A NEW IDENTITY
1 JOHN 3:1 "Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us that we should be called
sons of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him."
2 CORINTHIANS 5:17 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have
passed away; behold, all things have become new."
Our text in 1 John says that because of the great love of God we have the tremendous
privilege of being called 'sons of God'. The implication here is that we received a new
identity when we were born again. We are no longer just sons of men, we are now
also sons of God. This matter of identity is of utmost importance in the life of a
believer. The way you think about yourself has profound implications for your life
and living. Not only does it influence your decisions and all areas of your life, but
more importantly it largely determines the impact you will have as a Christian in this
world. The interesting thing about identity is that it is not only a matter of who you
are, but also of who you think you are. Proverbs 23:7a says, 'For as a man thinks in
his heart, so is he'.
We are in reality sons of God and therefore we do not need to fool ourselves and
pretend to be something that we are not. The problem is, however, that you can be a
son of God and still think merely like a son of man and this mindset will radically
influence the way that you act and live. In 1 Corinthians 3:3 Paul reprimands the
Corinthians for behaving like 'mere men'. Thus we see that it is imperative for us to
change our thinking. The new birth does not directly influence our minds; it is
something that we have to sort out for ourselves. Fortunately we have a powerful ally
in the Person of the Holy Spirit. Through the Word of God the Holy Spirit is able to
transform our thinking and consequently our acting. In terms of our thinking nothing
is more important than this matter of identity. In a certain sense the larger part of the
New Testament is just a constant exhortation to think right so that we may begin to
live right. Let us be careful to note, though, that thinking cannot change who we are,
it cannot make us a new creation. If you are already a new creation, however, your
thinking plays a crucial role in the transformation process. Let us take a closer look at
the dynamics of the matter of identity.
In the world there are many factors that determine the way people think about
themselves. People get their identity from their parentage, their intelligence, their
looks, their talents, their upbringing, their education, their wealth or their poverty,
their nationality, the colour of their skin, the media, school teachers, sometimes
simply by the way they feel on a particular day, and myriads of other sources. In
society there are the haves and the have-nots and these designations change according
to the fashion of the times. There is an invisible personage behind all these outward
elements and he (Satan) is constantly out to capture the minds and imaginations of
human beings. When we look at the Christian man or woman we see that all these
various elements that give the world their identity should not determine who we think
we are. Our identity has everything to do with the God who called us before the
foundation of the world to be conformed to the image of His Son! Oh, what a tragedy
it is for believers to allow their environment and other natural factors to dictate to
them who they really are. We are a holy nation and a peculiar people and first and
foremost in all situations we should always remember that we are sons and daughters
of the Most High God. Tomorrow we will consider the difference between who we
are and what we were called to do.
Quote of the Day: "If believers are still struggling with their identity, it is because they
have never considered seriously enough the revolutionary character of the new birth."