Once a person is born again
as he/she accepts Jesus Christ as personal Lord and Savior, Satan goes
raging wild trying to discredit the true identity of the believer. When a
Christian doesn't understand his/her unchangeable identity in Christ, then
defeat in the practical application of the Christian's daily life is virtually
an inevitable consequence.
In order to have a firm
foundation as a believer, it is important for the Christian to study at
least the basics of positional truth, so that he/she doesn't live in
defeat during the short, but very important time here on earth. (You may
also want to check out a
Compilation
of
95 Things
which God provides for the child of God at the point of Salvation >Click
Here).
Positional truth is
something that God has done for us and a positional fact can never be changed
as it depends solely on God's provision and nature. Of course, as we have
a free will, in our daily experience we may choose not to live in the
benefits of our heavenly position, and that's when our life becomes
miserable.
Therefore, let's look at
some verses about our identity in Christ ... it's an identity that is
absolutely unchangeable. And all these things are true for the born-again
believer right now. In
2 Corinthians 5:17 the Word of God says,
"Therefore if anyone is in Christ,
he is a new creation: old things have passed away;
behold, all things are become new." ―2 Corinthians 5:17
This is an exciting
statement. At the moment of Salvation everything has changed
for that person. HE has called us out of darkness into His marvelous
light (1 Peter 2:9). In this particular verse we also read that we
(every Christian) are members of a chosen generation, a royal
priesthood, an holy nation and His own special
people.
Each Christian is a member
of the Body of Christ and an individual member (1 Cor. 12:27). In
Philippians 3:20we are declared to be citizens of Heaven.
"Now therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints
and members of the household of God." ―Ephesians 2:19
Colossians 2:10 tells us
that we're complete in Him. See, the great thing about realizing our
identity in Christ is that the strange "peer" pressure of
conforming outwardly to some weird standard of so-called and
supposed-to-be Christianity is removed. Because of Christ in us, God can
already look upon us as perfect new creatures. We are the children of God
(Romans 8:16) ...
"And if children, then
heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ." ―Romans 8:17
God has given us so much at
the point of Salvation that we don't need to worry about our Christian
"performance" here on earth anymore, because ...
"He also predestined
(us) to be conformed to the image of His Son." ―Romans 8:29
In the mind of God we are already glorified (Rom. 8:30). And if we read on in
Romans 8 we
learn from the eternal Word of God that nothing can separate us from the
love of God. See, it's all His work in and through us, and He does it all
and He gives it to us freely. Yes, we need to exercise our free will to
experience our identity in Christ and our heavenly position here on earth, but
this is for our benefit. Positional
truth is an absolutely unchangeable fact in Heaven and in God's mind. The
positional reality is exactly how God looks upon us. Yes, for the time
being we're stuck in a body of death and we're frail and we fail, but we
do not need to live in defeat.
In
Romans 8:37the Word of
God declares us to be more than conquerors and in
2 Cor. 2:14 we give
thanks to God, which always leads us in triumph in Christ. So the next time
you feel down and out because of some odd circumstances in your life, it
will help a lot to lean on the eternal Word of God and what God has to say about your
identity in Christ. We do not need to seek approval from men, but instead
we've already been approved by God. Indeed, we are royalty and we have full diplomatic status.
"Therefore, we are
ambassadors for Christ." ―2 Cor. 5:20
Many times, our daily experience may
not reflect our heavenly identity/position at every moment, but
nevertheless who we are in Christ is what we are by the Grace of God (1
Cor. 15:10). It's all a gift from God and He wants us to live in these
divine blessings and privileges ... it's good for us. Consider how God
sees you in Christ and take a look at His abundant promises. Right from
the start, at the point of Salvation, He gives us practically everything!
There's no probation period, instead His infinite love has been shed abroad in
our hearts and His love bestowed all these blessings and privileges on us.
Our identity in Christ is absolutely secure and nothing can ever take it
away from us, and we ourselves can't even give it back ... it's a finished
work ... a done deal so to speak, and it solely depended on God as it is a perfect work
of God. We received it freely.
Isn't it good to know that
we're not our sin?! Some organizations tell their members that if they
once lived in a certain habit, like alcoholism or drug addiction, for the rest of their lives
they should continue to confess that "I'm so-and-so and I'm an alcoholic ... and I'm
Joe, Charlie, Jennifer and I'm a drug addict." Years after the
addiction has been dealt with and the individual has been healed from it
and has been set free, these organizations
still brainwash their members that such a person has the identity of such
an addict. What's that? Please, forget this humanistic, evil philosophy.
Instead, the born-again Christian must embrace his/her identity in Christ
and their heavenly position ... and this is what is true about each
believer, because that's exactly what God thinks about each Christian. Romans 6 explains the
sin issue quite well and this passage teaches us that we're not our sin,
because we're dead to sin. As we've just read above, we're a new creation
and members of a holy nation, and in the mind of Christ we're complete,
yes, we're already saints ... and that's what God thinks of us. Our
identity in Christ is our true confession ... it's the divine reality
about us.
Let's enjoy our identity in
Christ and let's live in it right now. Let's learn about our Savior and
Lord who loves us so much that He died for us and that He gave us
everything right from the beginning. Now we can live in resurrection life
every moment of the day. We couldn't ask for more.
Although
this example doesn't compare, but imagine that you'd be hired by a company
and on the first day on the job the board of directors and the
shareholders make you president of that company and
they give you a full inheritance with all the benefits. We all know
that this would never happen in real life, but in God's economy He
does it for us and it is much more than we could ever imagine ... and it
starts right now in this life. And now think of it how beautiful eternity in
His presence will be as He already gives us so much right now here on
earth. An identity in Christ has substance and is of great value ... no
fame and no riches which the world offers can compare with His precious gift of this
new identity. Each Christian has substantial value to God as we are all
members in particular. Every person on earth can receive this divine
identity by simply believing in Jesus Christ as their personal Savior.
