Identity Part 2 - Truth

When my five year old gets out his large Lego bricks it is to do only one thing....build the tallest tower possible and make sure it is bigger than his sister's! He randomly fixes brick on top of brick giving no thought to shape, Spire logo colour or size! Time and again I have told him that to build a tall tower he must spend time at the bottom, creating a large secure base from which his Lego bricks can rise. But to him this is not logical...why use up bricks going out when they should be going up? Inevitably his towers don't get very high, the bricks come crashing down when they reach that critical point where the bottom bricks cannot support the weight or balance the top bricks. My son doesn't mind, building a tower is of course all about knocking it down again in the most spectacular of ways...and if bricks can scatter all round the room and out the window so much the better! Perhaps I should read him again the insightful story Jesus told of the wise and foolish builders! (Matt 7:24-29)

In the last article we suggested that to a:spire, in:spire and per:spire to do great things for God we must have deep and secure foundations in our Christian identity. Only then can we cope with failure, knock backs, fear and even success. So in the following few paragraphs we will look briefly at five foundational truths of who we are...our Christian identity. We will start right back at the beginning to look at God's original design for us......

1. Made in the image of God

In Genesis 1:26-28 (The Message) it says ‘God spoke: "Let us make human beings in our image, make them reflecting our nature.' This tells us that we are made in the image of God. We are made in God's image and likeness, reflecting his nature. We are made like God, we are a model based on him.

An image does not exist by itself...your image in a mirror is not there unless you are looking in the mirror! So, to know ourselves we must know God. Our identity comes from beyond ourselves....not from within ourselves or from around us. Our identity is dependent on God and how he made us.

2. Sin distorts the image

When we look at the story of creation we see that God created human beings with significance, security and a deep sense of belonging - both to each other and to God. But the story of the Garden of Eden is one of distorted image. Once sin was involved creation became separated from God, and self- image became distorted and unclear. Because of sin we are now all born into the world with an unclear picture of God and therefore of ourselves. It is as if there is a barrier between us and him. That is why people search for identity in other places.

3. Jesus

God had to deal with the sin that separates us from him and from seeing our clear identity. How? Through Jesus of course!

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

Jesus, through his death on the cross and resurrection, has won back for us our spiritual life and identity that was lost through the sin in the Garden of Eden. Jesus takes us right back to the place where we were created to be!

Our acceptance of Jesus when we became a Christian puts us right back in to a proper relationship with God where we can see our image and identity. Only through Jesus does the image of our real selves become clear again.

4. New Life = New identity

The moment you said yes to Jesus your old self was gone. Your new self is here forever. Being a Christian is not about getting something it's about being something. Being ‘born again' transformed you into someone who didn't exist before.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (2 Corinthians 5:17-21)

Have you seen those TV and magazine ads of people who have been on weight loss programmes? They usually are ‘before and after' pictures, showing the supposed transformation of that person who has lost loads of weight and now looks amazing!

The Bible has some ‘before and after' of who we were before and who we are after we have been born again and made into a new creation in Christ.

Luke 15:24 You were dead but now alive; you were lost, but now found.
Romans 6:11 You were dead to sin but now alive to God
2 Peter 1:19 You were in darkness but now a light shining in a dark place

From God's point of view that change from ‘old' to ‘new' took place instantly. But it sometime takes us a while to understand and begin to live out our new identity.

5. Heirs with Jesus

We all know that when we became a Christian we became a child of God....his beloved son or daughter! But check out

Gal 4:7. So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has also made you an heir.

This means that what is true of Jesus is now true of us! We have an inheritance through Jesus in God! It is part of our identity.

So what do we see in the Bible about who we really are.....our true identity....through Jesus.

The world tries to tell me/I think about myself:

My true identity tells me:

‘I am not acceptable as I am'

‘I am accepted in Christ' (John 1:12)

‘I'll never amount to anything special'

‘I am the salt of the earth (Matt.5:13)

‘I need more stuff to be happy'

‘I am complete in Christ' (Col 2:10)

‘I've made too many mistakes'

‘I am free forever from condemnation' (Rom 8:1-2)

‘My body isn't muscley enough / thin enough'

‘I am a temple - a dwelling place - for God. His Spirit and His life live in me.' (1 Cor 3:16, 6:19)

‘I can't do it'

'I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.' (Philippians 4:13)

‘I am no-one without girl/boy friend'

‘I am a member of a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God.' (1Peter 2:9,10)

‘God will never use someone like me'

‘I am chosen by Christ to bear fruit' (John 15:16) ‘I am Christ's personal witness sent out to tell everybody about Him' (Acts 1:18)

‘I am a total failure'

In all these things I am completely victorious through God who showed his love for me. (Romans 8:37)

‘If I didn't have my good looks / good body I wouldn't have anything'

‘I am a child of God and will receive the inheritance He has promised.' (Gal. 4: 6,7)

‘I don't belong'

‘I am a child of God and one with others in His family' (Gal. 3: 26-28)

This is our real identity, this is who we really are. Read it, believe it, build on it and live it!