The New Identity in Christ

The New Identity in Christ

 Galatians 3: 23 Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. 
24 So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. 
 25 Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.
 26 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, 
27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 
28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 
29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world (John 17:16). 

There are those who say that having received the life of Christ, you still have your old nature. That’s not true, according to the Scriptures. You don’t have two natures; you have only one, and it’s the nature of God. The question however is, “Where do you live? With what consciousness do you function?” As Christians, we live simultaneously in two worlds. Once you’re born again, you’re alive to God; you’re awakened to the fatherhood of God and to the reality of the Kingdom of God. Your Identity in Christ they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world (John 17:16). 

Our culture is very interested in the journey of discovering individual identity. Personality tests and dream assessments are available everywhere you look. It seems like everyone is searching for something to tell them who they are, where they belong, and how they relate to the world. The Bible says that all men and women are created in God’s image. Humankind was created to reflect some of God’s attributes. You can look for your identity anywhere, but followers of Jesus are called to find their identity in Him. 

Where Do You Find Your Identity? While our world encourages you to look within yourself for your identity, your natural tendency is to search for your identity in external things. One of the first places that you can be tempted to look to is your career. Spending your time and energy pursuing your career can cause you to feel like it is a defining characteristic of who you are. After all, a job that you are dedicated to is likely to take up most of your time and attention. Jobs and careers are closely connected to other places where you can search for your identity, such as financial success and status. But it doesn’t stop there.

 People also ask their relationship statuses, appearance, grades, and reputation to provide a sense of identity. Any or all of these may feel like solid foundations, but none of them are permanent. Any of them could change without warning. If you base your identity on things like success, wealth, power, physical appearance, and so on,  you are setting yourself up for great disappointment. A sudden job loss could leave you questioning your choices in life. One piece of gossip aimed your way could destroy your reputation, even if it is untrue. Your appearance will change as you get older. God, however, is unchanging. He is reliable. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. If you find your identity in Him, you will never ultimately be let down because he has proven time and time again to be trustworthy. It is important, as you define your identity, that God is not just an aspect of who you are, like “I am a Christian,” or ”I am religious,” or “I am spiritual”.  Understanding your identity in God starts with understanding who He is, what He says about Himself, and what He says about you.

 Your identity can be defined by who God is making you to be in His image. Seeing Yourself as God Sees You Matters If you put your faith in Jesus, you have a new identity in Him. The more you get to know Jesus through His word and time in prayer, the more you will understand your identity in Him. The more you get to know Jesus, the more you will be able to identify areas of your life that you are not living in this identity by the power of the Holy Spirit.

 If you believed that you were all that God says you are in Christ, how would that change the way you lived, the way you interact with others, or the way that you relate to the Lord? As you find your identity in Christ, you will grow to look more like Him and less like the world. You will grow in intimacy with Him and with other believers. 

You must realize that you’re a new creation, born of the Word and Spirit of the Lord. Therefore, even though you’re in this world, you’re not of the world. When the Lord Jesus said, “I’m from above”; the Jews sneered at Him. They knew he was born  physically in Nazareth; yet he said to them, “I’m from above.” They were offended at him because they didn’t understand spiritual realities.

 Jesus told the truth about His origin and identity. Like Him, you’re from above. You have the same life and nature with Him. This is who you are now; not who you’re “trying” or “growing” to be. When a woman gives birth, the baby doesn’t become more human as he grows. No matter how small the baby is at birth or the fact that he doesn’t walk immediately, can’t sit, eat, and talk; he’s still completely human. It’s the same with you; you’re one hundred percent divine. You’re of God; you hail from Him. Your origin is in Him. You’re not of this world! This is the reality. 

There are many beautiful and glorious descriptions of the new creation in the Scriptures. It’s one of the reasons you must study the Bible to know more about the glorious things spoken and written of you in the Word. What name has God called you? Answer that name, for you’ll cheat yourself if you don’t. In Genesis 17:5, God spoke to Abram and said, “Neither shall thy name anymore be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee.” “Abram” meant exalted father, but God had a different plan for him and called him the “father of many nations.” YOUR NEW IDENTITY IN CHRIST Abraham immediately adjusted to his new reality and identity, introducing himself by his new name. 

Some must have made jest of Abraham when he changed his name. Recall also that Sarah, his wife was barren; another hopeless case. But Abraham was fully persuaded by God’s Word and called himself what God had called him. In the same way, you have to learn to agree with God and His Word. Accept your new identity and reality in Christ. He’s called you holy, righteous, prosperous, victorious, more than a conqueror, etc. Walk in agreement with God, with His description and perception of you. 

When Paul wanted to address the Christians at Ephesus, he referred to them as saints, and the faithful (Ephesians 1:1). That’s your description as well. If you aren’t a saint, then it means you’re not born again, because saints are those who are born again.

 In Colossians 1:22, He calls you holy, unblameable, and unreproveable. Accept and walk in the light of these truths and you’ll be ever productive in your faith-walk of righteousness. 

Beloved, now are we the sons of God… (1 John 3:2). Concerning Jesus, the Bible says, “He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not…” (John 1:10-11). The world didn’t know Him because they tried to figure Him out by their senses; they were looking at His outward appearance. They couldn’t see that He was the maker of the universe. God Himself was with them but they didn’t recognise Him. Likewise, the world also doesn’t recognize us as new creations and associates of God-kind. They think we’re ordinary, but we’re sons of God. We’re God-men in the earth; we’re divine because the life in us is the life of God. They group us as they group unbelievers, according to our race, ethnic group, gender, language, geographical location, colour, and creed. 

Recently they added a new phenomenon to it, gender dysphoria, which they defined as the feeling of discomfort or distress that might occur in people whose gender identity differs from their sex assigned at birth or sex-related physical characteristics. This then gave birth to people identifying as who they are not or people who are confused by what gender they are because they have certain proclivities that do not fit into their natural gender.

 In simpler times, such people are identified as mentally unstable and treated as such but in today's society, mental disorder is under siege for trying to claim symptoms relating to sexual orientation as one of its symptoms. The same issue can be argued to be affecting believers who are born again, full of the Holy Spirit, and have eternal life but feel confused as to their identities in Christ. 

Salvation Dysphoria: the feeling of discomfort or distress that might occur in people whose salvation identity differs from their identity as assigned at the moment they became born again or begin to participate in kingdom-related activities. Some of such believers have lived long in the understanding of their cultural or natural identities to embrace the new identity given to them in Christ wholeheartedly. You see men insisting their wives are first Yoruba, Hausa, or Igbo women before they can claim to be saints in Christ or the lights of the World or sons of God. You see women claiming to be feminists, divas, baddies, housewives, black women, career women, etc due to the desire to own their identities in the world despite knowing their true identities in Christ has nothing to do with these things. 

Our identity in Christ has nothing to do with gender, our jobs, our careers, our language, or our colour. 1 John 4" 4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 5 They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us, but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit[a] of truth and the spirit of falsehood. There are people in this world who God does not live inside of them. There are people in this world who God lives inside of them. The former are men the latter are Sons of God or gods.

God has other names he defined them as a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, the light of the world, saints, children of obedience, children of the day, the righteous ones John 1:12 says, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God….” He gave us the right, the ability, to become the sons of God. We’re not going to become sons of God when we get to heaven; we’re sons of God NOW! James 1:18 declares, “Of his own will begat us with the word of truth….”*_ When you heard the Gospel and opened your heart to the Word, the life of God was imparted to your spirit, and you were born again. But the world still looks at you and thinks they’re seeing the same old person. Just because you’re encased in an ordinary human body doesn’t mean you’re ordinary. 

2 Peter 1:4 describes you as a partaker of the divine nature; you’re in God’s class of being, the divine class. You’re not a mere mortal; you’re a god in the earth. Think about it: animals give birth to animals and humans give birth to humans. God, therefore, would most certainly give birth to gods. That’s why He said in Psalm 82:6, “I have said, Ye are gods, and all of you are children of the most High.” Get to know who you are, because when you get to know who you are, you’ll know what belongs to you and live to your full potential. Be bold in your life. You’re a child of God; a joint heir with Christ; the world belongs to you. Refuse to live an ordinary life or as an ordinary person.

 Psalm 82 1 God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods.
 2 How long will ye judge unjustly, and accept the persons of the wicked? Selah.
 3 Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy. 
4 Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked.
 5 They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are out of course.
 6 I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High. 
7 But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes. 
8 Arise, O God, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations. Read the scripture above out loud and then silently, read it again and again. 

Believers who identify as men negate the effect of the reality of their divine nature and therefore will suffer the fate of mere men like walking in darkness and they will be unable to set faulty foundations right.

Believers who identify as deities, divine nature carriers, and sons, are children of the Most High and they will subdue and dominate according to the dictates of their nature.

Are you a woman, man, lady, black, white, Igbo, Yoruba, Hausa, or a Son? When you read things written online like Men are this or women are that? Are you triggered or do you make up your mind to make more men and women become like yourself in your divine reality?

 -GSW-