What do you feel when you hear the word “I”? It depends on who says it, in what situation, in what tone, and from whose lips it comes. The same word can have different meanings depending on the spirit in which it is spoken. Yet in every case, it belongs to me and points to me.
I am who I am, without any unnecessary embellishment. And what you see in me with your own eyes is only the outward facade, which I can present however I wish. My “I” may represent my carnal nature or my thirsty, searching soul.
This is worth discussing, because my “I” is something exceedingly precious to Heaven—so important that the Lord Jesus Himself decided to give His “I AM” in order to save my “I am nothing.” We should not underestimate that for which such a high price was paid.
My “I” is called the soul, the will, the person, the personality, and the heart—and that is what it truly is. It is the center of my being, very closely connected with my body, my choices, and my emotional and spiritual distinctiveness. It is that to which my character becomes attached through its union with my thoughts and feelings.
I am of special interest in God’s eyes, and I am so precious to the Lord that He calls Himself my Husband and calls my “I” His bride. He does everything possible on His part to bring our relationship to the wedding. In His desire to attain this cherished goal, the Lord, in the Person of His Son, gave all Heaven to acquire something that I sometimes neither value nor consider important.
The enemy of souls gave humanity the theory of evolution in order to discourage many minds and deprive them of life’s meaning. He declared my “I” to be the accidental result of certain changes in nature, and nature itself to be the result of some cosmic explosion. But the absence of a Supreme Intelligence would reduce the entire universe to chaos. We are intelligent, highly organized beings, and such organization simply could not arise, exist, and continue by itself without Power from above.
Sadly, however, many people believe the theory of evolution, which no one has ever proved.
Yet God gives knowledge of Himself and reveals Himself in all His majesty and simplicity to everyone who desires to know Him personally. He is my Creator, my Heavenly Father, my Savior, and the Lord of my body and soul. Whatever I may think about myself, I belong to God: first, by right of creation; and second, if this comes to pass, by right of redemption and a second birth from above into spiritual life.
No matter how I may try to belittle and diminish my “I,” this very center of my being is the object of God’s interest and of my Salvation. This is the person whom God calls His Own and loves with all His heart. If I consent, He endows this person with His own qualities of soul, while respecting my choice and my desires.
The Lord allows people to experience His attitude toward the human soul by placing an attraction to one another in their hearts, so that He may kindle love in seeking souls and unite two opposite “I’s” into one “we.” God’s greatest desire for this union called the family is the merging of hearts—two lonely souls and two different characters—so that in this unity they may become one whole person, continually delighting one another with new discoveries in their other half.
But the enemy of souls seeks to convince people of the value of superficial relationships and the enjoyment of a partner’s body. Then, when they have had their fill, he offers other bodies for variety, so as to break hearts and bring the pain of separation and the rupture of relationships. When this happens, my “I” begins to suffer the pain of betrayal.
If we speak about the essence of the spiritual struggle being waged between good and evil, between God and Satan, it is centered on the possession of my “I.” And the spiritual powers just mentioned do not rest when they lose their authority over me. In that case, they seek ways to bring me back.
But the two sides in this struggle differ from one another. God respects my choice and offers me the very best while awaiting my decision. He gives me freedom of choice, whereas Satan invades my mind and imposes his values without regard for my opinion. Yet my will still remains free to make whatever decision it considers right. If the enemy of souls gains authority over my “I” through my consent to be with him, my will loses the strength to fight and can no longer free itself from the power of sin. It is from this state of soul that the Lord saves me, asking whether I want to be made whole.
Even when I am in the cruelest bondage, at the very bottom of human degradation, I remain within reach of God’s grace, and at any moment it can lift me up, no matter how low I have fallen. The only obstacle to my deliverance from the power of sin may be the decision of my “I” to reject the call of the Holy Spirit, Who desires to help me recognize my wretched condition. I cannot be saved if I refuse to receive strength from above to change something in my life. In doing so, I insult the Spirit of grace by choosing darkness, and God respects my decision and leaves me forever.
Agape love is God’s best gift to my “I.” It is the assurance that, from the moment I receive this gift, I become God’s own—desired and most precious. For love is the heart of God within my “I,” and through it I begin to understand and see the Invisible One, learn to become like Him in love, and prepare for the Heavenly wedding.
In love, the full depth of God’s heart is revealed to me. As I study these mysteries, I enter so deeply into the presence of the Most High that I recognize my inability to do anything without Him—and I do not want to.
But I must still pass through the trial called “earthly life,” leaving behind everything I cannot take to Heaven and preparing my “I” to meet Jesus, when I will entrust this treasure to Him as His eternal possession. My new eyes will see Him—not the eyes of another, but my own. My new body will feel His embrace—not someone else’s flesh, but my own, given to me for eternal use. My new heart, given to me by the hand of God, will tremble and beat joyfully with happiness because of my closeness with Jesus. It will not be another’s heart, but my own eternal heart. And I myself will become God’s forever, always to belong to Him and continually to have the closest and most enduring relationship with Him.
This is a great mystery, but my “I” is worth becoming God’s own—eternally God’s own.
So that my “I” may be ready for the wonderful Heavenly Meeting with my dear Jesus, it is already beginning to be transformed by studying Heaven’s constitution, learning the eternal laws of happiness, and becoming established in the enduring principles of love. The Lord Himself teaches me these things and rejoices in the day when my happy and holy “I” will be lifted up to God’s Great White Throne, where He will present me as His bride and receive the eternal Fatherly blessing, so that I may become Jesus’ eternal companion in life.
This is difficult for the human mind to imagine, but it is God’s plan for people who are happy in Jesus. The fulfillment of this plan in my life is worth fighting for. Then my “I” will take the very place God has prepared for me.
And this will become the greatest happiness, eternally mine, continually bringing joy to my heart.
But I am not the only one, and your “I” also desires to belong to God forever.
Bible verses for this chapter:
Job 19:25–27; Matthew 16:26; Isaiah 54:5; Ephesians 5:29; 1 Corinthians 6:19–20; 15:50–54; Romans 7:24; Proverbs 4:20–23; John 17:25