CE 1 YEAR: 11 Your Identity

Week 11

Your Identity

Your Christian identity is “in Christ”

Who are you? . . . Really, WHO ARE YOU!? The answer to that question is your identity. Most people define who they are by their relationships and possessions on Earth. What is their occupation? Are they married? Do they have children? Are they poor or rich? What have you accomplished? What have people said about you?

Your answers to these things can define the value of your life. For example, if you have a lowly job or are financially poor, you will be tempted to think you are less valuable than others. But God does not want you to evaluate yourself on anything in this world.

Your new identity and value are summed up in one thing: God’s great love for you. That is what defines everything you truly are and have. God’s love is your identity.

This love and identity come from being “In Christ.” The Apostle Paul refers to Christians as being “in Christ” about 170 times! This is because everything about God’s love for you, and your true value, comes through your relationship with Christ.

Apart from being “in Christ” you have very little value. There is no good in you without Christ (Rom 7:18). But with Christ you are one of God’s chosen children, holy in His sight, and dearly loved (Col 3:12; 1 John 3:1).

To be “in Christ” is to be given what Christ has. This includes: Christ’s holy standing before the Father, Christ’s infinite value as His Son, Christ’s great purpose as God’s servant, and Christ’s eternal destiny to live with the Father. Because you are “in Christ” God loves you just as much as Jesus Christ!

Christian humility is knowing you are great because of God

Believing in your Christian identity is what makes you humble. Many Christians think humility is thinking lowly of yourself. This is a lie. Humility is thinking truthfully about yourself. Humility is seeing yourself as God sees you, because God always sees things accurately. And God does not think you are insignificant and lowly.

Biblical humility is KNOWING YOU ARE GREAT BECAUSE OF GOD. It is not thinking small of yourself. It is knowing who you are because you are “in Christ.” And who we really are “in Christ” is amazing. Because of the price paid for you by Christ on the cross, you are among the most honored, exalted, important, and cherished people on Earth.

You could not be more important than you already are. You are sons and servants of Almighty God! Therefore, the idea that humility is thinking you are small or sinful is wrong, because this is not true. Even God thinks you are great and valuable!

How then do we avoid pride? Pride is believing you are great because of yourself. Humility is believing you are great, because of God. A humble person knows that every great thing about them was given to them by God.

Paul means the same things when he said he could do anything through Christ who gave Him strength (Phil 4:13). Paul believed great things about himself. He was not shy or doubtful when he said, “I can do anything.” Paul believed he was very powerful. But he fully knew his strength and abilities all came from Christ.

God’s love satisfies your deepest needs

Having a Christian identity and humility is believing that your deepest emotional needs are satisfied because God loves you. God created you with needs. You have a physical need for oxygen, water, and food. If you do not have these, you will eventually die. Humans easily recognize they have these physical needs.

But many do not recognize their great emotional need: LOVE. You need love as much as you need food. Without food you will die. Without love, you will want to die. When we do not feel loved, we feel rejected, alone, and worthless. These feelings are very painful because God created us with the need to feel loved.

The good news is that God created you to need love so you would need Him. In fact, God’s love for you is all you need. As explained in Week 5, God demonstrated His love for you when He sent His Son to die for you on the cross. You can know that you are secure in His love because all of your sins are forgiven and paid for. You can know that you are important because God sacrificed His Son for you. You never need to feel unloved, rejected, alone, or worthless because God always loves you.

Like David we need to admit we are poor and needy apart from God (Ps 70:5; cf. John 15:5). But we also need to believe like David that God’s unfailing love is better than life and satisfies us like the richest feast (Ps 63:3-5). Believing in God’s constant and complete love for us is all we need to feel completely satisfied in our emotional needs. This is why the Bible says you are already “complete in Christ” (Col 2:10).

Unfortunately, Christians constantly seek the wrong sources to be happy and have their emotional needs fulfilled. They think other humans have the ability to satisfy their God-given emotional needs. But one of the most difficult but vital convictions of a mature Christian is this: None of my God-given needs for love can be fully satisfied by people. My deepest needs can only be satisfied by trusting and experiencing the promises and love of God.

Some people feel odd that people and possessions cannot fulfill them. Maybe they even have a loving spouse, beautiful children, a great job, and a nice house. But they still do not feel satisfied. They wonder what is wrong with them. Why can’t they be happy even when people love them?

Because God created you to need perfect and pure love. Anything less than perfect love will not satisfy you and will disappoint you. He did not even create you to have your needs fully satisfied by other mere humans. Why did God create you this way? Because He is a jealous God and He wants to be enough for you (Exod 20:5; Jas 4:5). Your desire for the ideal person to love you was created in you so you would seek God. Anything and anybody other than God will be too small to satisfy your heart because it was created to only be filled by Him.

This is why Paul prayed that Christians would know the full dimensions of God’s love for them. What would be the result? They would be filled up to all the fullness of God (Eph 3:18-19).

All the hope, love, forgiveness, security, significance, respect, and companionship you seek and need can be satisfied through believing in and experiencing God’s love for you.

Therefore, beliefs, not circumstances, control your happiness. Lacking joy is never a result of your circumstances, but a lack of believing and remembering God’s love for you. This is why believing in the promises and gifts of God, no matter what is happening in your life, can cause and protect your happiness. The only reason you are unhappy is because you stop believing in God’s love for you.

The power of believing in God’s love is why Jesus expects you to be happy even if you are persecuted (Matt 5:11-12). If you believe in God’s promise to reward you for suffering for Him, you will be happy even in painful circumstances.

Knowing who you truly are “in Christ” is vital to be a happy Christian. “In Christ” you have all the love you need. Therefore, you can be humble and know you are great because of God.

Christian, are you still questioning your value? Do you still feel small and insignificant at times? Then you are believing lies. Christian, do not let anyone define your value except God. Why? Because only God really knows your true significance. No one will see you like God sees you. And only God’s view of you is accurate. He always sees you as the chosen, purchased, forgiven son or daughter of the Most High God that you are! And anybody who thinks of you or treats you as anything less is not seeing you like God does.

God (the most powerful and important Person in the Universe) chose you before the creation of the world to belong to Him. He sent His first Son to die for your sins and purchase you. God is creating a Paradise for you to live in with Him forever. So why let any mere human define your value? The only opinion that matters and is accurate is God’s.

Paul told his critics in the Corinthian church: “It matters very little how I might be evaluated by you or by any human authority” (1 Cor 4:3). He was willing to admit faults and submit to God’s evaluation. But his conscience was clear and people’s opinion of him did not affect him.

David said, “My salvation and my honor depend on God” (Ps 62:7 NIV). Christians understand they must trust God for their salvation. But do you know you can trust Him with your reputation also?

Jesus said to “the Jewish leaders” who “began harassing” Him: “Your approval means nothing to me, because I know you don’t have God’s love within you” (John 5:16, 41-42). Jesus did not need the approval or praise of people because He knew He had the love of His Dad. And He did not listen to people who did not have His Dad’s love in them.

What are you going to think, feel, and do when people want to make you feel dumb, ugly, unwanted, or afraid? It is understandable to be sad about such people. God is sad about them too. But are you going to let them define who you are and make them an idol in your life?

Far too many Christians ARE LIVING TO GET WHAT THEY ALREADY HAVE! Fighting a fight for their significance and security that has already been won. Most Christians understand that they no longer need to earn their forgiveness. But they keep trying to earn their sense of being safe and valuable. They seek significance in the love of another human when their God has already made them as significant and important as they could possibly be.

Your fulfillment and joy do not come from what you do, as much as believing who you already are. The Devil’s World teaches us that we have to earn love, acceptance, and significance. You have to perform. You do not become important or happy in the World until you accomplish or accumulate things. This is not true in the Kingdom of God which you belong to. Everyone there begins infinitely valuable and can be unconditionally joyful because of what they already have in God.

Why would it be foolish for a billionaire to work at a place that paid him very little? Because he does not need too! He would be wasting his time and energy to get something he already has plenty of, and not enjoying what he has. Christian, God has already given you something much more valuable than a billion dollars. He has given you His unconditional and never-ending love. If you believed that all the time, you would be happy all the time. But again, we seek other people and things for love.

We are like a man with a billion dollars in the bank, but who lives in poverty because he does not believe the money is there. God’s love enables you to avoid the tragedy of seeking your needs from the world instead of enjoying the fullness of God. All of the love, security, and significance you need are in God if you will only believe: You are complete because you are in Christ (Col 2:10).

Practical Application: Feeling significant is one of the greatest desires God has given us. Take some time to think about ways that you are seeking things or people to feel important. Then pray about this and tell God you do not need this to feel important because He has already made you important.

In your small group meeting this week, share praises and prayer requests and then discuss these questions:

1) What does it mean to be “in Christ”?

2) What is humility? How does this differ from common ideas?

3) What are some emotional needs God created us with?

4) Why did God create us to ultimately get these needs fulfilled through Him?

5) How can we always experience happiness?

6) What was especially meaningful to you in this chapter? Why?