Knowing Oneself/Finding Oneself

 Knowing Oneself/Finding Oneself


To "know" oneself, or to seek to "find" oneself, is not necessarily inherently or intrinsically evil in itself.  Sometimes I think that we Christian people are tempted to instantly come to conclusions that are not always entirely sustainable--and this is probably a good example of one of those things.

 

. . . I would argue, that as beings created in the very image of God, we of necessity seek to "know" ourselves, and need to "find" ourselves.  Even Adam and Eve, before their Fall, "knew" themselves as God's special creation; and they "found" themselves in their relation to the Triune God. . . . But, upon the Fall of man into sin everything got completely messed-up, (to say the least/and to say it in polite terms).

 

Now, we still must, of necessity, "know" ourselves, and "find" ourselves--but, since we are cut off from the Source of Life (God) because of sin, we seek ourselves in all the (proverbial) "wrong places."  This has always been the problem ever since the Fall; but today a lot of people have "time" to try to consciously seek to "know" themselves, and to "find" themselves.  And when this is done on one's own it leads to disastrous results.  Trying to "know" oneself, or "find" oneself independently of Jesus Christ is analogous to standing before a spiritual "black hole," and allowing the forces of that maelstrom to whip and whirl you around, until you finally get "caught" on some "pointy edge" of it that holds you fast.  Then, you conclude, "Oh, this must be who I am; and now I have finally found myself."

 

So, we learn a really huge and difficult lesson here; and it is this: if we are to "know" our actual self, and "find" our authentic personhood--we must seek this information outside of ourselves and all the world's offerings.  But this is where it gets "scary," because this requires us to be honest about ourselves, (and, of course, none of us want to be honest with ourselves/nor are we able to be honest with ourselves, apart from sovereign gospel grace).  When we are, by that miraculous grace, honest with ourselves, we realize that we are desperately lost and infinitely disgusting sinners before a Holy God.  This knowledge requires us to take the next great "step," and to throw ourselves on the mercies of God in Jesus Christ, and to receive His atoning grace for the forgiveness of our sins, (all as a result of a prior regeneration of our hearts by the Holy Spirit).  Now, we are "new" creatures in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17).  Now, we "know" ourselves, not to be condemned sinners, but to be beloved churched children of God.  We have "found" ourselves--and we "know" ourselves to be the redeemed treasure nestled in the heart of a loving Heavenly Father, by virtue of His Son's atonement of us, and the Holy Spirit's application of this grace to our hearts.

 

Unlike our pre-Fallen first parents Adam and Eve, we cannot (now) "know" ourselves or "find" ourselves even in "God," (abstractly-defined).  Instead, IF we are to "know" our true selves, and "find" our actual selves, we must gain this information via the "gospel pipeline" of first conceiving of ourselves as rebellious sinners who then find all of our freedom and joy in the Son of God's love.

 

Which do we prefer, in the inevitable venture of "knowing" and "finding" ourselves: to stand before the vicious "black hole" of the fallen world, filled with the discord of confusion and demons; or to stand before the Truth of God, and humbly accept His verdict of us, and His astounding redemption of us in Christ?

 

When Philip told Nathanael, in Jn. 1:45, "We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph," (ESV)--Philip was also saying, "I have now found myself; I now know myself.  I now know who I am--a follower, a disciple of the One and Only Great Messiah, Jesus Christ our Lord."  The same will be true of all God's elect church, as we are brought to the Savior via the sovereign grace and power of the God of the glorious gospel.  We are now, to use Paul's language, "In Christ."

 

Rev. Mark J. Henninger

Treatise #134

15 September 2026

 

https://theologicaltreatisesinretirement.blogspot.com

https://henningerdevotions.blogspot.com

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