The written Word of God has much to say about you and me. Since the Bible is God speaking to us, we can get a clear understanding of what God says about us both before we come to saving faith in Jesus Christ and after our adoption as children of God.
However, in order to understand what God says about us, we must remember that what God says is always centered upon Jesus Christ and in light of a right relationship with Christ as Savior and God as Father.
In a world where voices abound and opinions and emotions are king, there is a voice ringing from the pages of Scripture, helping us in our understanding of what God really does have to say about you and me.
We need not look any further than the pages of Scripture to understand who we are without Christ and who we are in Christ. Our need for a Savior and how we go from abiding in His wrath to being justified in His sight are made clear throughout the Bible.
Sinners in Need of a Savior
First and foremost, what God has to say about us in His Word solidifies our depravity and need for redemption. We read in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians,
You were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience — among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind (Ephesians 2:1-3, ESV).
Romans 5:10 tells us that we were enemies of God reconciled to God by the death of His Son, and we are saved from the wrath of God by Christ.
You and I are sinners in need of a Savior. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). All of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).
The Bible calls us sheep, and apart from Christ, we are sheep having gone astray and having turned to our own way (Isaiah 53:6). None of us are righteous and none of us seek after God (Romans 3:10,11).
Thank God for His mercy and for regeneration that only comes by grace through faith in Christ alone!
The Old Has Passed Away, the New Has Come
When we are born again through faith in Jesus Christ, we are transformed into a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). Once children of wrath, we are now children of God because we have received Him and believed in His name (John 1:12; 1 John 3:2).
While the letter to the Ephesians aids us in understanding our spiritual condition apart from Christ, it also describes our spiritual condition in Christ. The Word tells us that we are justified by faith in Jesus Christ, and through Him, we have peace with God (Romans 5:1).
God has predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:5). God says about us in His Word that He has made us alive together with Christ. We have been saved by grace, and He has raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in heavenly places in Christ (Ephesians 2:4,5).
Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” When we are born again, God makes us His workmanship to do His will and to glorify Him in word and deed.
You and I are not an island unto ourselves in Christ. Rather, we become part of the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:27). We come to understand that God says we are His dwelling place and that we are the temple of the Holy Spirit.
He tells us that we are not our own and a price was paid for us. Therefore, we are to honor God in our bodies (1 Corinthians 6:19,20). Ephesians 2:22 says, “And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.”
As believers in Christ, the Holy Spirit dwells within us (John 14:17), and He transforms us and conforms us to the image of Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18). We exist to glorify God, and in being a new creation glorifying God, we are to be the light of the world and salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13,14).
Remember those sheep gone astray to their own way? God says in John 10 that His sheep hear His voice, they know Him, and they follow Him (John 10:27).
Jesus went on to say about us that we as His sheep will never perish, and no one will snatch us out of His hand or the Father’s hand (John 10:28,29). We are secure in Him. He is our Shepherd, and we listen to His instruction and follow Him.
Co-heirs with Christ, Ambassadors for Christ
We praise God for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ because His Word tells us that as children of God, we are co-heirs with Christ. Romans 8:16,17 says,
The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs — heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
God tells us in His Word that in His great mercy He has given us new birth and an imperishable inheritance of resurrection from the dead through Jesus Christ and His resurrection (1 Peter 1:3).
We are ambassadors for Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20). Merriam Webster defines an ambassador as “an official envoy, an authorized representative or messenger.” Prior to this verse, we find what message God says about us to carry.
It is the message of reconciliation to God the Father through faith in Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:18). God says in His Word that as we have been reconciled to Him, so are we to minister this message to others. We are ministers of reconciliation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Why Does This Matter?
Though this is not exhaustive in explaining all that God says about us, it solidifies the value of understanding the Word of God and looking to it for our source of truth.
Scripture always points to Jesus Christ, and by understanding that, we can be confident in knowing what God says about us in correlation with Christ.
We do not need to use our imagination, speculate, or wonder what He says. We do not rely on our emotions, opinions, or personal revelations as they can deceive.
Rather, for those who are believers and followers of Jesus Christ, we turn to Scripture for illumination as to what God says about us both apart from Christ and in Christ.
For further reading:
What Does it Mean ‘The Spirit Is Willing but the Flesh Is Weak’?
What Does it Mean That Jesus Leaves the Ninety-Nine?
What Does it Mean That Our Citizenship is in Heaven?
Why Was Jesus Called the Good Shepherd?
What Does it Mean That God Is Our Abba Father?
What Does it Mean to Be an ‘Ambassador of Christ’ in 2 Corinthians 5:20?
Can God Be the Love of My Life?
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