Embrace Your Identity in Christ

A good many people on planet Earth today are living sub-optimal lives –  terrible lives, many of them – not so much because of their circumstances, but because they feel worthless. I wonder if you know anyone like that. To be sure, some people live in appalling circumstances – extreme poverty, under the threat of violence, abandoned, completely alone. And in many cases, even the smallest intervention to change those circumstances makes a world of difference. Absolutely! But at the same time, I've met people living, for instance, in abject poverty or under severe persecution, who have a countenance of peace and joy that passes all understanding. It's written all over their faces, yet it doesn't seem to make sense. Until you realise that it comes from a place of complete love, complete acceptance, complete assurance that simply isn't available in any pleasurable circumstance that this world could offer. 2 Corinthians 5:17 So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! (NRSV) Hang on, how does that passage relate to what we're talking about? How is it that Jesus makes all the difference? As pastor and author, the late Tim Keller once said, "The only identity that isn't fragile—the only one that can truly transform you—is the one you receive, not the one you achieve. In Christ, you are fully known and fully loved." Once you know how much God loves you through what Jesus did on that Cross for you, once you truly, fully, embrace your new identity in Christ, it changes everything. Because everything has become new! That's God's Word. Fresh … for you … today.