January 15, 2024
by Pastor Scott Slaughter
Identity. What a loaded topic this has become in the last decade. With all the attention given to “understand” our identity, one would expect that we, as a culture, had learned something. But the sad reality is that we haven’t. How do I know that we have not learned from the exorbitant attention given to identity by our media, the music industry, government agencies, advertisement, and the public school system, and pop-culture? It is evidenced by not only the gender confusion being produced, but also by more subtle observations such as how people have become nearly obsessed with labeling themselves with logos, flags, tattoos, clothing, hairstyles, jewelry, and music. This is an attempt to find and secure identity in things, celebrities, sexuality, and brands. It is sad to watch as people created in the image of God seek meaning in everything but God. This is condition of lost humankind.
In the Epistle to the church at Ephesus, the Apostle Paul expounds some of the great truths of Christian identity. We learn in chapter one that our identity as believers in Jesus Christ is secured by God’s choice in eternity past (1:3-6). We rejoice in the identity we’ve been given by grace through faith in Jesus Christ (2:1-9). Our identity is not just in eternity but it is also here and now as we live (2:10) so that our new identity in Jesus comes with a new purpose for life - good works.
But that’s not all, not by a long shot! Our new found position in our Lord Jesus Christ includes new relationships, new foundation for life, and a new purpose for existence!
As the Church of Jesus Christ, Scripture says we are…...
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