Our Identity in Christ Part 1 Image and Identity
Image problem
We have an image problem in the church. There have been some horrible behaviors by some high-profile pastors, in well-known churches. Also, other leaders in those churches have not responded to this conduct in the Godliest way. Combined, this has produced an image of the church and of Christians contrary to what we say we believe. This image is not right, but the problem is more foundational. What I am referring to is the self-image of Christians and the church.
Self-image
How do you see yourself? Psychologists and behaviorists agree that having a positive self-image is key to living a fulfilled life. Maxwell Maltz, a plastic surgeon, and pioneer of behavioral and motivational techniques, which he used to improve his patient’s outcomes after surgery, stated: “The “self-image” is the key to human personality and human behavior. Change the self-image, and you change the personality and the behavior.”
Typically, our self-image evolves throughout our lives through experiences, feelings, other’s perceptions, and the expectations of society. Our feelings or the way others treat us can change over time, thus altering our self-image. In addition to perceptions and expectations, which are typically subjective, our self-image may be based on objective reality or facts. However, even facts can change over time and cause our view of ourselves to change. For example, if we base our self-image on what we have or what we do, those things can shift and affect our view of ourselves. A realistic self-image must start with a more concrete foundation.
There is so much angst about self-image in the world today, precisely because we don’t have a firm foundation from which to view ourselves. Nevertheless, even a more elemental reality of who we are can be mismanaged. For example, some people let subjective reality distort the objective truth of their genetic code, their chromosomes, and DNA. So, subjective and objective information both play a role in how we see ourselves, but how we apply this information is just as important. We need a firmer foundation to understand and shape our self-image. This foundation is our spiritual identity.
God cares about our self-image more than anyone. However, instead of perceiving ourselves based on the vagaries of subjective reality, or even objective truth about our personalities and circumstances, He wants us to understand our true selves. He wants us to see ourselves the way He sees us, to know our true identity at the deepest level of our being, that is, in our spirit. Let’s look at the spiritual foundation of the people in Christ.
Identity
As Christians, there are many levels to our identity, but there are some absolute truths we can know about ourselves. To truly understand who we are in Christ, we must start at the most fundamental level, our new birth, which makes us a new creation:
“Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. (John 3:3, NASB®)”
“So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! (2 Corinthians 5:17, NRSV)”
Most Christians have heard or read these verses. Regrettably, for many, these concepts have become stale and inconsequential. In fairness, we may know these verses tell us something good, but often, we don’t comprehend the full extent of how our new birth changes us and what our new creation entails. We must comprehend that, at the moment of our new birth, we are made completely new.
We are a new person with a new life. There are many marvelous aspects of this life, including what God has given us, and our position in God’s kingdom. We tend to think of these things as Christians: our forgiveness, being children of God, eternal life. These are all fantastic truths, but before we discuss these facets of our identity, we must realize who we are at the core. We are:
One with Jesus and God the Father (John 17:21-23)
One spirit with Jesus (1 Corinthians 6:17)
Righteous (2 Corinthians 5:21)
Created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 4:24, Hebrews 12:9-10)
Perfected for all time (Hebrews 10:14)
One thing to notice about our new self is the focus on our spirit. Our spirit is where our new birth takes place. “What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit (John 3:6, NRSV).” We were alive in the flesh, but we were dead in spirit. The actuality of this death is that we were separated from God. When we are reborn, we are connected to God. We are reconciled to Him, but more than that, we are joined to Him in spirit. This connection is so real that while we are here on earth, we are also seated with Christ in the heavenly places (Ephesians 2:1-7). This is only possible by the fact that we are one with Jesus. Our renewed spirit and connection to Jesus, through His Spirit, changes us.
Do you realize that your essence is good? You are righteous, which means you are morally pure. God has imparted the righteousness of Christ to us: “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5: 21, NRSV).” “This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe (Romans 3:22a, NRSV).” immediately when you are reborn you are righteous.
You are holy, which means set apart for a sacred purpose, consecrated to the Lord. We are a people for God’s own possession (Titus 2:11-14). The words holy and sanctified are from the same Greek word. The moment we are born again, God sanctifies us, setting us apart to be with and in Him. We are made holy, because no common or unclean (unholy) thing will enter heaven (Revelation 21:22-27), and we are already seated in Christ in heaven (Ephesians 2:1-7), so we are already holy (Ephesians 25-27; Colossians 1:21-22).
The writer of the letter to the Hebrews stated: “For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified (Hebrews 10:14). He goes on to say that part of this is that God puts His laws in our hearts and writes them on our minds. We are complete and ready to walk with Christ.
The apostle Peter may have summed it up best when he told us what God did for us, “His divine power has given us everything needed for life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Thus he has given us, through these things, his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of lust, and may become participants of the divine nature. (2 Peter 1:3-4, NRSV).”
The good news
We tend to think of the gospel, or good news, mainly in terms of salvation. Our salvation is fantastic, but the good news about our life in Christ encompasses so much more. We are entirely new, now, here on earth. These promises and statements by God are present reality for us. When our self-image is based on the reality of our new creation it will impact everything we do.
Do you see yourself this way? Do you believe you have the attributes of righteousness, holiness, and perfection in your life? You may be thinking that this is not completely true because of the bad behavior or sin that seems ever present in the church and even your own life. But, what if these behaviors are precisely because of a flawed self-image? What if what Dr. Maltz said applies to Christians and the church, “Change the self-image, and you change the personality and the behavior.” Of course, this can only happen if our self-image is based on the absolute truth of God’s Word.
The next post in this series will begin to look at the thoughts and ideas that get in the way of us truly believing who we are in Christ. Some things we have been taught, and which we may believe, can distort our self-image and affect our behavior. These misunderstandings lead to problems we experience and the challenges that the church is reeling from today.
This discussion of identity is explicitly intended for Christians, those who have believed and received Christ as Lord and Savior. If you are not a Christian, God wants you to understand your identity in this regard. You are separated from Him. You are dead in your sins. However, the good news is that this is not the end, there is hope. God would love to welcome you to Himself. You can experience a new birth that gives you a new identity. You can simply pray, or talk to Him, acknowledging that you don’t know Him, but that you need Him to forgive your sins, and ask that He would enter your life and make you a new person. If you make this decision, please tell a Christian friend or pastor. Hopefully, they will tell you about the beauty of your new self and all that God has for you. If they don’t, feel free to contact me and I will be happy to help.
My prayer is that this information will bring an awareness of who we are in spirit and that God will use it to transform our minds so that we will know who we are. And knowing who we are, we will live in such a way that we glorify God, and the world will know that He sent Jesus into the world.