The major lesson that God has been teaching me on the Race thus far has been on my identity. I know, no small topic!
Fittingly, this month the girls in the four teams here in Da Nang, Vietnam have been doing a study together on identity. Together we have listened to sermons, shared testimonies, and affirmed one another with truth and love. I have seen profound changes in my sisters and me as we’ve journeyed through this together, and I wanted to share these lessons with you too!
This blog, the first of two installments, focuses on the biblical truths that have transformed my understanding of who God is and who I am in Him. I have gleaned much of this from a podcast that my teammate Tyler shared with me, so please (for your sake) listen to the “We are Priests” sermon from Resonate ministries (on iTunes). I pray it will bless you and jumpstart your own study on identity, like it has for me!
In Malaysia, God gently and unrelentingly taught me to look to Him, and not the people and things of this world, for affirmation and security.
In Australia, He revealed to me more and more WHO HE IS and – because we are made in His image and likeness (Genesis 1:26) and because Jesus’ death and resurrection has made me a daughter (Galatians 3:26) – He revealed to me WHO I AM in Him.
He is a relationship in and of Himself: He is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in one, true God. Likewise, He has created me to be in intimate and loving relationships with Him and with others – my family, friends, future spouse, future children, and other people.
He is the creator and sustainer of all things. He is self-existent and transcendent. He is perfect – holy, true in all His judgments, and incapable of evil. He is infinite and personal. But, on account of his perfect holiness, He cannot have relationship with sin. He sent His Son to pay for the sin of this world – in the past, present, and future – as an eternal sacrifice, so that we could be covered by Jesus’ blood and clothed in His righteousness, free from all sin. He died so that we could be in relationship with Him!
Therefore, when God sees me, He does not see sin. He sees Jesus. He no longer sees me as a “sinner,” or even as “forgiven” or “redeemed.” Did you know that there are 175 words and names for Christians in the Bible, and not one of those names is Forgiven or Justified? Sin is no longer the final statement about me. I am not what I do or fail to do. I am not what I think or say or struggle with. I am what He has made me – I am made right with God! I am righteous in Him.
I am a disciple (Matthew 28:19) and a daughter (Galatians 3:26) of God. I am restored to what I was always supposed to be.
Just as we are reconciled to God through Jesus, He has given us the ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18). Like He was, He has made me an ambassador (2 Corinthians 5:20), a representative of His kingdom.
In the Old Testament, the presence of God dwelled in the Temple, but now He has made His people living stones (1 Peter 2:4-5), the living, walking, breathing building of His presence. His Spirit dwells in us! He is eternal and omnipresent, yet He is closer than the skin on our bones. We are His temple. Therefore, we take care of the outward for longevity in serving Him, but our identity is not in the outward.
I’ll say it again: my identity is not in the outward! It is not in what I see in the mirror on any given day. It is not the number on the scale or the absence of blemishes on my face. My identity is not what I strive to do or am able to achieve. My identity is in what’s inside – the Spirit of God, the mind of Christ! He lives in me!
Because of Jesus, I have been made a priest. Those who believe in Him and follow Him are made into a holy (meaning: different, set apart) priesthood (1 Peter 2:9).
While there are different understandings of what a priest is and does, a priest (as is understood in the Old Testament) is someone who is called to demonstrate and articulate the greatness of God to a broken world. Priests went into the presence of God in the temple, and then returned to the people and spoke to them. Now that Jesus has given Himself as the eternal sacrifice, we have complete access to the throne and are continually in the presence of God. He lives in us! It is our honor, then, to bring His presence to others through our words and the work of our lives.
Whew! I have been resting in these truths all month. Ever so gradually, they have migrated from mere head-knowledge to heart-felt truths. As I have come to believe and live out my identity in Christ, it has been humbling and encouraging to see that God’s changes in each of us do not stop with the individual. Oh no, He has a much greater purpose! He is using the change in us to change the people and environments around us, and it’s all for Him, His glory, and His Kingdom. It’s all to bring His light and life to this world.
Man, I love that!
