But in the meantime, while we await Jesus’ return, we live as rescued people under restoration, our identity is in Christ, we are united with him, and he is remakes us, restoring us bit by bit by the Spirit as we explore and understand and apply this new identity he has rescued and redeemed us for. We are made new when we trust him, and so much of the Epistles is given over to helping believers understand their new identity and live out that identity.

We are losing the identity wars because we are afraid to speak into them directly. Just as Daniel and his friends were bombarded and faced a programme designed to reshape and reform their worldview and sense of self and identity so do we. It’s in everything we read, hear, watch, as well as in the things we are taught. This isn’t new. It has always been the war that we are on the frontlines of. But perhaps we have never been so fearful of speaking into this war because of the dangers of getting cancelled or no platformed. But we need to, so let me enter the fray with some thoughts.

We need to teach our congregations and our children a robust biblical understanding of identity and equip and train them in how to explain that lovingly to those around them.  But we also need to explain how that contradicts and conflicts with what society teaches.  We want to show them how God’s word; God’s wise loving compassionate view of our identity is so much better than what the world’s wisdom is offering.

I want to build a biblical framework of identity in this longer than normal post and help us see how the gospel is good news both for us and for those in our churches and communities.  However, even as I do so we need to be realistic; as Christians we are counter cultural.  We won’t fit in.  Our message won’t be viewed as good, it goes against the grain, we will be the bad guys.  This very issue may cost people their jobs, it may cost churches their rented spaces in certain venues like school or community centres. As Daniel and his friends stood out in Babylon, as Peter calls on the scattered churches to stand up and stand out in his letters we will stand out and face slander for it but count Christ as worth it.

Identity is complex.  How would you answer the question ‘Who am I?’  Our identity matters.  Society tells us certain ways to identify ourselves; by our successes, our education, our relationship status, our looks, our abilities.  It invites us to find our identity in it’s story – a story of progress, freedom, and individuality.  A story that is always shifting; influenced by social trends and ideas.  Yet it’s always a story that’s searching and grasping for identity and love. We long to know who we are, what we were made for, where we fit. And the stress of trying to find your place and identity in an ever-shifting story is enormous.  One of the biggest shifts in the last decade is the way culture is reshaping the story of identity.

The story we believe matters because it affects everything in life.  Our society tells one story, seeking to shape our identity through it, it’s a story of rugged individualism, of self-determined right and wrong.  But the Bible tells us an unchanging story and invites us to find our true identity in knowing God and who he reveals us to be and finding our place within his community of hope.

Identity is Given

If you want to see what something is, what it was made to be, to do, you need to go back to its origin.  In Genesis 1 we see God create the world. And God in Genesis 1v26-27 makes man in his image – God gives us our identity. That doesn’t mean we look like God (no matter what some of you think!).  It does mean we are made for community, to communicate, to make decisions, to love, to be moral, to know truth, and so on. God makes gender – men and women are equal, both reflect the image of God. God gives us a purpose, to mediate his rule to his good creation. And God says it’s very good, everything he has made, including the identity and purpose he has given to his creation that he loves.

Genesis 2  zooms in on day 6 and especially humanity. And we see that sexuality is a God given gift, it’s good, to be enjoyed, but there’s a right context in which we enjoy sex – marriage between a man and woman. We also see that we’re made to know God and enjoy him.  We show our love by obedience to who he has made us to be and for his purpose and we do so joyfully because we know he is good. And yet that is not where we find ourselves, because the Bible also tells us another part of the story of our identity.

Identity stolen

As Satan slithers into the garden and hisses into Eve’s ear – whilst Adam stands mute at her side like a spectator – he’s stealing identities.  Detaching our identity from worship of, and relationship with a good, loving, all-powerful God.  He strikes at who God is and who we were made to be.

First he gets Eve to doubt God, then he lies, and thirdly he suggests they make their own identity – as equal to God.  Instead of being loved and created children of God he tempts them with false promises of godlikeness.  They want to decide everything for themselves. And their God given identity is stolen.  They’re no longer who they were.  Now they’re ashamed and hide their nakedness – they lose their intimacy now they blames each other and feel shame.  They lose the joy filled relationship with God that provided security. Their very identity and purpose is shattered and the world along with it.

Read More