I remember before I received Christ that I asked myself these questions, who am I, and what is my purpose in life? When I lived in Colorado for a couple of years it was a time of soul searching. I was dealing with loneliness and depression at times. I was insecure and withdrawn.
Maybe you struggled with these issues at times. I used to have to walk to work and almost every place and it was a time to reflect on my life. I used to pray and ask God are you real, where are you? I didn’t get an answer which made me more confused. Maybe He did answer in some way but I wasn’t listening I guess? I was too clouded by my feelings, emotions, and a not-so-healthy self-talk.
At the beginning of my second year there I finally came to Christ. It was awesome. I started going to Church, and attending Bible study and life was beginning to look good. It doesn’t mean my circumstances changed but my view on life changed. I started to see things from God’s perspective. Before that, I was looking through the wrong lenses. Now I started seeing things through the Word of God. Finally the right lenses. When life seemed out of focus, blurred, and confused, the Word of God was bringing my life into a God-centered focus. The Church and other believers also helped in the process. I was starting to learn my identity in Christ! It was a slow process but I was getting there. I had to learn my identity was not in my past, how I was raised, or how the culture tried to impose its way of thinking on me. I started to learn Biblical truth that was setting me free from a false identity. (John 8:31-32 )
There were many things that I had to overcome. Finding our true identity in Christ, and learning to see ourselves as God sees us is truly transforming. Don’t let the Devil tell you you’re no good. That you’re a failure and that you made too many mistakes. That you’re beyond help. God loved you while you were still a sinner, what makes you think He loves you less now that you are saved? ( Rom 5:8 )He loves you because of Jesus not because of you’re religious works and performance. That’s good news. That is the gospel of God’s unending grace! No matter how you were raised, what your parents, and grandparents were like no matter the sins of the flesh, you are a new creature in Christ. ( 2 Cor 5:16-17, 2 Cor 5:21 ) Yes those things can affect how you live your life physically, emotionally, and relationally but it’s not the end of the road.
In verse 16 it reads in the Amplified; 2 Corinthians 5:16 (AMP) –16 Consequently, from now on we estimate and regard no one from a [purely] human point of view [in terms of natural standards of value]. [No] even though we once did estimate Christ from a human viewpoint and as a man, yet now [we have such knowledge of Him that] we know Him no longer [in terms of the flesh]. Also in Passion Translation-2 Cor. 5:16 So then, from now on, we have a new perspective that refuses to evaluate people merely by their outward appearances. For that’s how we once viewed the (Jesus) Anointed One, but no longer do we see him with limited human insight. We just can’t solely judge ourselves after the flesh anymore, such as our background, how we were raised, etc. but after who we are in Christ. We know our true selves through the Word of God. Yes, we judge ourselves when it comes to personal sins committed but we also affirm our position in Christ! The good news is that we are already forgiven, cleansed, and sanctified by the blood of Jesus. ( 1Cor. 6:9-11 ) Let us not underestimate the power of God’s Word, the work of the Holy Spirit, and the cross of Christ to make a difference.
You are in a new family, the family of God. You have a new Father who loves you! You have a new big brother, his name is Jesus. No longer is your identity taken from the first Adam but from the last Adam Jesus! Your life in the flesh before Christ is eclipsed by this new life in Christ. What seemed like the hopelessness of ever-changing, God has given you hope! This hope is a confident expectation of good things to come. Here is a wonderful scripture and it’s found in Jeremiah 29:11; “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
An awesome example is found in the gospels regarding John the Baptist. John 1:19-23 (NKJV) –19 Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” 20 He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” 21 And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” 22 Then they said to him, “Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?“23 He said: “I am’The voice of one crying in the wilderness:”Make straight the way of the LORD,” ‘as the prophet Isaiah said.” John didn’t say he was the Christ or a prophet. He could have said that he was Zacharias’s son or the child of Elizabeth. These are things after the flesh. No, he said what the scriptures in the Old Testament said about him!
What do you say about yourself, especially when no one is listening? Are you saying what the Word of God says about you? ( Philemon 1:6 ) Are you acknowledging every good thing in you in Christ? Are you more conscience of your past, your failures, your shortcomings, and your faults? Are you stuck on the notion that what others think and say about you determines your future and who you are? Today get a revelation of who you are in Christ. This is how God sees you! We don’t know Jesus after the flesh, like the early disciples did. We weren’t there with him when He was on earth. Yet now we know Him after the Spirit, through the Word of God! This is much better for us because He now lives in us! Remember when the devil came to Jesus in the wilderness? What did he say to him? “If you are the son of God?” ( Luke 4: 1-4 ) The devil tempted Jesus to question his true identity. Jesus ignored the question. He was secure in what the scriptures said about him. He didn’t have to prove his identity ( Isaiah 9:6 ) Then Jesus responded with the Word of God. How shall we live? “By every Word that comes from God.” We have to do the same! Don’t let the devil steal your new identity. Boldly declare who you are in Christ. You have a new life in Jesus! ( John 10:10 )
Blessings!
Brent and Linda