ROJC- I Am What I Am

Intro:

1) I believe that I, more so than anybody right now, have been trying to figure out what I want to do and be in the next few years. I’ve been battling and going back and forth about things in my life and the different options and roads that I can take. Subconsciously, I think that I’ve been working so much because it takes my mind off the confusion of trying to figure out what God has planned for me.

2) In the process of trying to figure this out, I have to develop into the man that my peers, my family, my employers, and my God want me to be. You want to talk about finding out what you’re doing with your life and how tough it is, this development may even be harder. Each aspect of my life demands a different “Justin.” Both jobs, assistant manager at one, lead team member at the other, group member at school, leader at church, a certain friend to certain friends, another friend to other friends, a son and a brother all demand me to act a certain way. On top of that, I’m a Christian, a believer, a follower of Christ. It trumps everything, but all my other personas conflict with this one character. It gets tiring.

3) I’m waiting for the day that everything in my life, and how I change my personality to accommodate these aspects, will finally conform and evolve into one personality that I can carry around and not have to change simply because of my environment or circumstance. I’m waiting when I will have one character, one personality that will show through all aspects of my life. More specifically, I’m waiting for the day that I can be Christ-like every hour of the day. But what’s great is that God is in charge of who I am and who I will become.

I. I Am What I Am

1 Corinthians 15:9-10 – “For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.”

1) The Apostle Paul just finished telling the church in Corinth that there were hundreds of people who had seen Christ. He named off the apostles and disciples as well. Then he went on to say that if you need more, that he himself saw Christ. V. 8- “Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.” But despite him seeing Christ, he informed the church that he was the least of all the apostles and shouldn’t have even been called an apostle because of how he persecuted the church. Acts 8:3- “As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging them off men and women, committing them to prison.”

2) Afterwards, Paul even admitted it to his apprentice Timothy, in a letter. 1 Timothy 1:12-13 – “And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man, but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.” He was still used by God, was given a ministry to work in, and by which the mercy and grace of God helped him through.

3) Even though the Apostle Paul was all these things before he was converted, he was still sent and used by God, thus the difference between an apostle and a disciple. The Greek word for disciple is mathetes which means “someone who learns or a pupil.” The Greek word for “apostle” is apostolos which signifies “a delegate or a messenger, someone with orders.” Even though Paul persecuted the church, He was still sent by God with orders for a ministry which he did to a greater extent than those who preceded him.

4) And still, even through his pre-meditated persecution, the apostle Paul could now do what he does and be who he is because of God. People questioned his sincerity. They wondered whether or not Paul’s faith was real. Or was it just some way for him to get into the Christian church and persecute it from the inside out? Here is a man who had thrown hundreds of Christians in jail for simply believing in Christ. If you were a Christian at that time, would you trust a man who had that reputation? Probably not. But yet he continued to do so. This was one of the mountains that he had to climb. He had to prove to everyone that he had been converted and that his intentions were good. He was given the strength to overcome the accusations and the lack of trust because of His belief in God. His faith in Jesus Christ provided the mercy to endure all those things and use his natural gifts and talents for the ministry of Jesus Christ.

5) Working backwards, let’s take a look at verse 8. The phrase “born out of due time” in the Greek is ektroma which speaks of “an abortion or an untimely birth.” What Paul was saying was he was chosen not because of his background or his education or because he was walking closely with Christ. On the contrary, him being chosen was a complete surprise to him! He wasn’t expecting it. It wasn’t as if he was as qualified as others were or was mature as those who wanted to be in the apostolic office. No! He was chosen without any experience, without any knowledge, without any aspiration to be that. And the fact that he was chosen in this manner thoroughly humbled Paul.

6) We don’t have to be a seminary student or aspire to work in the ministry in order to be used by God. Actually you can argue that some of the most dynamic, passionate, productive people are those who never thought to go into the ministry in the first place! And as often as you may hear it, you may not think that God will use you because of how badly we’ve sinned against Him, but He still can and He still will. If God can use a sinner like Paul or a sinner like David, then He most certainly can use a sinner like me. And the fact that He uses a sinner like me, with a list of sins as deep as the ocean, that’s humbling.

Conclusion:

1) When God chose Paul, He didn’t choose Paul because of his good looks, his faith in Jesus Christ, or his love for Him for that matter. He didn’t choose him for any of that. All we know is that God chose him. When God chooses you, it may not be because of your knowledge of the Bible, or how close your relationship with Him is, or how many Greek words you know. God just chooses you. And He chooses you just as you are.

2) And we are who we are because of God's grace, because of His mercy. We can choose the path of life that we'll travel and the man or woman that we'll become because God gives us the reign to so. And as Paul said that "I am what i am by the grace of God," when it is because of God that we are who we are, who we become should be chosen people who love the Lord.