Who Are You, Really?

Introduction

Okay.

Well, a couple things. You know, Alabama is on central time, so when I came here, I lost an hour.

And then last night I lost an hour. So I’m gonna take a nap. Y’all just do what you want for the next 30 minutes.

Appreciate you staying and being interested in uh looking at some things. Well, this is a class, and so we’re gonna do what we did yesterday. We’re gonna have some conversation, and I want you to feel free to matter of fact. I’m gonna ask you some things that I’m gonna want your input and feedback about, okay? Um I want to ask you this question. There you go. Whoops, let’s go back. I want you to look at that question. If you had one opportunity to talk to a stranger for one hour uninterrupted, and you could talk about anything, what would you discuss and why? What would you talk about if you had one hour to talk to a stranger about any topic and it was uninterrupted? You had one hour.

Okay, this is where this is where each object tell me. So not not everybody, but who wants who wants to share some thoughts about that?

I would talk to him about the big picture of the Bible presentation. Good, John. Good. You want to do that for the next few minutes? You could, I know you could. Yeah, okay. So is there anything about that big picture presentation that if if you if you had an hour, you could do that in an hour, but is there anything about that that you might stress? Yeah, I’m putting you on the spot. I know. Yeah, yeah, I would I would stress Jesus. I would stress MS our Lord and Savior. Good and why that person I can understand from that stranger what their religious beliefs were. Good. Really good. Yeah. I think that’s a good answer. Who else? John. I do it, but I do it in a way probably nobody else here would do it.

I would depending on the person I’m talking to that maybe is doesn’t believe in God at all. I would start with this is me now. I would start with the date. You know, this is 2022. There’s something significant about that date. And I’m talking to a person who doesn’t believe in God at all. So I’d ask them why where where do they think that came from? How how did we arrive at that? Interesting. And then I would go. Okay. I don’t know if you can hear it, but I I’m getting the benefit of right here, so I don’t know if I can repeat it, but uh it’s worth repeating if I can remember everything about it. But John, you said he’d he he’d approach it from a today is the day, where did that come from?

How do we know that? Is that is that generally the idea?

Where is this date? Did you pick the time? Yeah. Space and time. Pick that date. So oh, we’re gonna start keeping that. Good. Yes, sir. I thought I thought about the joy of it. Okay. You must be a man who enjoys living. Every single day. Amen to that. Good. All right. Got a joy of living. I like that. What else?

What do you if if you if you were trying to get this person? Let me ask you this. Would we probably talk to them about something related to their spiritual well-being? Vicky, you said heaven, right? Yeah. That’s sure what we’d want them to think about and go to, right? Uh you want a person to act, you want the person to do something, right? What causes people to do something? They have to feel a what? They have to feel a need. They don’t feel a need, they’re not going to do anything, right? And if they do, it’s not gonna be for the right reason. Would you agree with that? If if somebody does something and it’s not for the right reason, then what difference does it make?

Well, let me tell you, yes, ma’am. I would try if that I was going to this transit, I was bringing how God changed my life. I tell my testimony, what I go through, and uh I bring God and how beautiful he can change our life for good and in the way I’m joining the peace now. Well, it’s hard for me to argue with that because I heard part of that yesterday. And I was like, Yes. Yeah. And even before that, I think I would say, do you ever feel like there’s something missing in your life? That’s a good question to ask, but firm. Do you feel like something’s missing? That’d be a good, that’d be a good start. That’d kind of get the ball rolling, don’t you think?

There’s no wrong answer. I just wanted to say, yeah, I mean, part of it should be, you know, when you when you talk to them, you’ve got to open door and let them know that you know God loves us all. It doesn’t matter who it is. That’s good. Everybody in here can answer this. Everybody in here I know is thinking, okay, here’s what I think I’d do. Or if you don’t, you I’ll give you enough time. You you’d think something, okay. And and because we we would want to be prepared somehow for this, okay. Here’s what I want to do. I want to share with you what I would do. Okay. And and and and hopefully when it’s over, I’m I’m not suggesting that this is the right thing to do because I don’t think there is a right thing.

But this has been for me an effective way to have a conversation, an initial conversation with people. If if they think, if if if I can get them thinking about their life and and and what what they are and what they need to be doing, if I can get them to think about that, this is what I talk to them about first, okay? That’s all this is, and I want your I want your input about it, okay? And I want you to see if if this is something that resonates with you, okay. I I would call this class who you are really. Okay, that’s kind of that’s kind of the what I would talk about initially, who you are really. So here’s what I would do.

I I ask people if if if if they come to me, or if I go to them and they say, hey, I I’ll be glad to study the Bible with you. This is what I try to get them to commit for five one hour sessions, okay? Just five one hour sessions. And basically try to tell them the story of the Bible. Okay? Now, it will, but this is the first lesson in that, okay? This is this is how important what we’re going to talk about this morning. This is how important I personally think it is. Okay. So I just want to share it with you and see what you think. As of this morning on Google. And they never lie.

1. Most People Have No Idea Who They Are

There’s generally speaking, 7.9 billion people in the world. That’s a lot of folks. 7.9 billion. There are 22 million, generally speaking, in, well, there’s actually 330 million in the U.S., 22 million in Florida, and in the city of Orlando, this is as of last night, the best I could find. The city, not the metropolitan city, 330,000. Does that sound reasonable? Okay. Well, that’s what I found. Okay. So we’re going with those numbers. We’re going with those numbers. That’s a lot of people. Here’s what I want to suggest to you. Most of those people have no idea who they are. Now, if I went to most of those people and I asked them, who are you? What are they going to say to me? They’re going to give me their name, right?

Is that who is that if I went to Ken this morning and I said, Ken, I’m Kenny. He said, I’m Ken Chapman. Is that who he is? You know it’s a trick question, right? That’s his name, right? But is that really who could he change his name? Sure, he he should have been a Kenny instead of a ken. That’d be a lot better name. Are you a Kenneth? Yes. Okay, well then we’re both we’re both good. We’re good to go. Okay. But if I come up to you, you tell me your name. We’re proud of our name. Our name distinguishes us generally from an area. But I promise you, somewhere in this world, there’s another Ken Chapman. I can promise you that. There’s probably another Kenny Moore, but I I’ve never, I don’t think I’ve met him.

I’ve met some more, okay, but I don’t know that I’ve met anybody named Kenny. Okay. But is that really who we are? That’s what I want us to think about for a moment. And that’s a problem because most people have no idea who they are, okay. And people who don’t know who they are, what what how what is that gonna do? Why why is it why is it essential that somebody knows who they are? Just answer that question for him. Why is that so critical? What? I think the football life. Okay, you can’t really have a foot. If you don’t know who you are, right? We don’t know who you are, how you’re designed. I think there are some questions. This is where I start with people.

Yeah.

2. The Big Questions

You are visible, and you are visible about everybody that you engage with. And you always looking for problems, you’re always criticizing, you’re in constant judgment. But the real angst in your issue is you. Yeah, yeah. And it’s an it’s an uncertainty about who I’m. We all have, I don’t care who you are, you you meditate on these kind of things. Don’t you think that’s true? Don’t you think everybody’s trying to figure out what their life is about and who they are and how they ought to operate and what they ought to do? Everybody’s trying to figure that out. Okay. And we all have these questions. I call them the big questions. So I want you to assume that you’re there in that picture. That’d be kind of a nice place to be right now.

You’re on an island and you’re by yourself, and you cannot, you you don’t know anything. Now, you have the ability to think and you have the ability to reason, but you don’t know anything. Okay. Tell me one question you’d ask yourself. How’d I get here? Okay. How’d I get here? What? What am I doing here? How do I get out of here? Is anybody else here? How do I get here? How do I get out of here? How do I get out of here? Where can I find food? There you go. That’s the man right there. Where can I find food? Alright. And on all of all those important questions? Sure. But I want you to think really fundament, very even more fundamental than some of that.

Now we’ve asked a couple of those already. You know nothing. Let me mention three. Who am I? That have to do with identity. I’m going to suggest that most people in that out of that nine billion people, they don’t know who they are. They’re asking the question, but they don’t know who they are. Who put me here? That has to do not with identity, but what? Origin. That’s origin. How did I get here? Who or how did I get here? Okay? And then comes what I think is the final question in this in this series of sequence. Why am I here? What’s my purpose? Now I want to ask you a question. Do you believe that if everybody had the biblical answers to those questions, that the lives of people out of that nine billion would be a lot better than they are?

Oh yeah. Let me tell you right now, if you and I understand the correct, the right answers to these questions, our life will be what it ought to be. If we don’t understand the right answer to these questions, our life will be miserable. It won’t be as full as it needs to be as God intended to be. So I think this is the point. And everybody asks these questions. Everybody does. Years ago, I was in Folsom, California. I was traveling through there. I was staying with some folks and at night. Their daughter was off at college. She was, I don’t know, she but she was at one of the colleges in California. And uh so I was staying in her room, and before I went to bed, I was just noticing some books on her shelf, and she had this book called The Big Questions by Robert Solomon.

It is a philosophy book. And when I saw the big questions, I just pulled it off and started thinking about that and and and started reading a little bit. And it was a textbook for the at that time, it would have been about 1983. It was a textbook for the California Community College system. It was a philosophy book. And I pulled it off the shelf and I began to peruse through it. And basically, what it was doing, it was trying to answer the questions that we just put on. It’s who am I? Why am I here? And who put me here? Now, let me just ask you a question. Can you imagine in a California community college system? Can you imagine the kind of textbook that they’re going to be using to answer those three questions?

Now, to their credit, they gave some attention to God, morality, purpose. They gave some, and I perused it. I mean, they gave some ideas about that kind of thing, but it’s just an option. You basically you believe what you want to do. What, you know, what we’re here, that’s what this is what public, you know, public institutions. We’re here just to tell you, we’re just here to throw out some options where you think what you want to think, right? And that’s basically what this book was doing. And as I thought about that, I thought about, well, you know, these are the questions that really that everybody asked. And everybody’s got to find, I think, find the answer to that. Now, let’s think for just a minute.

How does the Bible answer those three questions? If I’m sitting here talking to somebody, I’ve established this. I want, I want to ask you, and I would ask them, who are you? And they’d give me their name. Okay. I would say, who put you here? And most of the time, if they’re if they’re wanting to study the Bible with me, what do you think their answer was? God. They’re good with God. You know, they may not, it is a hard concept. They may not fully comprehend it. I don’t either. They may not fully accept it, but their answer to who put me here is God. And their answer to their purpose was somewhat, I’m not sure. Okay. To which I’m thinking, I’m going to help them.

3. Made in the Image of God

I’m going to help them. So we’d turn. So where do you think you’d turn to to help somebody understand the answer to those three questions? Who am I? Who put me here? And why am I here? Where do you think you’d turn? There you go, John. Genesis 1. I’d start in the in the very beginning, right? In the very beginning. In the beginning, God created heaven and earth. And that doesn’t, that the Bible assumes God. Okay. But I want you to think about some things with me when we’re thinking about trying to help somebody understand who they are. And the reason that I want to just share this with you this morning is this is so important for us. I think it helps solidify in our minds exactly who we are.

And I think if we’re if we’re fully, if if we fully understand this is who I am, and this ought to then, my life ought to be what I’m talking about here. If I’m fully convinced about this, then it changes my life. Let’s talk about this. When God created mankind, Genesis 1 26, then God said, Let us make man in our image. According to our likeness, let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. And so God created man in his own image, in the image of God, he created him, male and female who created them. So what’s the answer to who are you now? Based upon those verses, what’s the answer?

I’m God’s creation. I am made man or woman created how? In the image of God. May I ask you a question? If everybody in the world knew that they’re a man or a woman created an image of God, would that solve a lot of problems in our world? Just that? Just this. Okay? That solves a lot of problems, right? Made in the image of God. It’s my judgment that if people, you know, if if I’m talking to somebody, I think if they I think if you get Genesis 1, 2, and 3, then the rest of it’s pretty easy. If you get the fact that you’re made in God’s image, and he expects you to live as a person who’s made as an image that you’re going to be accountable, and you understand the nature of sin and why that’s bad, and you understand that he sent a Savior, then I think you’re good to go.

And you find all that Genesis 1 through 3. Right? I spent a lot of time early on because that to me that’s the that’s fundamental. You have to get that. Here’s my question. What’s an image? We’re made in God’s image. What does that mean?

Likeness? Yeah. Likeness. You cheated because it’s likeness is up there, right? That’s exactly what I’d say too. And images and likeness, right? Is the image the original? No. How many of you have seen my dad? All right, John, you don’t answer. Let me ask Vicky, I’m gonna ask you this question because Ralph’s sitting by you. You think my dad’s handsome? See, it’s a trick. That’s a loaded question. It’s a loaded question. That’s right. I don’t want you to answer. I don’t want you to answer. I’m sure Vicky said, I’m sure he is. Thank you, Vicky. She’s already said she thinks my dad’s probably handsome. I look like my dad. So therefore I am what? Okay. You see my point. Am I my dad? No. You think my dad’s tall?

Yeah, he’s pretty tall. Not to get too personal, but there’s a place on my leg, I don’t have hair. I don’t, I don’t know. This is personal. Guess what? My dad doesn’t either. It’s just genetic. It’s kind of odd. But am I my dad? No. But I look like my dad. I act like my dad, but I’m not my dad. Are we God? Far be it. We don’t come close. But are we like him? How are we like him? That’s my question. How are we like him? Let me mention three things. Yeah, Rupert, give me one. We have the ability to create. Okay. We can create.

Because we’re kind of short on time. I just want to, I just want to kind of go through mine. We have a spiritual side, right? God is a spirit. You have a spiritual side. Any other part of creation have a spiritual side besides us? No. Nope. We’re moral beings. Do we have a sense of right and wrong? Yeah. We call it ought. It’s a sense of ought. We have a sense about that. Why? Because we’re made in the image of God. We can reason and we can think, right? Can any other parts of creation reason and think besides human beings? No. But we can think. Okay. And what I would suggest really about all of this is that there are multiple things about us being made in God’s image.

But but everybody who is a human being has all of these. And you don’t have a choice in it. When you were born, you’re made in God’s image. Nobody went to your mother after you were born and said, Listen, you got 60 seconds, image or not image. You want it or you don’t want it. 60 seconds. 59, 58, 50 seven. She’s sitting there going, what do I do? You’re made in God’s image whether you want it or not. You’re made in God’s image whether you like it or not. And because of the fact that you’re made in God’s image, you are a spiritual being. You have a spiritual side. Sometimes in the Bible that’s talked about as a soul, and we’re not going to get into the nuance of soul and spirit and all that right now.

4. What Is Man That You Are Mindful of Him?

But there is a side of you that you have because you’re a human being. You have a moral sense, and you can reason and you can think. And that’s that’s what I want to try to help people understand. Listen, God has made you and He’s given you the ability to think for yourself. So reason and think and use your mind that God’s given you to think about who you are and why you are and what you need to be doing. So I want to think about it from a text in Psalms. This is Psalm 8. I love this text. I preached a lesson about this psalm last week, I think, where I think it was last Sunday, where I was, where I’m where I preach regularly.

Just because I love the Psalm so much. I want to read it. This is the Psalm of David. You probably guessed that, right? If somebody says, Who wrote that Psalm? Just say David. You may not be right, but you’ve got a pretty good chance. David said, When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars to which you have ordained, what is man that you’re mindful of him, and the Son of Man that you visit him. You might have been a little lower than the angels. You have crowned him with glory and honor. You have made him to have dominion over the works of your hands. You put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, even the beasts of the field, the birds are there, and the fish of the sea that pass through the paths of the sea.

I know I read that fast. David said, When I think about who I am. What is man? That you’re mindful of him. The Son of Man that you visit him. I think he’s probably talking about the same thing. He talks about, but have you ever asked you ever asked yourself this question? Of these 9.1 billion people, God, why do you care about me? You ever ask yourself that question? Who am I? I’m gonna tell you what, if if you understand your value, you understand why God thinks about you. And David said, I think about this. Matter of fact, he uses the word the word consider. When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, that’s the idea of creation. Work of fingers have to do with God making things, creating things.

He said, When I think about that, here’s my question, God. Why do you care about me? So he’s saying, I look at all the things that you made, and now my question is, why is it that you care about who I am? David asked that question. I can see him out on a Judean hillside saying this, can’t you? What would he be doing out on the Judean hillside? Tending sheep. He didn’t have a smartphone. He didn’t have any kind of phone that I know of. What do you think he was doing out there in the middle of the night watching sheep? Meditating. He was sure he’d be looking up in the heavens, going, There’s the moon, there’s the star. Well, God, why you care about it?

5. When Human Beings Do What Dogs Do

I can see him doing that. We need to be doing more of that. In my judgment, we need to be doing more of that kind of thing. Meditating on who God is and why I’m important to him. But let me very quickly tell you how I think David, when he talks about in this context, he’s talking about what he sees. He sees stars. He talks about the moon and the stars. What can a star do? Shine or what?

Or burn out. Pretty much burn or burn out, right? That’s pretty much a star. Who determines what a star does? God by what means? His power. And he created it. So it’s it we call that nature. Okay. Does the star ever get any credit or discredit because he’s burnt that star burns or burns up? No. Just a star. Right? How about this? What’s that? A rose. Now he doesn’t mention flowers, but but I think he alludes to it in the creation. Tell me something a rose can do. What can a rose do? Bloom? Look pretty? Smell? Give off fragrance?

Bloom and die, right? It’s either it’s either growing or it’s dying, right? Does any of the credit ever go to the flower?

Okay, a lot of people think so. But has the flower, does a flower receive any credit or to discord because something the flower’s done? No. You plant the flower. You water the flower. You fertilize the flower. God provides the sun. God provides the nutrients. You may help in that process. But the credit of the discredit for the pretty flower goes to the person who made it, who created it. Okay? And a lot of that happens by nature. But the credit of the discredit never goes to the flower. Right? That’s part of creation. But that’s not me. How about this? What’s that? That’s a dog. That’s a wolf wolf, yeah. Now let’s talk about this. What can a dog do? Here we go. Now we’re going to.

What’d you say, B? Love you? Sure. Lick you. Can be trained. It can eat. What? Is it companion? Physically, what can they do? Run, jump, bark, bike. There you go. Hey, let me ask you a question. Can boy dogs and girl dogs make puppy dogs? Baby dogs? Puppy dogs? Yeah. Let me ask you a question. When they do that, do they date?

Do they date for a while? Do they say a boy dog turn about all 15, 16 years old and go, you know what? I live right across the street from her, but I’ve never thought about her until now. And somehow I’m getting older, and there’s just something about her that looks different than me. She acts differently, she looks differently. And I think I’m in love. I think I like spending some time with her. Does that ever happen to a dog? No. What happens to a dog that reaches the point where there’s urges? The dog takes what the dog wants. Am I right about that? Just they just they just act on instinct, right? They never reason. They never listen to their parents and say, you know what, it’s about time you you started your own family.

There’s none of that that goes on. When dogs get to the point where they do what they do, they do it because that’s what they do. Now I want to ask you a question. Do you know any people who act like that?

A lot of people act like that, right? Let me ask you a more pointed question. Do you know any Christians who act like that? Let’s all do it. That’s all that’s all. Because we can’t read everybody’s mind, but there’s plenty of evidence that would say there’s some people that don’t give much thought to how they live their life, right? When that girl dog comes home back to her house, and and her master looks at that dog and says, You gain weight. I’m gonna start, we’re gonna hold back some food. I’m not gonna give you as much food. And a month or two goes by. He hadn’t hardly fed her, and she’s bigger than she was two months ago. And he finally says, You’re gonna have you’re gonna have a puppy.

Does the master sit her down and start explaining to her why that shouldn’t be happening? Does he have a conversation with her and say, What’s wrong with you? No. Why? Because dogs do what dogs do.

When human beings do what dogs do, what does God call that? Sin. Sin. Why? Because we’re not supposed to act like a dog. Because how are we made? God’s image. We’re made in God’s image. We’re not only made in his image, but that should cause us to respond so that we use our minds to understand how we’re to live in this life. Now, may I ask you a question? I know I can because I’m getting ready to just based on that, do you think, do you think if people understood just what we’ve talked about for the last 20 minutes, that their lives would be different? Sure. I’m just trying to get them to see. Listen, you’re a person who’s made in God’s image, and you have a relationship with God.

6. What Comes With Relationship? Responsibility

Who has that kind of relationship with God? Everybody. Why? Because you’re made in his image. Every single person is made in God. You have that relationship. What happens in every relation? If you have a relationship, what automatically comes with relationship? It’s another R word that has long. There you go. Responsibility. You have a relationship. What comes with that? Responsibility. You know people who they want to be a father. But what’s the problem with some of those people who want to be a father?

They don’t want the responsibility. What does God call that? Sin. Sin. You want to have a relationship? Any relationship. I don’t care what it is. But I think there’s a moral aspect of all that if it’s something that God approves of. But all of us, all of us have a relationship with God in that we’re made in his image. So all of us have a responsibility to him because we’re made in his image. We don’t have a choice in that. Because in the end, we’re all going to be held. What’s that word? There you go. When I’m talking to somebody, first time. You know who you are? You have a relationship with God. You’re made in his image. You’re not like all the other parts of creation.

Conclusion

They’re not held, they’re not held responsible. God’s not going to send stars and flowers and dogs to hell. They’re not responsible. God’s not going to save stars and flowers and dogs. They’re not responsible. They don’t have a soul. But we do. And he, because we have this relationship, he’s going to hold us responsible. He’s going to tell us you have the ability to respond. Every single person does. And so here’s the choice. You’re going to respond, or are you not going to respond? Because in the final analysis, who’s going to stand before God in judgment? Every single person. Every single person. And I look at them and I say, now, that’s why. All this is why what we’re about to talk about is so important. Because you’re going to have to give an account.

I’m going to have to give an account. So let’s go back and answer now those questions. And so we’re going to go back and talk about those things. Okay? That’s quick. But that’s what I wanted to do. If that’s of some value to you, I hope that you can use that. But uh I appreciate your kind attention. Y’all have been so good to us. This is this is, I hate to leave. I would I was hoping that it would still be ice and snow back in Alabama because I was going to call the elders and said, the meeting’s been extended for a month. I’m going to stay down here for a while. But I can’t do it. I love all of you. I really appreciate you listening so well.

Thank you very much.