Where Did I Come From?
Previously published in January 2005
I’m not sure who started it and when it started, but there is an ongoing debate that is taking place on freeways and local roads all across America. Perhaps you’ve seen it and not realized that there was an argument being presented. Perhaps you’re even taking part in this debate without being aware of it. I’m certain that every person who has driven around town for a few minutes will know what I’m talking about. The argument is regarding the origin of the human race. Some argue that we are created beings. Created by an omnipotent God, who spoke and it was. Others will retort that we are a result of enormous coincidence and that evolution is the responsible force behind our existence. They present their sides of the argument by attaching either a fish or a fish with legs on the back of their car. Some have even taken the argument to the next level by attaching a figure of a fish eating the evolutionary character… a very compelling argument indeed. Sometimes when I am driving and I see the fish or the Darwinian fish with legs, I speed up and pull up next to the car to see what an evolutionist looks like or what the creationist looks like. If evolutionists were right, then we would all quite literally be a monkey’s uncle. However, I have not found that those with the Darwinian symbol on their cars look any more like monkeys than those with fish. In fact, many times I have been surprised because the evolutionists look just like a creationist. The truth is, one can not tell the difference by just looking at them.
How then can we tell the difference between an evolutionist and a creationist? What difference should be seen in the life of one who believes in creation? I would like to follow up this question with another question. Have you ever suffered through an identity crisis? I certainly have. I remember my first identity crisis clearly. I had just moved from a school that had 80 students to a school that had over 300 people. I was in 6th grade when I moved to that new school. I’m sure some of you are laughing because your school had over 1000 people, but I felt like a wide-eyed country boy moving to New York City. It was quite an intimidating experience. I didn’t know anybody, I was the only Asian in my class, my clothes were wrong, and to top it off, every boy in the class had the same hair style… every boy but me that is. I found out later that this particular hairstyle was called the “side-spike.” I tried so hard, but to no avail. My hair refused to be side-spiked. This was all very difficult for a 6th grader to handle.
At the church I attended in Vancouver, I found a group of friends with whom I found it easier to identify. By the time we were all in high school, we were all wearing the same clothes (baggy, very very baggy), had the same hairstyles (long bangs, very very long bangs), drove the same cars (Honda Accord, except one who had a Volvo station wagon), listened to the same music (Korean and rap, very very loudly), and all had the same interests (basketball). We hung out together at every opportunity we got. I had a group that I could truly identify with. I had found my niche, my group, my identity.
As human beings we are all in search of our identity. Socrates is famous for arguing that we must “Know Thyself” to be wise, that the unexamined life is not worth living. Unfortunately, Socrates was condemned to death for the society in which he lived believed that such thoughts were corrupting the youth. Today, we live in a world that agrees with Socrates. We agree that one must “know thyself” to be wise. It is applauded when a person is sure of their identity. It is wonderful to be able the question “Who are you?” with confidence. However, in order to answer the question “Who are you?” one must ask the question, “Where did I come from?” Herein lies the problem.
If your answer to the question, “Where did I come from?” is found in evolution, then what is your value in life? What is your purpose in life? It’s not a wonder that many people are trudging through life without hope, joy, or purpose. We live in a society that teaches that we are here simply because a series of unlikely events happened in just the right way. Thus millions and millions of people are living in this world, believing that their identity is found simply in coincidence. Because of this, people live with no urgency, no joy and no sense purpose. As human beings, self esteem is found in our identity. If our identity is founded in the theory of evolution, then our sense of self-esteem will suffer. Low self-esteem, simply put, means low self-value. Dexter Manley found his identity in the fact that he was a football player. So, his self-value was based on the fact that he was a football player.
He played in three Super Bowls, winning twice. Known as "The Secretary of Defense," the six-foot-three, 260-pound NFL defensive end compiled an impressive 97 ½ sacks during his career.
Growing up in the projects of Houston, Manley was given an athletic scholarship to Oklahoma State University despite his inability to read or write. After a stellar college career, Manley was drafted into the National Football League. For nine seasons, from 1981 to 1989, he played for the Washington Redskins. A former teammate said of him: "as physically gifted a football player as I've seen."
As hard as Manley played, he partied 100 times harder. Expensive clothes, complimentary meals, cars, and drugs took over, and life became a pursuit of personal gratification.
By the middle of the 1980s the star began abusing cocaine. In 1991 the NFL banned him from the league. After two lackluster seasons in Canada's football league, his playing days came to an end. Yet Manley continued to live as if he was still a player. He carried his expired NFL Players Association card for identification. He stayed in Marriott hotels, just as when he was with the Redskins. Questioned about his profession, he'd reply: "football player." Manley continued doing drugs as well, and in 2002 he was given a two-year prison sentence for cocaine possession.
In an interview with The New York Times, Manley said, "I'm still living that dream. Football gave me personality. Once it was over, I had nothing to live for."
Now if you are a creationist, you believe that you are here for a reason. And that reason is that God created you. If you have a Creator, then you have a purpose, for no creator creates without a purpose. You are here for a specific reason. Not only are you here for a specific reason, you are here with a specific value. You are the apple of His eye, precious, worth living for, and worth dying for. You are loved by your creator. And your relationship with your creator is one that can not be changed by human actions and circumstance. Just like there is nothing you can do to change the fact that your mother is the one who gave birth to you, there is nothing that can change the fact that God is the one who purposed and created you. Take a moment to let that hit you. Imagine what a difference this fact, that you have a creator, can make in ones life! And you are no ordinary creation. You are not a simple stick figure drawing created by some amateur who decided to doodle on a piece of scratch paper. You are the Mona Lisa, created by the master creator, the Lord God most high! Every intricacy and unique characteristic of yours is known and appreciated by God. Of all the natural wonders of the world, the solar system, the ocean tides, the vast mountain chains, you are His greatest creation.
We live in a world that is dying to hear this good news! We live in a world of people who think that there is no purpose for their lives. We live in a world where people think their lives have no value to anyone. We live in a world where people find their identity in circumstance and chance. We live in a world that answers the question “WHO AM I?” by looking to monkeys and amphibious water creatures. Creation was one of God’s greatest acts of love. Creation was the expression of who God is. We are in fact wonderfully and fearfully made, created in His image. So I ask the question, what is your identity? Who are you? There is a song, that perhaps some of you are familiar with. The song asks the very question, “Who am I?” God’s answer to that question rings clear. “You are mine.”
Who am I?
That the Lord of all the earth,
Would care to know my name,
Would care to feel my hurt,
Who am I?
That the Bright and Morning Star,
Would choose to light the way,
For my ever wandering heart,
I am a flower quickly fading,
Here today and gone tomorrow,
A wave tossed in the ocean,
A vapor in the wind,
Still You hear me when I'm calling,
Lord, You catch me when I'm falling,
And You've told me who I am..
I am Yours.
(“Who am I?” by Casting Crowns)