Ask anyone who has been around Adventures in Missions for a hot second and they’ll tell you that identity in Christ is one of the most important values they preach. Books like Spiritual Slavery to Spiritual Sonship are quoted only second to the Bible, you’ll frequently hear someone get called out for having an “orphan spirit,” and conversations center around what it means to be a son or a daughter of God.
I’m currently working through the book Victory Over the Darkness: Realize the Power of Your Identity in Christ by Neil T. Anderson. To be honest, the first half of the book was a bit tedious to work through. Perhaps this is because I’m dense, but I think a lot of it discusses issues and problems that the Lord has been faithful to work out in me over the last few years. Then I got to the section on faith.
“And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that he rewards those who seek Him.” Hebrews 11:6
I went scrambling for a pen in order to write down what I was hearing from the Lord. A penny dropped in my head and I realized that it is not enough to believe that God exists for “even the demons believe – and shudder” (James 2:19).
The reality is that having faith means believing all of God. Not just that He exists, but that He is a loving Father, a King, and that what He says about me is true.
God says that I am a daughter, I am made righteous, I am holy, I am a saint, that He lives in me and I hold the keys to the Kingdom because I belong to His family through adoption in Jesus. If I believe that God exists but don’t believe that what He says about me is true, then my faith is limited and it’s impossible for me to please Him.
Here is truth: when I believe that I am who God says I am, it is pleasing to Him.
Faith is essential for us to have a relationship with Jesus. If I believe only part of what God says in the Bible, then my relationship will only be partial as well. It doesn’t matter if I walk perfectly in every other area if I don’t believe who I am in Christ is sufficient.
I think it goes even deeper than that. The fact of the matter is that Jesus died and rose again and that makes us worthy, significant, and valuable. If we don’t believe that we are all of those through Jesus’ blood, then we’re saying that His death, His bloodshed, and His victory over the enemy in order to bring us into nearness with the Father isn’t enough.
These realizations have caused me to take a deeper look into what I believe is true about me. I’ve decided that if I want to be a pleasing aroma to my King, then I better start believing that I already am a pleasing aroma. I’m discovering that it all comes back to renewing my mind and that’s the place I’m going to start.
What lies are you believing about yourself? What is the truth that God says about you and how will you change how you think about yourself?
