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Identity Part 1: Child of God

John 1:12: “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,…”
 
Last night our topic was identity. What does identity mean? Where are we putting our identity? What should our identity be? We talked about how easy it is to put our identity in our activities and interests like sports, jobs, hobbies or in our relationships like family, friends, or significant others.
 
We can even try to define who we are based upon our personalities. But do these things really define the core of who we are? Does athlete, pastor, father, friend, really tell the whole story of what I am about? No. Instead we need to turn to the one who formed us and gave us our identity as Christians through Christ.
 
This means that if we believe in Jesus Christ, meaning that we call him our Savior and Lord, and we follow him, than our identity is set and defined by God. And one part of our identity is the reality that we are “Children of God.”
 
When we come to believe in and follow Jesus we become children of God. We become his perfect and beloved children and he loves us with a love that surpasses knowledge (Ephesians 3:19). In fact, God is so excited about us as his children that he calls us his heritage or inheritance according to Psalm 33:12. This means he sees us as his precious treasure.
 
But the question we asked is do we believe this about ourselves? Do we believe that as Christians we are God’s children, and do we believe that God loves us in this way?
 
If we reject what God says about us and we define ourselves according to our activities, relationships, or personalities we will surely find ourselves in a place of depression, loss of self, and pain when these things change. However, when we define ourselves according to what our unchanging and perfect God says about us, we will begin to see ourselves as he sees us and will experience a fullness of life, joy, and purpose that our found only in our perfect God.
 
So come to Jesus today. Believe that he paid he penalty for your sins through his shed blood, turn away from your sins and begin to follow him. And know that you are his, he loves you, and your unchanging and fullest identity, purpose, and joy are found in and through Christ alone.
 
 
 
You can listen to part one of this series below.