Who am I?
My life is not on this earth and is not in sin any longer. It is now in heaven, and in Christ. The totality of this change affects every aspect of my life. It is just as the scripture says in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
So what is my new Identity?
It begins when I know that I have been changed, made new. Colossians 1:12-14 says, “Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:”. You see, my deliverance and transformation has already been accomplished in Christ and I am now translated into His kingdom and presence. The word translated means that God sees me differently now than He did before. Before I was an outsider, a lost man under the condemnation of sin and bound for Hell. Now my position has changed, I am now His child, an inhabitant of His kingdom, and a resident of heaven when I die.
Let’s examine some of these aspects of our new Identity.
I am now God’s child. John 1:12 says, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:”
When you accepted Christ, you became a member of a new family. You are no longer just a member of the sinful family of Adam, you are now adopted into God’s family. Romans 8:15 says, “For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.”
When you got saved, your adoption into the Family of God gave you a new Father, and a new identity.
In Galatians 4:4-7, Paul explains this by saying, “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.”
As a son of God you have received the nature of your new father. 2 Peter 1:4 says, “Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”
This divine nature of our heavenly Father means that we have the ability to live this new life that we have. As His child, we are like Him. Just as a baby does not exhibit all the characteristics of his earthly father right away, neither do we exhibit all of God’s Characteristics right away, but as we grow in Christ we become more and more like Him.
