This world is suffering from an identity crisis. And because most people don’t know who they are, they wrap themselves up in all kinds of identities that still aren’t who they really are.
People wrap themselves up in their sexuality, their race, their hate, even their religion, but guess what? Any of those identities will not satisfy and will just lead to more frustration that usually gets taken out on someone else. So, what is the solution? At the heart of the scriptures is the answer. Our identity is IN CHRIST. There are many scriptures that describe the identity of believers “in Christ.” Key verses include 2 Corinthians 5:17, which states that anyone in Christ is a new creation, and Romans 8:1, which emphasizes that there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. He is our Creator. We are created of His essence and who He is. When we immerse ourselves in who He is and realize all truth is a person and not some teaching or set of rules, we die to ourselves and arise into who we were really meant to be. If you immerse yourself in your sexuality or power or whatever it is you define yourself by, you will be absorbed into that and will never be anything else. There will be some resemblance of satisfaction, but that is just to throw you off so you will settle for something less than what you really are.
When you immerse your identity in Christ, it is the only thing you can immerse yourself in and not be lost.
He shows you and allows you to rise up to what your full potential is, who you really are. He doesn’t require you to be some imitation of someone else. He shows you who you really are and He shows you how to be the best you that you can be and He gives you the power to achieve it. Your identity does not get absorbed into something that is temporary or that will ultimately lead you into a state of bondage. He shows you how free and powerful you really are. Then you will find yourself able to do things you could never dream of doing on your own. He places HIS heart within you and then you see like He sees; you love like He loves.
Who am I is a question, in my opinion, that we all need to ask ourselves and be able to answer. If you don’t know who you are, it leaves you subject to any influence that comes around.
“That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive.”—Ephesians 4:14
Ephesians 4:14 is well put I would say. This is not a religious statement or meant to convert you to some religion it is just a truth you will have to ponder and pray for understanding. It is in no way telling you to imitate anyone including yours or someone else’s understanding of who Christ is. Jesus and for that matter other belief systems teach this concept. In the Bible it is described as ‘dying to self’.
“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” —Galatians 2:20
In this ‘all about me’ culture that makes no sense. Self-esteem and you, no matter how detrimental you are to yourself or society, are king according to the mantra of this modern day and time. In true warrior societies, they knew what it meant to lay down their life for another or for God and country knowing even the loss of your own life was to be valued if it served the greater good. We do ooo and ahhh the occasional hero’s story of doing this but we fail to apply it to ourselves. Don’t misunderstand me. I’m not telling anyone to go allow themselves to be killed for a greater cause. There are religious fanatics blowing themselves up for an utterly wrong ideal.
Romans 12:1-6 adds to the understanding of this concept when it talks about being a ‘living sacrifice’.
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members of one another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us.”
In other words, it isn’t about promoting you anymore, it is about the greater good for all of creation and as a side benefit, you become completely fulfilled and content and spiritually powerful. You really have to think outside the religious box to understand how this applies. Truth is so beyond religion. Truth is expressed in every living thing and is put into words in many different forms and peoples. Real truth can always be recognized.
God believes in you more than you believe in yourself. He wants you to be all that you can be but in order to fully be all we can be we must get our eyes off of ourselves, and for that matter, others. We must get our eyes off of our failures, frailty and even our own ego. When we realize it isn’t about us then we can rise to be all we were meant to be.
“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” —1 Peter 2:9
“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” —Ephesians 2:10
“But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”—John 1:12
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” —Jeremiah 1:5
“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So, glorify God in your body.” —1 Corinthians 6:19-20
“The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.” — 1 Corinthians 2:14-16
Do you get that? We were not created to just have the limitations of our own minds and bodies. We are connected to a greater mind. Our body is the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19) and our mind is the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16). We were not just some physical or cosmic accident. We were knit together in our mother’s womb for a purpose (Psalm 139:13-16). We are spiritual beings that have a soul that dwells in a physical body, not the other way around. Jesus performed many miracles while here on Earth. He showed his disciples the infinite possibilities of being in him and even as amazing as he was, he wanted them to know that they too were capable of doing so much more. He even told them in In John 14:12 that those who believe in Him will do the works He does, and even greater works, because He is going to the Father. This emphasizes the empowerment of believers to continue his mission and perform significant acts in his name. He even empowered them with a baptism of power to accomplish this (Acts 2). We aren’t limited in what we are physically capable of doing in ourselves but have the power of his Spirit. “Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit.”—Zechariah 4:6. In him we live and breathe and move in a spiritual realm of power connected to him and we are able to manifest his power in our physical world. The weak become strong, the foolish become wise (1 Corinthians 1:27). “Let the weak say, I am strong.”— Joel 3:10.
In conclusion, let me say, we operate so far below our potential and it is chiefly because we are not plugged into the source of all power. Trusting in God will transform us like Clark Kent going into a phone booth!
“Every day we live we look around us, we read the news and we hear about more and more human beings becoming complacent and being rocked to sleep by the propaganda of this world. We feed on the government and the world system’s tit when we could be eating meat. The generations of explorers and heroes are fading away and becoming only stories and metaphors of another time and don’t fit into the framework of the self-serving bubble modern-day society is surrounding us with. The average human ignores that the bubble is tightening and the air is getting thinner and how crowded it has become. The solution to most is infighting the people in the bubble that are as trapped as they are. Yet let someone arise that has a pin to pop the bubble and everyone goes crazy and curses that individual and they yell and drown out his voice when he is only trying to set the people free. This culture would rather kill the deliverer than be set free. They would rather remain in their illusion that the bubble is good and is only there for our protection and ignore that it gets ever tighter and ever harder to breathe. It is time to pop the bubble people. It is time to free-fall from its boundaries and limitations and land firmly on our feet and begin bursting the bubbles of others that have them bound. There is an enemy of our own mind, there is a jailer of our own creation that keeps us from being free. Only when we walk out the cell door of our self-imposed limitations will we realize that the door to our cells has been open all along. Only then will we see this world progress as it should spiritually, emotionally, financially, health-wise and technologically as it should. Only when we shed the shackles of culture, poverty, hatred, gender, religion, greed and race will we truly be all that we can be.” —Benjamin Raven Pressley
Our identity in Christ doesn’t erase who we are; it refines, empowers, and gives ultimate meaning to our individual selves. Here’s a chart outlining what scriptures say we are in Christ, demonstrating how our identities become richer and more meaningful:
Our Amplified Identity In Christ: What the Scriptures Say
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