Identity Crisis

In an effort to find out who someone is when meeting them for the first time, our natural inclination is to ask, "What do you do for a living?" or "What are you majoring in?" We're really asking about the person. We are in no way getting a better idea of who they are. If you were to ask someone, "Who is Michael Jordan?" the answer would immediately be, "A famous basketball player." But that is not who he is. As a society, we tend not to think of identity correctly. No wonder so many people have no idea who they are.

The whole identity issue wraps around the question, "Do we see ourselves and others around us the way in which God sees us?" For many, the answer is no. I can tell you all the things identity is not, but I think it would be wiser to tell you what it is. The Bible has a lot to say about identity, and four promises how identity is determined through Christ.

1) Identity is determined by birth. 1 Peter 1:3, 23b says, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead...that is, through the living and enduring word of God."

2) Identity is determined by faith. Galations 2:20 says, "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me."

3) Identity is determined by choices. 1 John 3:9 says, "No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God."

4) Identity is determined by actions. 2 Peter 1:4 says, "For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world..." Furthermore, 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come."

Even with all these wonderful promises of a set identity in Christ, people still feel unworthy. The problem is, if you don't feel worthy, you will never be able to thrive. Since when have you ever heard a butterfly called a "converted caterpillar?" Well then, don't go around calling Christians "converted sinners." Remember, you are a new creation. The old has gone. The new has come.

We don't have to work to be someone we already are - our spiritual identity is secure. Now go ahead and feel worthy. You are more than worthy, because God made you that way. Define yourself in terms of Biblical truth.

So I have a question for you. Who are you?