The primary work of Christ through His word
and the Spirit is to restore man’s identity
before he is commissioned to serve His purpose.
This is the correct order of God’s divine work because the consequence will
either be devastating chaos or colossally positively life changing! Restoring
our identity or who we are should be the chief pursuit of every Christian or anyone
who desires to live a successful and overcoming life on earth. Identity is the
foundation for any noble and enduring work. When man is confused and fragmented
in his perspective about himself, the same nature and fragmentation is
reflected in all his dealings and relationships. Nothing he does carries a true
sense of authority, fullness and conviction. In fact, his work might have the
appearance of authenticity and legitimacy, but a closer scrutiny only reveals
hollowness, illusion and misperception. His relationship with people may seem
candid and genuine, but underneath this veneer is much perplexity and
discontentment. He is like an impressive
edifice with state of the art design built on a fractured and cracked
foundation. Over time, the true
character of this edifice will emerge much to the horror of those who were once
bewitched by its beauty!
You may have come across many in your life
whom at first impression are all-inspiring and next to none! They appear to have it all together and emanate
great confidence in themselves and their destiny in life. But after a season of
close acquaintance and the establishment of a certain level of trust, those impressive
walls begin to give way and the actual person inwardly diametrically contradicts
everything that astounded us in the first place outwardly. There are many
disappointing stories like this all around the world and the saddest of them is;
it is so prevalent among Christians, the very people who should embody the
cohesive and wholesome life of God.
In this present season of reformation, God
is recalling many Christians back to the quarry of His reforming work so that
Christ may be fully formed in them before any further kingdom endeavours.
Apostle Paul agonises over this critical issue with the Galatian church when
their growing ignorance of the gospel of grace sabotaged God’s intention of a
fully formed Christ in their midst, from which their identity derived.
“My
little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you” –Galatians
4:19 NKJV
Our identity is intrinsic with our
knowledge of Christ Who accurately reflects our very image and who we really
are. Our knowledge of Christ parallels our knowledge of ourselves. To know Him is
to know us and fully knowing Christ is to fully know ourselves. On the
flipside, our partial and deficient knowledge of Christ distorts our image and
perceptibility of ourselves. Our identity is inextricably linked to Christ
Himself! We find ourselves and who we truly are in Him. The closer we get to
Christ the closer we get to ourselves. And the further we are from Christ only
increases the distance between us and our true identity and it intensifies the
blurry perspective of our true self. That’s why Paul called for more apostolic
labouring in the Galatian church till Christ was fully formed because it galvanised
their individual and corporate identity, leading to empowerment and increased
authority in the entire church for a powerful execution of their purpose in
God.
Christ, who is also the Word, is the mirror
that gives the perfect and actual image of our selves. As we calculatingly and
explicitly behold Christ in His perfect word, the clearer our image becomes, and
reflects in the beauty of His holiness. Increasing
identity crisis among believers and non-believers alike is due to much time
spent on literature that distorts and gives false knowledge about our
self-image rather than digesting the truth of God’s word that sets man free! We
will forever be in self-delusion if the bible is at the bottom of our library
and other literature and popular opinion takes precedence and shapes our
thought life. God’s absolute truth liberates
man on all levels and anything outside this only imprisons and enslaves us
starting with our mentality.
“For
if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at
themselves in a mirror; for they look at themselves and, on going away,
immediately forget what they were like. But those who look into the perfect
law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers
who act—they will be blessed in their doing” – James
1:23-25 NRS
“And
you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" – John 8:32 NKJV
Looking intently in the mirror of God’s word
brings us into a head on confrontation with the naked truth about God and
ourselves, the truth that eternally sets man free. Identity derived from our
knowledge of Christ is true and permanent freedom and liberation!
In the beginning, God knew that man’s
identity was crucial and that it was the ultimate precondition to serving His purpose. So He issued a command that man must first be
made in His image and likeness before he is endowed with authority to rule the
earth. Authority on someone with an identity predicament is a recipe for much
trouble and disaster. Our authority and effectiveness in what we do, increases
with every degree of identity acquisition and consolidation. God created the
perfect man in the beginning by making him like God. This is the state of perfect
identity for man, and God is inviting us to come back to that standard through
Jesus so that we can restore the earth back to His original intention.
“Then
God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image,
according to Our likeness; let them
have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the
cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the
earth"
– Genesis 1:26 NKJV
The word image and likeness are synonymous
with identity and it is worth noting that God used these words as preludes to dominion
and rulership. Christians can and should
rule the earth and all created things, but it comes when our pursuit of God’s
image and likeness becomes our highest priority, even in the 21st century.
Many are chasing power and authority over identity and this is a clear
violation and evasion of God’s divine order. Identity naturally attracts power and
authority, but the opposite of this leads only to much corruption and abuse!
In closing,
let us aggressively run after the restoration of our identity in God at the
beginning of 2012, for it is the only foundation for a prosperous and
successful year. Let’s find God again in a fresh way so as to find ourselves
afresh also. We can’t find ourselves by moving to new geographical locations,
new relationships, changing churches or jobs, acquiring lots of money and
whatever other methodology others have employed for apprehending one’s self. We
will only find ourselves by finding God deeply and for real, and not
superficially. We are hidden with Christ in God and we need to press deeply in
to God to truly and fully embrace who we really are.
“Set
your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your
life is hidden with Christ in God”—Colossians 3:2-3
NKJV
What we need in 2012 is a new us that
enhances and empowers all that we do in God.
God bless you and see you next week….
David K Vaka
