Our True Identity

9/3/2020

Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called
the sons of God:
1 John 3:1

Being a follower of Jesus Christ means that we are living as a new creature in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17). Christian identity is not found in self-exploration and is not defined in terms of who we are in and of ourselves. Christian identity can only be understood in terms of who we are in Christ: what He has done for us and what He has done in us. Our identity is never a reflection of who we are but rather a reflection of who God is. “Our identity is for the sake of making known His identity” (Parnell, 2013).

So many people today are in search of who they truly are. A quick google search will discover that there are a myriad of online tools that will tell you what your personality style is, your spiritual gifts are, what your vocational habits look like, who your best mate should be, and so on. All these tests are readily available because so many people are in search of finding out who they truly are. The pretense of discovering yourself and being your best self is deeply rooted in the prideful arrogance of the natural man. What we find in scripture about our identity is in stark contrast to this incessant search for identity and truly destroys the pretense of discovering yourself. Consider for a moment this passage of scripture, “He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal” (John 12:25).

For our sakes as a Christian, it should be our goal to stop searching out our identity through self-exploration and start doing some God exploration.

"He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it”
(Matthew 10:39).

You have no identity without Christ. A careful study of scripture shows the frail, weak, and wretched condition of man without Christ. Take a careful look at these passages of scripture: Jeremiah 17:9, Romans 7:24, Genesis 6:5, Psalm 39:11, Psalm 144:4). C.S. Lewis wrote, “It is no good trying to be ‘myself’ without Him. The more I resist Him and try to live on my own, the more I become dominated by my own heredity and upbringing and surroundings and natural desires. In fact what I so proudly call ‘Myself’ becomes merely the meeting place for trains of events which I never started and which I cannot stop. (Mere Christianity, 225-226). Without Christ, we are constantly trying to create an identity that is based on the things of this world. Anything we give ourselves to, outside of Christ, we end up becoming slaves to that source, these things never help us to become our ‘true selves.’