I’m going to make another run at this. Last time I didn’t get into scripture much but I felt those things needed to be said and it is very pertinent to the topic of identity. All of us spend a good portion of our adolescent and adult lives trying to figure out who we really are and listening and comparing ourselves to all the wrong people. It is a search that some, if not most people never accomplish. I contend that almost all of us live far below our God given abilities and the intended purposes that we were created to fulfill. Every single person on this earth is here because God created them and placed them here to for a purpose. You are the answer to someone else’s prayer, You have something they need but if you never understand who God has made you to be, you and others will miss out on a great blessing.

Since God is the one who created us, who better to seek out our identity from than the One who designed us. We are all born into a fallen state and not what God intended for us from the beginning, so we are in need of a transformation. While fallen man is capable of tremendous things because of the giftings and talents that God placed there, he is not capable of realizing his true identity and potential because that is only found through a relationship with Jesus Christ.

2 Cor. 5:17 says that we are a new creation in Christ, the old has passed away and ALL things are new, this is the “born again” experience that Christians talk about when people get saved. We are beings that have a spirit, soul and body, the spirit is the part of us that is in need of being re-created, it is the part of us that communicates with God. The soul and body can never come into line with God’s purposes until the spirit man is renewed. Once this transformation has take place, the possibility is then open to learn from God exactly who He made you to be.

Colossians 3:1-4

1 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

This is a contrast Paul has been developing in ch 2, the earthly wisdom influenced by the demonic and man’s philosophy, i.e. religion, versus true wisdom which comes from above. Satan doesn’t mind you getting religion because there is no real power in religion. If he can tangle up your thoughts with performance for approval and acceptance then he can keep you distracted from where the real power is located—-in an understanding of who you are in and through Jesus Christ! This is why Paul says we should set our minds, our thoughts, on things above, not about how great heaven is but concentrate on seeing things through a “Christ” mindset because he sees us very differently than we see ourselves. He sees us according to our new nature and the way He created us for the kingdom of God. We need to ask God to help us see ourselves and others the same way He sees us.

Having our minds set on things above is not pining away for the sweet by-and-by but but having a kingdom mindset, a God perspective, where we see people and circumstances the way He does. This is where faith and a knowledge of God’s word comes in because with our natural eye and understanding there are times when it looks hopeless. The wisdom of man will tell you to trust what you can see but the wisdom of God will tell you to trust what God has already said.

You have to understand that the old you is dead and the new you is hidden together with Christ in God. You don’t even know who you are unless you understand who God has made you to be in Christ! Your true life, your true identity is only found through Jesus. The world has lied to you about who you are but when you set your thoughts on the realities of God’s truth you find out who He says you are. You need to behold yourself in the mirror of God’s word.

James 1:22-25

22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.

The perfect law of liberty is not the written law of rules and regulations, it doesn’t reveal all your ugliness and flaws but it is a reflection of Jesus Christ himself and when we continue to look into it and imitate what we see there, we are changed into the image we are beholding, we are transformed from glory to glory because what we see is also a reflection of who God created us to be. It is our life that is hidden in Christ and when that life in Christ is manifested, our true nature, our true identity, will be manifested together with him in the glory that accompanies the Son of God.

Like everything else that is beneficial and productive, we have to be intentional about the way we see things. It is so easy to revert back to a natural perspective and begin to view ourselves and our circumstances according to what others say or think instead of a kingdom mindset. That’s the person who forgets what kind of man he is, the reality is there but when unobserved it fades into all the other voices shouting for our attention and becomes ineffective in changing our life or anyone else’s.

Please be intentional about beholding yourself in the truth of who God says you are and let the reflection on Christ transform you from glory to glory.

Blessings,
Jeff Martin