My Identity & My Destiny

Many Christians struggle in either or all of the three fundamental areas of life 

1.    My worth

2.    My identity

3.    My responsibility

The deep conviction and understanding of all of these three things outworks into our destiny.

If we’re honest with ourselves, we often feel insecure. Those who hide it best often feel it most. But our insecurity is an invitation from God to escape the danger of false beliefs about who we are and find true peace in who He is.  

And God’s answer to each and all of the above is: THE GOSPEL

Your identity comes from whom or what you identify yourself with.

The normal human struggle is to look for identity horizontally when I was hardwired by God to get it vertically. I look for something in creation around me to define who I am, whether that is a marriage or my work or my athletic body or whatever that is. And ministry powerfully provides that: I am a knowledgeable public person, I am a carrier of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. All of those things provide a sense of identity that is marvelously distorted.

It’s impossible to talk our worth and identity In God without FIRST understanding the Gospel. We never depart from the Gospel. We stay in it. It is the greater understanding of the Gospel that renews and transform us daily.

1 Corinthians

15 Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast [a]the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.

3 For I delivered to you [b]as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; 7 then He appeared to [c]James, then to all the apostles; 8 and last of all, as [d]to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.

The Gospel is what it is – the good news. This good news is fantastic!!! It is the message of God’s astounding love for you and me that He communicated in and through the life, words and sacrifice of His Son Jesus Christ.

So, this good news is Jesus Christ Himself.  It is not a set of rules, mantras or guidelines to living. It is the Son of God, Jesus Christ Himself.

Before God gave the world His Son, He gave the law, to reveal His perfect righteous standards. But He also gave the law as a means to help us realize that we can never ever reach His standards on our own. Each of us on our own and every human being will miserably fall short of the standard of God’s perfect law (Gal 3: 10 – 11).  We can never earn His love or His blessings.

This falling short of God’s standard is sin. And it is this sin that damages and destroy are self worth, our identity and eventually our destiny.

God knows that mankind on our own is helpless to save ourselves from our sin and its devastating consequences.

 

This is the good news that God the Father gave God His Son to take your place

John 3: 16 – 17
For God so loved the world, that He gave His [e]only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.17 For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.

God Himself became our Savior and the solution.  

Romans 5: 6 – 8
For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will hardly die for a righteous man; [d]though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 

Jesus became our sin-bearer!!! And the one and only bearer of all the consequences of our sin.

Our sin positioned against God and God against us. But here’s the amazing news, God decide to change His position towards us…read it for yourself:

Romans 5:
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified [e]by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved [f]by His life. 11 And not only this, [g]but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.

Today you and me are RECONCILED God by us putting our faith in Jesus Christ. God is good….better than we think. God’s thoughts towards you are life, not death, blessings not a curse, well being not poverty or shame, acceptance not rejection, abundance of life not lack.

Today and always, when you and I put our FAITH IN God’s Son Jesus Christ we receive the “gift of God’s righteousness”. You have been made right with God and reconciled to Him. God is not against you but for you.

Galatians 3
11 Now that no one is justified [p]by [q]the Law before God is evident; for, “[r]The righteous man shall live by faith.”12 [s]However, the Law is not [t]of faith; on the contrary, “He who practices them shall live [u]by them.” 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a [v]tree”— 14 in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might [w]come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

Romans
17 For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.

You will reign in life: the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.

I ask you my friend, today are you confused or feel weak about your self-worth, about your identity. Are you fearful about your future and your destiny?

 John 15
9 Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love.

Jesus laid down His life for you. He is not ashamed of you.  His love for you is your worth, what He says about you is your identity and His plan and purpose for your life is your destiny.

If anyone does not have Jesus they are faced with the impossible task of creating their own self worth, inventing their own identity and creating their own destiny. And mankind lost in sin is absolutely incapable of doing that.

Self worth and identity are inseparable twins.

When God calls you His own, you received both – worth and identity

 “Christian selfhood is not defined in terms of who we are in and of ourselves. It’s defined in terms of what God does to us and the relationship He creates with us and the destiny He appoints for us. God made us who we are so we could make known who He is. Our identity is for the sake of making known His identity.”

Scripture - the word of God is this perfect mirror that I look into and see myself as I actually am.

I am something because I am in Christ. Bottom line!

The Bible teaches that God loves us perfectly or unconditionally. His perfect love is not based on our perfection or anything except Himself (see 1 John 4:8). He always loves us, but often we don’t receive His love because of guilt about our wrong behavior. We are supposed to be conscious and aware of God’s love and put faith in it. But I was unconscious and unaware of God’s love; therefore, I was not putting faith in His love for me. What a breakthrough! That was the beginning of my emotional healing. It has been a process, but today I can honestly say I am healed and content. I know in my heart that God loves me—and I also love myself.

Saturate your mind with the truth of God’s Word. It’s filled with reminders of His unconditional love for you. He says you are fearfully and wonderfully made (see Psalm 139:14). He says that nothing can separate you from His love (see Romans 8:35). Don’t let the enemy steal your identity. You are God’s masterpiece. Believe it!