathed life into His creation, it was to all He created.  The realization we must come to when it comes to our true identity is not one of wickedness nor of sinners saved by grace, but by the living spirit of Jesus living in each of us.

~Scott~