There is something already written about every situation we are going to face and every circumstance we are going to encounter.
Have you just bought a new cell-phone and are wondering how to operate it? It is written. Simply check the manual. Have you just set up a new business and want to know how to get it registered? It is written. Are you a new creation in Christ but don’t know what being a new creation means? It is written. Where is it written? It is written in the scriptures.
How would you introduce yourself? What is your self-identity? Many people don’t know who they are. Some men see themselves as women. Some women see themselves as men. Some thieves call themselves Robin Hood and believe they are honest. Some murderers call themselves Boko Haram and maintain they are righteous. Some identify themselves by their jobs and say they are carpenters, bricklayers and doctors.
The Lord says: “The children I raised have turned against me. Oxen and donkeys know who owns and feeds them, but my people won’t ever learn.” (Isaiah 1:3). For this cause, Jesus was made manifest in the flesh; so that we may know exactly who we are.
Written identity
One day Jesus sprang a question on his disciples: “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” They replied: “Some say John the Baptizer, some, Elijah, and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” Then Jesus asked them: “What about you? Who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:16).
Why did nobody say Jesus was a carpenter? Why did nobody think he was Socrates? The reason is simple; Socrates is not in the scriptures. They were all looking for Jesus’ identity in the scriptures. Everyone they thought Jesus was happened to be in the scriptures, or to have been foretold in the scriptures.
Jesus was a man of purpose. He knew where he came from; but more importantly, he knew where he was going. You have to know where you are going. You cannot confuse or mislead a man who knows where he is going. In order to know where we are going, we need to search the scriptures to determine what is written about us.
Jesus is fond of saying “it is written.” Therefore, he set about doing and being everything that is written about him. He said: “All things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning me.” (Luke 24:44).
The same applies to you and me. The scriptures must witness about us. Our true identity is in the word of God. Our new identity is in Christ; and Jesus is the word of God. The identity of the child of God must be in the scriptures. What is it that is written in the scriptures about you and me?
Jesus says: “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of me.” (John 5:39). Search the scriptures. If you are redeemed, they will surely testify about you. God would not leave you out. If somebody asks you who you are, you must be able to tell him: “It is written. It is written. In the volume of the book, it is written about me.”
Who are you?
Listen to this parable. Some people came to my office to see me. They told the security detail: “We are looking for Dr. Femi Aribisala.” So they were brought to my office. They came inside and shook hands with me. Then they asked me: “Please, who are you?” I replied: “What do you mean? Who did you tell the security-men you were looking for?”
They said: “Are you Dr. Femi Aribisala?” “Yes,” I replied. So they said: “Dr. Aribisala, we have come to ask you who you are? Are you John the Baptist?”
“Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” Then they said to him, “Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?” He said: “I am ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Make straight the way of the Lord,”’ as the prophet Isaiah said.” (John 1:19-23).
The identity of John the Baptist is in the scriptures. He identified himself within the framework of the scriptures. What about you? Who are you? Are you Moses? Are you Judas? Or are you Jezebel? Have you yet determined precisely who you are? Have you identified yourself yet in the book of life?
James cautions: “Obey God’s message! Don’t fool yourselves by just listening to it. If you hear the message and don’t obey it, you are like people who stare at themselves in a mirror and forget what they look like as soon as they leave.” (James 1:22-24).
Sons of God
John the beloved says: “Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the Day of Judgment; because as (Jesus) is, so are we in this world. (1 John 4:17).
What does this mean? It means believers are the image and likeness of Jesus. We are the photograph. We are the photocopy. We are the carbon-copies. We are the Ambassadors of Christ. We are the ministers of Christ. We are one with Christ. Everything about our life is already written in the scriptures. There is something already written about every situation we are going to face and every circumstance we are going to encounter.
Beloved, we are working to a script. Our own part in “His Story” is for the purpose that is purposed. Our part is not to sin. Our part is not to quit. Our part is not to be defeated. Our part is to bring glory to God.
“Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” (1 John 3:1-2).
The son of a lion is a lion. The son of God is a god. He is the heir of God the Father. He is a joint-heir with Jesus.
Hallelujah
King Ahaseurus is a King in the Old Testament. He says: “Bring me the book of the records of the chronicles.” He wants to know what shall be done to the man the King delights to honour. King Jesus says: “bring me the book of life.” And what does he find there? Thus it is written about you: “I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11).