Our identity is about who we are and whose we are. The identity and calling are tied together, but they are separate from each other. Without true identity we will not know our calling and/or have a desire to pursue it.
Before we knew Christ, our identity was mostly tied to our family of origin and our accomplishments. When we come to know Christ, He rearranges everything in our lives in the line of eternity and His kingdom. We become a new creation and as a result we join a new family; we become a citizen of a new kingdom. This is the family of God, and the kingdom of God.
Our new identity has a two-fold development to it. The first part is receiving Jesus as our Lord and Savior and becoming a new creation. We are legally adopted by our heavenly Father into His family, and we are given a legal right to become citizen of heaven. The seed of life is planted in us, and God reveals himself to us as Abba Father.
The second part is to allow the new identity deposited in us to grow, take shape, and become stronger. This is our sanctification process. Over time the new identity should be more visible in us rather than the old nature. This is a very critical part of our development and one that we can’t rush nor can we push to make it happen by doing more spiritual activity.
“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.” Matthew 27:24-27
Jesus told us that we must build our foundation on a rock. God is rebuilding our lives from the foundation of sand to foundation of rock who is Jesus Christ. That takes time, patience, and our cooperation.This is an important process and one that can be lengthy because it is changing of one foundation and replacing it with another. The things that were important to our family of origin may not have any significance in the new family. The rules of the heavenly kingdom are very different than the laws of the natural government. As a result, we have a long process to unlearn and relearn new priorities. This process will help us to be shaped according to God’s word rather than by our past experiences or our family of origin. We learn to honor what He values, and love what He loves.
The sanctification is primarily our yielding to God’s promptings and allowing the word of God to wash us and nurture us. The Lord uses the Bible and the counsel of the Holy Spirit to become our teacher and to coach us in this new life. This process is the method God uses to grow the seed of new identity, so hopefully it can bloom someday. This is a critical stage of development that every one of us has to go through, and to some degree we will continue to go through as long as we are in this earthly shell.
I will continue with the subject of identity in the next devotional.
For comment, please email me at karlinefischer@yahoo.com