When
we minister to individuals, we give a personal word. But when we
minister to a body, we have to give a word that is able to span
the spectrum of all our differences, a word that can minister to
everyone because it is applicable to everyone above the
differences of nature.
As
I ponder over all you who receive these letters-- all your
natural differences and spiritual differences-- that presents me
a good challenge. I want to write today on a theme that will
minister without exception to everybody-- a theme that will help
all of us refocus our ultimate purpose for whatever we are
doing, applicable to all of us, despite our distinctions in
background, location, and calling.
In
particular I want to minister to those who find a lack of
fulfilment as yet in your personal calling. You've moved out in
God by faith in many ways, but you still don't enjoy any
appreciable sense of fulfilment for having done so... There
appears to be a cycle in our lives as we pursue God over time--
an alternating current between seasons of joyless
unfulfilment and seasons of fulfilment, happiness, and
satisfaction in life with God on earth.
My
theme today is designed more toward those on the unfulfilled
side. But for those of you presently experiencing satisfaction,
my theme will also give you a way of proving and evaluating your
sense of fulfilment. Today, I want to write about identity in Christ.
Specifically, purified
identity....
I.
Salvation and New
Identity
"Therefore if any man be in
Christ, he is become a new creation. Old
things are passed away. Behold, all things are become
new." II Cor.
5:17
If
there is one word that best describes our salvation, it is the
word identity.
Salvation is a change in identity. It is not just something that
happens to us. Rather, we are instantaneously created over,
becoming someone we never were before. The distinctiveness of
this new identity is that it is one with and formed from the
essence of Jesus Christ. Our new identity derives all ultimate
sense of meaning and purpose from who Jesus Christ is.
This identity of ours has no other reference point
for measuring its self-worth and self-esteem. None.
Identity
speaks of self-awareness. Our new
identity is rooted in Jesus Christ. Therefore our
self-awareness is rooted in and intrinsically linked to our
awareness of Jesus Christ. Our new self-awareness gravitates
toward Him in personal relationship and intimate personal
knowledge. The fact of our new identity and our awareness of
God's indwelling Presence go together. By this new identity we
know God and are able to dwell in His Presence. (This knowledge
of Him is called "eternal life"- Jn 17:3).
So
then, to sum: When we are born-again, we obtain a new identity,
a new self-awareness, one that is rooted in our awareness of
Jesus Christ within, one that derives all final sense of
self-worth, self-esteem, purpose for existence, and meaning to
life from who He is-- outside of anything He has made or our
involvement with it.