In the world, people have their identity by size, color, what you have done (whether good or bad), where you live, education, occupation, by what sickness you have, and the list is endless. People see you and hear about you and label you by that identity. Today, there seems to be a global identity crises. Some people are getting so mixed up they can’t read the indicators and they don’t know what they are, male or female. When I tend to our yard, it is important to know the difference between a weed and a flower. If I don’t, I cannot develop a beautiful yard.
In the Word of God there is a clear cut demarcation of identity established. There is male/female, Gentile/Jew, sinner/saint, condemned/acquitted, unfruitful/fruitful, outside Christ/in Christ, darkness/light, lost/saved, and hell/heaven. The only in-between identity I can think of in the Bible right now is lukewarm, and the end result of that is the same as being outside Christ. He knocks at the door and desires for you to really let him into your life instead of just having a name to know him (Revelation 3:16-20). Knowing our identity and where we stand not only allows us to fulfill our purpose in this life, but it also assures us of eternal life. If we are outside of Christ, we are separated from God forever and that’s hell. If we are in Christ, we are together with God forever and that’s heaven. As a believer, to live out the abundant life here and now, we need to accurately understand who we are in Christ. Jesus said he is the vine and we are the branches (John 15). If we abide in him and his words abide in us, we can ask what we will and it shall be done. The vine is attached to the roots that are grounded in the life-giving water and nutrients of earth. The branches, attached to the vine, are of the exact same substance as the vine. It’s the same water, the same nutrients, and the same life that is in the vine that flows out into the branches that makes them fruitful. We are born of the same Word and the same powerful, life-giving Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead (Romans 8:11). Jesus is the one unique Son of God who called himself the son of man, and we are the sons of man who are called a son of God, in Christ. Jesus prayed that we be one with him and the Father and each other, as the Father and Son are one with each other. It is by this that the world can believe (John 17:21). The healing life of God is in a son of God. We are either a son of God or not. There is no identity crises in the kingdom of God. If our identity is a son of God, then we need to appropriate that life accordingly and reap the present benefits of that identity.