Reflections on “What Is My Identity in Christ Jesus?” June 25, 2024.

Believe in God;  believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. John 14:1-3..

We all carry an Identification card that tells who we are in this world, but does God have one for us?

Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?”  God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations. Exodus 3:13-15.

What is our identity before the Lord God? Blessed are you, O LORD; teach me your statutes! With my lips, I declare all the rules of your mouth. In the way of your testimonies, I delight as much as in all riches. I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word. Psalm 119:12-16.

There are no ‘except when’s. This means to study the scriptures day and night, and delight in them. Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord! Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, who seek Him with their whole heart, who also do no wrong, but walk in His ways! Psalm 119:1-3. This means studying and praying to follow Him. Psalm 25:3-5 tells us how to follow God: Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; for You, I wait all the day long.

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law, he meditates day and night. Psalm 1:1-2.

Many years ago, I learned how God looks at a man. But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do  not look on his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord  sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” I Samuel 16:7.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Genesis 1:1-2. Near the end of the week, we find this: So, God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female, He created them. Genesis 1:27.

Interesting, how powerful God is that He created us in His image. And in His Word, I find this: “But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” John 4:23-24.

We all want to belong and have a relationship. To be received by God is belonging to someone forever.  He came to His own, and His own people did not receive Him. But to all who received Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God. John 1:11-12.

When Jesus answered Thomas, He learned this. Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6.

We are Accepted – No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friend, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. John 15;15.

We are Secure—in a relationship with God, our Shepherd, King, and Creator. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake, we are being killed all the day long, we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For, I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:35-39.

We are Significant not for what we accomplish on earth, but because of how Jesus died on the cross to be the sacrifice for us and rose again from the dead. “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.“  Luke 12:32, 34.

With a birthday, the gifts of a relationship, with God provide Acceptance, Security, and Significance from a book called Who I Am in Christ? by Dr. Neil T Anderson.