In an October 2006 Monday Night Football game, the Arizona Cardinals played the Chicago Bears. The Bears were one of the best teams in the league, and the Cardinals, well, weren't. Even so, the Cardinals jumped on top by 20 points, only to surrender the lead and lose the game 24-23. The game itself was weird, but it's what happened after the game that sticks in my memory.
The coach of the Cardinals, Dennis Green, went on a post-game tirade in front of the media. Visibly furious over the collapse of his team, a reporter asked him if the Bears showed them anything different than what they had game planned for. Green went ballistic, uttering the phrase (with a couple colorful words mixed in) "The Bears are who we thought they were! They're what we thought they were!" He then smacked the microphone, and stormed out.
The tirade became an instant hit. It was developed into a commercial and has since been played on TV countless times, but I remember it as if it happened last week. The sentence Green yelled over and over is etched in my mind. "They are who we thought they were!" The Cardinals had studied the Bears, seen all the tape, even played against them in the preseason. They knew their formations, knew their tendencies, maybe even knew some of their signals. Yet they still struggled to keep up.
There's a flip side, though: If the Cardinals knew who the Bears were, then the Bears knew even better who the Cardinals were! The Bears were the best team in the league. They had the best coaching staff and the best players. They probably knew things about the Cardinals that the Cardinals didn't even know about themselves. And they were able to use those things to overpower them.
Result of the game aside, I believe that sentence speaks volumes into our walk with Christ. We know who Christ is. Whether or not you believe what you know is a different story. There really is no mystery when it comes to His identity. Christ knows even better who WE are. He knows things about us that we don't even know ourselves. So why do we struggle to rest in the fact that if Jesus says something about who WE ARE, it must actually be who we are?
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I've had this song called "Seek The Lord" by Isaac Wimberley (find it here) running through my head for a week now. I want to share a few lines from the song right now:
"If God is who He says that He is,
then He has done what He said that He has done.
Which means that Jesus Christ is the Risen Son.
And if God is who He says that He is,
then I am who HE says that I am."
As a pastor to students, I get asked some pretty honest questions. One that occasionally comes up is this: "How can you believe in something as crazy as a man who died and then rose from the dead?" So, I pull out my Bible and read 1 Corinthians 15.
"But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied."My answer is pretty simple. If Jesus hasn't risen from the dead, then everything I teach and believe is useless and futile. If I'm wrong, then it's a pretty sad life I've got. BUT JESUS IS WHO HE SAYS HE IS.
I've studied enough Scripture, studied enough history, experienced enough in this life to understand one simple truth: JESUS HAS RISEN. Jesus is alive. And if Jesus really is alive, that tells me more about myself then I could ever hope to learn:
"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2:10)
"But to all who received Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God." (John 1:12)
"And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts crying, 'Abba! Father!' So you are no longer a slave, but a son! And if a son, then an heir through God." (Galatians 4:6-7)
"In Christ Jesus, you are all sons of God, through faith." (Galatians 3:26)
"For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you will also appear with him in glory." (Colossians 3:3-4)
"He has put His seal on us, and given us His Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee." (2 Corinthians 1:22)What all of those verses tell me is this: I am HIS. I belong to Jesus. He has my life thought through and figured out. And I MATTER TO HIM. Think of the beauty behind those words.
I MATTER DEEPLY TO THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE.
When I believe that Jesus is who He says He is, when I am convinced beyond any doubt that what I read in Scripture is the truth, the way, the life, then I am free to believe what that Truth says about me!
That the Truth knows me better than I know myself. That the Truth created me, formed me, knew my life before the foundation of the world. That the Truth will walk behind me and before me, that the Truth desires His best for me. That when I seek Him, I will find Him. That He won't leave me to figure things out on my own.
When I believe Jesus, I get to believe that He wants me. That he doesn't want me because he needs me, but He wants me because He LOVES me, and I MATTER TO HIM.
Here's where all of this must lead us.
Do I believe in the Truth that is Jesus? Do I believe that He is who He says He is, and that He's done what the Word says He's done? Because if the answer is YES, then it's clear that I also get to believe what He says about me, all the beautiful pieces of Scripture that point to his unfailing love and intimate knowledge of our lives.
Or am I struggling with who Jesus is? Do I have a hard time believing in the death of some guy who presumably raised from the dead? Do I really place my trust and faith and life in that? If so, it's hard to believe what He says about ME! Am I really loved? Am I really a child of the creator? Does my broken life actually matter to Him?
What if it does? Ask Him. Right now. Even if you've never spent one second of your life praying, ask Him if your life matters to Him.
