Category: Identity

I Am a Creature

On By BrianIn Identity

Who am I? This is a huge question in our world. And many people are looking for the answer in all the wrong places. Who am I? The Bible has a lot to say about who we are. And the answer begins in creation: I am a creature.

I am a creature made by God. “So God created man” (Genesis 1:27). God made us. He is the Creator; we are the created – the creatures. There is an infinite difference between God and us. He is God; we are not. What’s more, we were formed from the dust of the ground (Genesis 2:7). We are living walking dirt.

And we are dependent dirt. He made us – our very existence depends on God. We depend upon God for food – we have food only because God created a world for us to live in that has food. We depend upon him for our abilities – he made us with mouths, eyes, ears, hands, and feet able to do numerous things. We are creatures made by God and dependent upon God.

My identity as a creature made by God and dependent on God calls for a response of humility. The cocky “look at me” attitude so common in our world is completely out of place – and downright foolish. What are we saying? Look at me – one big pile of dirt! I am dust boy. I am dust girl. Not very impressive. Not much to look at. We need humility.

And as a creature, I am not God. The world doesn’t revolve around me. God is not at my beck and call to answer my every whim. The people around me are not my personal slaves. Things don’t have to go my way. I need humility.

I am a creature made by God and dependent upon God – and my identity calls for humility.

Oliver Twist

On By BrianIn Identity

In Dicken’s tale, Oliver Twist, Oliver’s mother dies far from home while giving birth to him.  Not knowing whose family he belongs to, he is raised in poverty in a work house.  His troubles and the shame of his poverty define him.  Eventually he runs away only to get caught up in a gang of thieves.  He is caught trying to steal something, and now society defines him as a thief – he is defined by his sin and guilt.  But the one he tried to rob turns out, as the story continues, to be his grandfather.  He is more than the sum of his troubles, his shame, his sin, and his guilt.  He is part of a wealthy family.

What is it that defines you?  Maybe it is your troubles.  Your trials are huge, and you have let them define your life.  Maybe it is shame for some past hurt done to you.  Maybe it is guilt for some past sin you committed.  Maybe it a sin that you wrestle with today.  But the one you sin against, it turns out, is your Father.  You are more than your troubles, your shame, your sin, and your guilt.  You are part of God’s family.

You are the beloved child of your Heavenly Father.  As his child you have a new identity.  You no longer have to be defined by your troubles, shame, sin, or guilt.  Your identity is now found in Christ.  Jesus suffered so suffering wouldn’t define you.  He bore your shame, so you wouldn’t have to bear it anymore. He bore your guilt on the cross so you could be called righteous.  And he defeated sin as he rose again so you could overcome it in your life.  God loves you.  You are his child.  Find your identity here.

“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.” – I John 3:1a

 

 

Where Is My Worth Found?

On By BrianIn Identity

In my last post I asked whether we are really worth dying for.  I concluded that Jesus died for us not because of our own worth, but because of his love.  To go further: Christ didn’t die because of my worth; my worth is found in Christ’s death.  My worth is found not in myself but in Christ. 

Jeremy Pierre addresses this issue of worth in his post on insecurity.  Insecurity is the failure to grasp our worth, but the critical issue is where do we find our worth.  He compares our culture’s view of insecurity with God’s view:

Our cultural instructors disapprove of our insecurity because it is an offense to individual worthiness. God disapproves of our insecurity because it is an offense to his Son’s worthiness.

And it is His Son’s worth that gives us worth.  Pierre goes on to point out four reasons that insecurity is sinful:

  • Insecurity keeps us from loving God and others because we are too distracted with self.
  • Insecurity indicates a dissatisfaction with God.
  • Insecurity reveals a desire for justification from people rather than God.
  • Insecurity shows that we are still seeking justification from works.

So we need to flee insecurity, but not by clinging to some sense of our own self-worth.  Rather we need to “abandon finding our worth in anything other than Christ and his redemptive work on our behalf.” 

You can read Pierre’s entire post here.

Someone Worth Dying For?

On By BrianIn Identity1 Comment

I heard a song on Christian radio recently called “Someone Worth Dying For.”  It had some good lyrics, and even a good purpose of encouraging those who are discouraged.  My purpose here is not to critique the song but rather just this idea that each of us is somebody worth dying for.  Are we?  Really?

Starting at creation, we find that God makes us in his image.  As image-bearers we are higher than the rest of his creation.  It is wrong to kill or hurt another human being.  As people in God’s image, we have great worth.

Then we sinned.  God’s image in us was warped.  We are still valuable as God’s image-bearers, but we are also sinners, depraved, and under God’s judgment.  We deserve to die. 

Which brings us to the cross.  Listen to Paul’s thoughts on this:

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person – though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die – but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. – Romans 5:6-8

Does Jesus die for us because we are worth dying for?  No.  According to Paul we are weak, ungodly, sinners.  We don’t deserve to have someone die for us; rather we deserve to die for our sins.  So why does Jesus die for us?  Because God loves us.  We aren’t worth it, but he loves us anyway.

Think of it this way.  If we are worth dying for, then God kind of owes it to us to die for us.  We are worth it after all!  But if God dies for us even though we are not worth it, even though we are weak, ungodly sinners, then this is real love.  And this is Paul’s point.  Jesus died for us because he loves us, not because we are worth it. 

But let’s go further.  Consider Psalm 103.  In this psalm, David celebrates God’s love, and it is found in two ways, both of which are related not to our worth but to our unworthiness. 

First, we see God’s love in his forgiveness of our sins (v6-13).  He doesn’t treat us as our sins deserve.  We deserve his judgment, but we get forgiveness.  This is the same thread of thought we saw in Romans 5.

Second, we see God’s love in his care for us though we are like dust (v14-19).  Compared to God we are nothing.  Are we worth God dying for?  Even apart from our sin, we are not worth as much as God.  To suggest that we are worth God dying for is to suggest that we have greater worth than God.  It is essentially to make an idol of ourselves.  And it is to miss the point that God loves not because we are worth it, but despite the fact that we are not worth it, that we are but dust compared to him.

To sum up, we are valuable as God’s image-bearers.  But we are not worth dying for.  Jesus died for us despite our sins and despite our frailty.  He died because he chooses to love us.  We can magnify ourselves by thinking Jesus died for us because we are worth dying for.  Or we can magnify God’s love as we recognize that Jesus died despite the fact that we are not worth dying for. 

Amazing love!  How can it be?  That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me! – Charles Wesley