This post was written by one of my brothers at Five Points Community Church, Ben O’Shea, and I am publishing it with his permission. I found it clear, concise and relevant to addressing the present day identity crisis in our culture, and even, unfortunately, in many churches.
One of the most fundamental questions in life is that of identity. Who am I? Why am I here? What is my purpose? How we answer these questions will determine how we live our lives. Our world tells us there are no ultimate answers; your identity is something you create, so figure out who you want to be and shape yourself accordingly. What an exhausting and toilsome task that is! Thankfully, our God has not left us to figure things out on our own, but instead has given us the answers in His Word.
Our original, God-given identity was to be beings created in the image of God to enjoy Him and put His glory on display, yet we rebelled against Him and this identity for one of our own choosing (sound familiar?). We fell into sin and misery, living in a broken world under the righteous condemnation of God. Paul describes our condition this way in Titus 3: We were “foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.” Not a pretty picture, is it? But thanks be to God for what comes next! “But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”
Even though in our sin we had no reason to expect anything from God, He provided a way through the life, death, and resurrection of His Son for us to not only be saved from the lethal consequences of trying to forge our own identity, but also for us to be given an identity far greater than we could ever imagine: children (“heirs”) of God! As we come together to worship today, may our freedom from the futile quest to make something of ourselves and our unspeakable joy at who God has made us in Christ overflow in grateful adoration of our infinitely gracious Father!
Soli Deo Gloria