I AM WHO GOD SAYS I AM – PART TWO

Friends, we want to conclude the message we started last time: I Am Who God Says I Am.

PRAYER:

Father, we’ve come again, and I pray now that you would…erh…again help us to understand from Your Word, particularly, this topic we are dealing with today, that we would understand from Your Word who You have said we are; and believe who You have said we are, that we might become that which You say we are…In Jesus Name. Amen!

Last time, we observed that it is only God who can, I Am Who I Am; I Am Who I Say I Am. But, for us humans, for us mortal men and women, we can only say we are who God says we are – I am who God says I am. And you can say you are who God says you are.

We saw that Abraham became who God said he was. What Abraham was at the point when God was saying, and he was a Father of Multitudes, was far different from the reality. At that point he didn’t have a child – not even one. But yet God said, you are a Father of multitudes of people. Abraham believed Him. And that was what he became.

God appeared to Gideon. That was the second scripture we read last time, from Judges Chapter 16:12

Judges 16:12

¹²And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him, and said to him, “The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor!”

Then the Lord turned to him and said, in verse 14:

¹⁴…“Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hands of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?”

Initially, Gideon was skeptical. But when he believed what God said about him, he became who God said he was. And that is why we read in Judges 8, if we fast-forward.

Judges 8:28

²⁸ Thus Midian was subdued before the children of Israel, so that they lifted their heads no more. And the country [of Israel] was quiet for forty years in the days of Gideon.

God said to Jacob, your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel: the prince – prince with God; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed. That’s in Genesis 32:28. And he became prince with God. But, prior to that time, he was a swindler. He was a conman. He was a 4-1-9 man. But God told him he was prince with God. And that is what he became when he believed God.

Friend, you should ask yourself: who does God say I am? One Christian writer, an American, Philip Yancey, in his interesting book, What is so amazing about grace… In that book, he made this observation: he said, :Sociologists have a theory of the looking glass self.” That is, the self, the person we see when we look in the mirror. And he said, “You become what the most important person in your life says or thinks about you.” And he mentioned some of the most important persons in or lives: your wife, your father, your boss, and past your husband. And then he continued. He said, “How would my life change if I truly believed the bible’s outstanding words about God’s love for me; if I looked in the mirror that is God’s Word and saw what God sees?”

And that’s what we want to do for the rest of our time, today.

We want to look in the mirror of the Word of God to see and to hear what God thinks, what God sees and what God says about me, about you.

This would bring the desired change in your life, friend, in my life, also – if only you would believe what God says. God says in his Word, that I am His adopted child saved by grace, and given divine rights and privileges.

John 1:12

¹² But as many as received Him [Jesus], to them [God has given or God] gave the right to become Children of God, to those who believe in His name.

And in,

Romans 8:15-17

¹⁵ For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” ¹⁶ The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, ¹⁷ and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.

When you become a joint heir with Christ as a result of being adopted into the family of God, it means then you have access: equal access, to the things of God that Jesus had access to – Equal access! Joint heir! Co heir with Christ. Who am I? God’s adopted child by grace – A joint heir with Christ. Who am I? I am crucified with Christ, risen with Christ and seated in a vantage position in the heavenly places with Christ. Ephesians 2:4 says,

Ephesians 2:4-5

⁴ But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, ⁵ even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)

Friend, have you been saved by grace? If you have been saved by grace through faith in the finished works of Jesus Christ, then you are raised up to be with him together in the heavenly places. What a glorious position to occupy!

Friends, God also says, through Christ who loved me, that I am more than conqueror. In other words, I have full victory. Full victory over what? This is from Romans 8:35-39. I have full victory over troubles, over distress, over persecutions, over hunger, over nakedness, over danger, over violent death, over principalities and powers (that is, ruling evil spirits), over everything above me, over everything below me – over everything else in the whole world. This is what I am in Christ.

Who am I? God says I am the ambassador of Christ representing heaven on earth, and enjoying ambassadorial privileges that are out of this world. That is what God says in 2 Corinthians 5: 20. What an awesome position to occupy!

– Ambassador of Christ

The president Muhammadu Buhari is in the process of appointing ambassadors; because the ones are under the old administration. And if you receive a call from him from Abuja, and to say that you have been appointed an ambassador to coconut island, you would call a party. And you would invite your friends; and you would rejoice, because the president of Nigeria has made you an ambassador to coconut island.

But friend, the Lord God, Creator of heaven and earth, says that I am an ambassador of Christ. The ambassador of Christ! And if you know what it means to be an ambassador of Christ, you will rejoice. You will be very glad. And the Lord God also says, that I am the apple of His eyes, sensitively and jealously protected by Him. That you find in Zachariah 2:8.

And finally, the Lord says, I am a vessel or instrument of the Master, recreated for the noble purpose of carrying the name of Christ in deed and word, to a lost world.

And that is in 2 Timothy 2:20-21

Friend, who are you? Don’t allow people to define you. Don’t try to define yourself. Don’t allow Satan or his evil spirits to define you. Let God define you. And when you learn, or when you hear – when you hear what God says concerning you, when you believe what God says concerning you, your life will not be the same again.

Learn who God says you are. It’s in His Word. Believe who God says you are. It is a matter of the heart. Act on who God says you are. That is why the Holy Spirit is here. And praise God for becoming who God says you are, and that is what you would ultimately become, friend.

Let us pray.

PRAYER:

Faithful Father, we need a change. Many of us look for change in various angles – in various places. We need advancement in life. We look for it in various places: in the wrong places. But Lord, it is in You; it is in Your Word: what You say we are – that is what we will become – if only we will believe. Help my friends to believe You. Help them also to search the Scriptures, and to do so diligently. Thank You, Father – in Jesus Name – Amen!