Our Identity In Christ, Part II

If I were to ask you who or what you are most proud of being, what would you say? Would it be a successful businessman, an accomplished pianist, a good athlete, a caring nurse, an excellent teacher or a loving daughter?  It could be any of these or something totally different.

For my example, I listed the following as what I am primarily identified as: a Christian, Husband, Father, Son, Grandson, Uncle, Brother, Brother-In-Law, Friend, Employee, Carpenter, Teacher, and Writer.  Most people know me as one or more of these things.

The particular titles on your list are not as important as the order in which they are placed… 

I am a Christian before I am anything else.  It is of utmost importance in that it defines every other aspect of my life.  My relationship with Christ shapes me daily into the kind of man that I want to be.  As I go down my list each part of my identity is made better by the fact that I have been born again, changed and made new. 

When we find our identity in Christ,

it makes every part of our life

closer to the way it should be.

After being recognized as a Christian, I am most proud of being a husband and father.  I proudly wear my wedding ring as a symbol of my love and commitment to my wife.  I can genuinely love her because of the love that I have been shown by Jesus.  I adore my kids because I know that they are a gift from God.  I can imagine just a little bit the way He loves me because of the way that I love them.

Next I am a Son.  I have great parents that have shown me how to be a good parent to my kids.  I try to honor them as the Bible says I should by being respectful and listening to them and seeking to help them out in whatever ways I can. 

I am also a brother to a younger sister and younger brother.  I am a brother in law.  I am an Uncle to four amazing nieces and nephews.  I am a friend.  In all these facets of who I am, I am able to be better because of He who is in me. 

The simple fact of the matter is, that we must have our priorities in the right order in order to be effective at our relationships with anyone else.  If we don’t put Christ at the head of our lives and our hearts, we will fail miserably in our attempts to be good husbands, wives, parents, friends and so on. 

Your identity in Christ should shape your life for everyone that you come in contact with to see.  There should be no question.  As you become more like Christ, others will see the change in you and appreciate the change they see. 

 

 

 

 

Our Identity In Christ, Part 1

How often have you heard America referred to as “a Christian nation?”  According to a poll by The Pew Forum on Religious and Public Life, 78.4% of Americans identify themselves as Christians.  This is an interesting statistic.  If true, then it means that three out of for people you meet today should be easily identifiable by their actions and attitudes and by their walk and their talk.

So what does it mean to BE a Christian?

As Christians, first and foremost we should be identified in Christ Jesus.  In 2 Corinthians 5:17 it says,

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. (NKJV)

So the first mark of a Christian is to become a new creation.  This means that we must have had a change in us.  If I buy a new pair of jeans, the designation of new means that they are different from any other jeans I have worn before.  So it is with Christ.  Once I become a Christian, the old me has been replaced by this new identity in Christ.

In John 15:5, Jesus says to us,

I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.

The second mark of a Christian is to be intimately connected with Christ.  The word abide here in this passage is indicative of this kind of relationship.  The picture here is of a vine and branches.  Picture a mighty oak tree.  Its branches stretch and twist to the sky and on the end of one of the uppermost limbs is a small acorn.  That acorn is connected to the little branch by a skinny stem.  That little branch works its way back to the larger branches and all the way back to the trunk itself.  The trunk sinks into the ground where a massive root system anchors that tree and provides nutrients for growth and stability.  This is the kind of connection that we must have in Christ.  If the acorn falls from the tree it is apt to be plucked up by an animal, ground underfoot by a passerby or rot back into the dirt.  Only when it is connected to the tree can it grow to fullness.

As Christians, you and I are like that tiny acorn.  When we are connected to Christ, we are fruitful, producing fruit in the form of kindness, gentleness, love, respect, etc.  This connectedness to Christ forms our identity as Christians. 

When we consider our identity, we must not overlook the importance of being connected to Jesus.  On our own we may take His name, but there will be no lasting change in us.  What’s worse, we tend to do more damage to the name of Christ when we aren’t truly connected to Him, because our sin nature kicks in and takes us places we don’t wish to go.

If you have accepted the name of Christ then remember,

It is His name we bear,

His Spirit inside of us,

His Word we study,

His will we seek and

His Cross we bear.

How Strong Is Your Identity?

Have you ever given much thought to your identity?  We’ve all been warned about the dangers of identity theft, which involves who we are on paper—our social security number, credit score, etc.  But does this identity truly represent who we are? 

Although protecting this identity is definitely important, if that identity was stolen you wouldn’t cease to exist as a person.  What is infinitely more important is our identity in this world and how it causes us to relate to others.  Regardless of outside circumstances such as turmoil, job loss, economic woes and tragedy, your fundamental identity need not change.    

My identity can be summed up in the following terms:

Christian

Husband

Father

Son

Grandson

Uncle

Brother

Brother-In-Law

Friend

Employee

Carpenter

Teacher

Writer

Although this list is not all-inclusive, it is very representative of my life.  How does this compare to your list?  It is worth taking a few moments to write your list down and see what it looks like.  It is also important to look at the order of your list.  I have tried to prioritize my identity along these basic lines: loyalty to God; loyalty to my wife, then my kids; loyalty to my extended family members and close friends; loyalty to my employers; and loyalty to my passions and interests.

Where do your loyalties lie?

Our identities shape us for sure, but don’t we make the choices first that put our identities in place?

Over the next few postings I am going to examine what our identity says about us to others and what it should say to ourselves. 

Stay tuned!