What Is Your Identity and How should we define Identity as the body of Christ?
The theme the Lord impressed on my heart at the beginning of the year 2024 to teach on was Identity. At the time, i didn't realise he dropped this in my heart because he wanted to prune and take me on a journey to discovering who I truly am in Christ and who he is to me. My prayer is at the end of this series of writings, you would be transformed by the Holy Spirit to be able to stand in the authority Christ has died to give you. I also pray you experience a deeper intimacy with God.
The theme Identity will be explored in subtopics and the first one we are going to be looking at is the question of "What is your Identity and how do we define this as believers?". What better way to start off than this eh?
Before reading this, i want you to be honest with yourself and write down your personal definition of identity or what makes up your identity currently. You'd be surprised by the things the Holy Spirit will reveal to you about yourself. This activity serves as an indicator on how you function daily and for re-evaluation after the end of this theme.
According to Oxford dictionary, the definition of identity is the fact of being who or what a person or thing is. Moreover, what we are going to look at today is the Biblical definition of Identity, which can be defined as being rooted in Christ and having Christ as the foundation of our lives. Just like the illustration of the building of a house, if the foundation is bad, the house would not last. Just like the Parable of the wise and foolish builders found in Matthew 7:24-27; whereby one built on sand and the other on rock; they both had the same circumstances occur to them, this was described as the rain, flood and wind. One’s house crashed (the foolish) but the other survived (the wise).
You could choose whether you want to be a wise builder who sets your foundation (your life and life choices) on Jesus and his teachings (The Word Of God) never forgetting this, or choose to be like the foolish, giving the world/enemy the opportunity to influence your decision making and to magnify the circumstances of your life thereby taking you out.
As we know the enemy does not play fair, which is the reason why he’s described in 1 Peter 5:8 as a roaring lion looking for someone to devour but there’s a warning from Peter before he says this, and it is “Be alert and of sober mind”. ("Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour"). Because I am speaking to those who loves Christ and are true disciples of his, the day you gave your life to Christ is the day your Identity was changed, you are now owned by Christ, you are now heirs of God and co-heirs to Christ provided you share in his sufferings (Romans 8:17).
One thing that will constantly occur during your Christian journey is this, the Enemy will always try to inflict serious damage to you because he knows he can’t touch your soul especially when you’re truly dedicated to living for Christ (a life of total surrender). How does he do this, you might ask? most of the time he will go for your Identity (right at the jugular vein), because if he can get you to forget whose you are (and the benefits that comes with it) then he can also get you to have temporary amnesia on who you serve.
Satan seeks to leave us as weak and ineffective servants of our King – we then can’t fulfil the command and see I said command because it is indeed a command; the command of the great commission Jesus charged us with in Matthew 28:19-20 which says “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Weak and ineffective Christians are unable to fully enjoy their lives as they can't live in the rest and peace Jesus Christ has granted to those who abide in him. This is the reason you must fight back when the enemy attacks. How? By standing firm in faith even to the point of persecution. It says in 1 Peter 5:9 “Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings”. You have been given power because of your Identity in Christ, this allows you to stand firm in any situation the enemy throws at you. This is something the enemy doesn’t want us to know or utilise.
We are going to be exploring Colossians 2:1-15 for this topic but before we get there, i want to briefly touch on chapter one and to whom and why Paul wrote this book as it will lead us to look at the settings but also enable us to apply it to our understanding on the importance of properly defining our identity as Christians. For those who do not know, the book of Colossians was written to Christ followers in Colossae (mostly gentiles) and Paul is addressing the false teachings that is spreading amongst them (mostly legalistic views i.e, trying to follow the Jews in traditions; adding works unto the finished work of Christ, Chapter 2:16-23 Speaks about this so i would advice to read ahead in your study time so you’d be able to gain a better understanding).
The followers of Christ in Colossae were people who have received Christ, understood that Christ is their foundation in terms of identity, knew the message of the Gospel – "remembering it’s by grace we have been saved through faith, this is a gift from God not by works, less no man should boast". (Ephesians 2:8). Yet, the enemy was able to infiltrate their midst with his agents and some fell susceptible to his tactics.
A few things to mention from Colossians chapter one is, we see Paul start the letter by thanking God for the Colossian believers this includes the faith and love that comes from the hope, which comes from the message of the Gospel (Colossians 1:3-6). Paul also prayed for God to fill them with knowledge (The Word Of God), to know his will through his Spirit by giving them wisdom and understanding (Colossians 1:9-12). This right here, is a message of great importance, and you will see for yourselves as we journey along Identity as a theme. Further along in Colossians chapter one, Paul says in Colossians 1:25 "I have become its servant (he is talking about the church, for the sake of the church) by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness.
This leads us nicely into Colossians 2:1-3 which says "[1] I want you to know how hard I am contending for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally. [2] My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, [3] in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge".
Paul is recognising he's not his own person; all his goals are Christ oriented. The first step in understanding our Identity is recognising we are not our own person. This is a big deal because Paul mentioned being an Apostle of God in Colossians 1:1. Paul knew the authority he wields because of Christ yet he understood that he was still a servant of Christ. It's very interesting because Paul out of everybody had something to boast about; to self-righteous folks, he was a Zealot before he became a Christian (Acts 22:3-5 gives a brief synopsis of Paul's autobiography) and after he became an Apostle (2 Corinthians 12:1-10 talks about what he could have boasted about).
However, even in his role as an Apostle he understood that it was all about making Jesus known and the truth of the Gospel known in the case of the Colossian believers so that no one would be susceptible to false teachings/teachers when they came along. In order words, Christ will remain a mystery to you, God will remain mysterious to you if you don't have any foundation of his Word or care to know his Word (which are his promises to all of us).
The more you know the Word and the more the Spirit teaches you and gives you wisdom and understanding on how to apply it to any circumstances; your discernment will increase and you shall easily be able to detect the lies of the enemy, be it in the form of false teachings (legalistic approach) as the case of the Colossian believers (which is found in verse 8, which follows the prerequisite of both verses 6 and 7). Colossians 2:6-8 says [6] So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, [7] rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. [8] See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.
Another case is the enemy attacking your thoughts about who you are; we can see how this mirrors Colossians 1:9-14 where Paul also speaks about the knowledge of God which is only obtained through his Word and by the help of his Spirit, to be able to give wisdom and understanding. Let us briefly jump back again to Paul knowing his role as both servant and Apostle and another thing we should learn from this.
As humans we can have our identity on an extreme side of a scale, on one end; we don't know the power and the authority we wield in Christ thus failing to walk in the purpose God created us for. On the other end is, knowing our identity and power but failing to still recognise that we are servants of Christ meaning you don't own your ministry, your family, your friends, your business, your finances, your gifts, your talents etc. Jesus does. This side dangerously leads to spiritual pride, ultimately you/we have unconsciously shifted Jesus out of the foundation of your/our identity and put flesh instead.
Now let's jump into the meaning of having Christ as our foundation which is explained in verses 9-10. Colossians 2:9 says, "For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form". Christ was both God and Man. Representative of Man to God and God to Man (Showed the Glory of God in bodily form). This is the reason why Jesus replied with the answer "those who have seen me has seen the Father (has seen God)" to the request made by Phillip asking Jesus to show his disciples the father in John 14:8-11.
The benefit of Jesus being revealed to us is written in the next verse, Colossians 2:10 "[10] and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority". Christ as a representative of God to Man should cause our being to be whole, because in him - Christ who is God has the power and authority (we must remember he took back the authority over death and sin which man gave to the devil).
The way Christ died on that cross and nailed sin to the cross is the same way our flesh has been crucified if we truly believe in him. This is exemplified according to verses 11-14; Colossians 2:11 "[11] In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ".
According to Genesis 17:10-14, Abraham was told by God to perform a circumcision on all the males in his household in relation to the covenant God was going to fulfil through him. God intended this circumcision to be a physical symbol of a spiritual reality. Circumcision was to be much more than just an outward sign. It was to be the outward sign of an inward reality. However, the Jews lost the true meaning and kept only the outward sign.
On the other hand, the Christian Jews at the time of Paul's writing, thought you had to be physically circumcised to follow God; to put simply, follow the law in addition to being a Christian. However, we know that God is interested in the circumcision of our hearts, and he does his circumcision at the point of us accepting Salvation and during our Sanctification process. Ezekiel 36:26-27 says, [26] 'I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. [27] And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws'.
Colossians 2:12-14, "[12] having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. [13] When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, [14] having cancelled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross". The point is, Christ has already done this for the world and is presenting us with freedom and power which most of the world will unfortunately reject (this is the package of Salvation). Even then because i am speaking to believers, we forget Salvation includes authority and power which we forget to walk in. God didn't just save you and said that's it. Jesus literally said you're mine, i give to you power, your identity must be found in me.
The significance of Jesus' death and resurrection is recognised in verse "[15] Jesus disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross". We all know the enemy thought he had won with the crucifixion of Christ, but it was in the dark hour God proved himself victorious over spiritual darkness. This is also recognised in Colossians 2:12, 'you have been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead'.
I will end by saying, God didn't just save you/us to have an average life, he wants us to have a glimpse and enjoy Heaven on Earth as we fellowship with him.
Paul says in Romans 8:11 "And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you". This is the power of God in us. This is the benefit of the resurrected Jesus Christ to us. Having possessed this kind of power should prevent us from being immobilised/paralysed by fear.
Power from God (The Holy Spirit in us), allows us to boldly look at fear in the eyes and move on with confidence, it allows us to say to No to sin, temptations and even doubts no matter how difficult. We must never undermine the power of God that reside in us, if we submit to the work he does in us.
Now that we are done with the teaching, what I would love for you to do in your free time is to re-read both chapter 1 and chapter 2 of Colossians – what you will see is they mirror each other, there are reiterations about the deity of Christ, his death, his resurrection and the importance of feeding on the Word of God and how it impacts us as believers.
Up next is answering the question on How to live out our identity in Christ. Please click here.