Reflections on “Identity in Christ!” February 13. 2024

But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like His glorious body, by the power that enables Him even to subject all things to Himself. Philippians 3:20-21.

Where do we belong? What do others think of us? What does God see in us? How do I see God? When I first saw one of my children look into a mirror and saw his reaction, I laughed. I remembered when I was concerned about whether I was beautiful. I took a mirror and gazed. Horrified, I saw my nose was crooked. One eye was a bit higher than the other. I was sixteen years old then.

Now I know God chose me before the foundation of the earth. He loves me with all His heart. He created me, and then I read, Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever. Psalm 136:1.

What is the best thing about us? For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. Psalm 139:13-14. These two verses give me the wonder of the new baby that became a reality under the goodness of our Heavenly Father.

And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion on the day of Jesus Christ. Philippians 1:6. The Lord’s Prayer Jesus taught has a phrase in it that tells us of the surety of God and His plans for us. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Matthew 6:10.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, He is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 2 Corinthians 5:17-19.

Jesus came to earth to teach us about God’s Love and Goodness. He became a sacrifice for our sins, so that we might dwell in Heaven with Our Father in Heaven forever. It is not being good, but our faith and believing in Him that makes our way certain!

Jesus said, The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. John 10:10-11. Today, life is anything but peaceful. Peace, I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives, do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. John 14:27.

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through Him we have also obtained access by faith, into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Romans 5:1-2.

In this age, we tire easily, and fall short of the ability to endure. Yet, we can put on the whole armor of God. Ephesians 6:10- 20. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. Romans 5:3-5.

So, then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. Ephesians 2:19-21. We are all brothers and sisters in Christ and not aliens. I appeal to you, brothers by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. I Corinthians 1:10.

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. Colossians 3:12-14.

I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which He has called you, what are the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints. Ephesians 1:16-18.

Is your identity in Christ Jesus? A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. John 13:34. Only in Jesus do we find the will and strength to find our identity in Christ Jesus. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit, you may abound in hope. Romans 15:13.