Richard Dawson, 23 July 2014

Who? In creating us God gives us an identity which is both personal and precious. It is personal because by it, God
identifies us over and against Himself thus giving us space to be persons. It is precious because we are called into God’s Kingdom by virtue of that identity. Jesus says in John 10 “ The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.” God calls to us personally, He knows us by virtue of an identity given to us at our Creation. The question for us is—do we know ourselves? Are we aware of the Name by which Jesus will call us out? This means more than knowing a specific name. Our Name by which God calls us speaks to our whole being—all that we are and not just a verbal tag which separates us from others. Knowing our Name also means recognising the One who calls it… “...and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.” This is where our identity in God is so different from our ordinary names. When we come to understand something of that identity it doesn’t so much separate us from others as bring us into relationship with them. By our Name we both know and are known. A greater part of the process of salvation is, therefore, coming to know
ourselves—coming to our true identity, our God-given identity by which we may know ourselves and know God and know others. Where do we start with this then? We start with the One who knows us truly—who knows our name and our true identity. We start with God. God says to us all—’Come to me and you shall know yourself!’