Identity: Who Are You?

Identity is a hot topic these days. Who are you? More and more people answer this question according to who they want to be or who they feel like at the moment. But identity isn’t about who we want to be, it’s about who we are.

Even more problematic is that our culture has spread the lie that our identity is found in what we are, instead of who we are. People seek their identity in gender, in sexual preferences, or more traditionally, in vocational success or family dynamics.

What’s the big deal about identity? Why has this become such an emotionally charged subject? Perhaps because our spiritual enemy knows that, according to God’s Word, our identity is meant to be sourced in our relationship with our Creator. And the enemy will do anything to cause people to seek their identity in poor substitutes that cannot satisfy.

The day we put our faith and trust in Christ as our Lord and Savior, our identity became rooted and grounded in God’s unchanging nature through our relationship with Jesus. Before we identify as male or female, single or married, young or old, we are first children of God in Christ.

Want more details about our identity? These verses from the first three chapters of Ephesians are a good place to start. They tell us we are:

• Blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ (Eph. 1:3)
• Chosen before the creation of the world (Eph. 1:4, 11)
• Loved (Eph. 1:4)
• Adopted (Eph. 1:5)
• Redeemed and forgiven (Eph. 1:7)
• Included in Christ (Eph. 1:13)
• Marked with the seal of the Holy Spirit (Eph. 1:13)
• The recipient of a guaranteed inheritance (Eph. 1:14)
• Made alive with Christ (Eph. 2:5)
• Saved through His grace (Eph. 2:5, 8)
• Raised up and seated with Christ (Eph. 2:6)
• Brought near through the blood of Christ (Eph. 2:13)
• A member of God’s household (Eph. 2:19)
• Free to approach God with confidence (Eph. 3:12)

Notice the past tense of many of these descriptions: blessed, chosen, loved, adopted, saved, and raised. It’s settled. All we are—our very identity and essence—is rooted in who we are in Christ. Don’t chase poor substitutes. Jesus has done it all to provide us with the best identity ever!

Who are you?