Christian identity seems to be a popular topic these days. And rightly so. There's an identity crisis warring within us, but we don't often recognize the problem. Ultimately, the truth about who we are is so much better than the lies we settle for. So let's ask: who are we, really?We're quick to forget who we really are. And as a result, we define ourselves by a million things other than who we are in Jesus: our sin, our shame, our struggles, our jobs, our relationships, our kids, our stuff, who we used to be, who we want to be, who we wish we were, who others wish we were... the list goes on. Many of these identities are clearly destructive, but the problem goes deeper than the objects that define our identities. Adam and Eve couldn't blame the apple. Their sin came from within their hearts. And when we crucify the object of our idolatry, we miss the root issue: we're defining ourselves.
In Isaiah 44, we see a carpenter fashioning idols from a piece of wood. The man cuts down a tree and uses half the wood to build a fire. Not only is he kept warm, but he roasts meat and is satisfied from hunger. From the other half of the wood, he forms an idol and worships it, saying, "Deliver me, for you are my god!" So half the wood turns to ash, and half the wood becomes a god. Ridiculous! "He feeds on ashes; a deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, 'Is there not a lie in my right hand?'" Women, how often are we deluded in our understanding of who we are? We must learn to recognize the difference between the truth and the lies that hold us captive! Let's plead with the Lord to reveal the lies as they really are, and let's pray for the faith to believe the truth about who we are in Jesus.
In trusting Christ for your salvation, you willingly forfeit the "right" to author your own identity. But this is not something to mourn or fight against. This is good news! God says you're a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:21)! You were dead, but you've been made alive. You wore filthy rags, but you've been spiritually clothed with Christ! You have the mind of Christ, and His Spirit dwells within you. You are His, and you are IN Him. You are now an integral part of His body. You're no longer struggling to portray a pretty (albeit, false) identity to the world. You're no longer bound by your history or circumstances. You're no longer held captive by your guilt and shame. You have nothing left to prove. It is finished! Your identity has been secured, and you need only look to Jesus (the true Author) to discover who you are. As He told his disciples in Matthew 10, "Whoever finds his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."
Do we still struggle with sin? Yes. Do we still tend to forget who we are? Of course. But we must be reminded often of the truth. Through God's living Word, through the powerful work of the Spirit, and through the teaching, loving, and rebuking body of Christ, we are reminded who we are and Whom we worship. This changes the way we live, the way we work, the way we view ourselves and others. It changes how we serve and how we love. It changes our worship! Beloved, you are IN CHRIST. Let that be enough.
"But that is not the way you learned Christ! - assuming that you have heard about Him and were taught in Him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness." (Ephesians 4:21-24)
Thank you for this, Amber! Loved reading it, and I am encouraged by the call to be renewed in the spirit of my mind :)
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