Identity

Life... What's it all about?
If someone asks me this... what am I to shout?
A name I say, above all others,
The One who pulls us in as brothers.
There is the One who knows just what it's all about
He's the One I look to, to figure all this out.
I know the One who's written it down,
Inspired the men who've written His sound
Like the Spirit of God, descending life a dove,
And all of a sudden, God's voice from above,
Saying the words that bring you to your knees,
"This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
You'll find it in the first few books, with the second half
About the One named Jesus, who then became our calf.
He lived and died and rose again, so that the world would see
The Truth behind the reason why He died upon that tree.
A holy war we're fighting, but this is no jihad.
It's war that's fought for sinner's souls, that each one be turned to God.
A final thought and warning, look at our human state.
Now think about it long and hard... with God, do you relate?

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Synopsis:

There is something that we all have in our lives, whether we like it or not and whether we realize and accept it or not. That is that fact of Identity. There is one think we all have, and that is identity in something. For some it is at the bottom of a bottle. For others, it is at the end of a football field. And for some, it is found in a pew in a church, with an old dusty Bible, sitting by their side.

However, there is one identity that surpasses all others. There is an identity that we can pursue that is outside of ourselves and our abilities. That is, our identity in Christ. I think many times that we (speaking solely to Christians) misunderstand our identity as Christians, which is our identity in Christ. I know that I find myself in this predicament of misunderstanding what it means to have my identity in Christ. So I have thought about it, and come to the conclusion that in order to fully express my identity in Christ I must understand who Christ is. We have been studying in Galatians with our Bible Study, and every week as we go though it, I have come to realize so much more of how so worthless I am in comparison to God. Yet He still loves me, and saved me from what I deserve (Hell). Yet, as I have been in Christ, I don't think I've ever fully understood what it means to be identified with Christ. I think it's such a huge thing to grasp that I can't even wrap my head around it. I must say that the biggest obstacle in my way is the pride of humanity. I am selfish. We as sinful imperfect human beings are selfish. And it is that selfishness that causes us to do our own thing and to misunderstand our identity. So as this Galatians study has progressed, I have begun to realize many things I haven't not thought about before. I simply realize how nothing I can do is going to make me a "better Christian". To be in Christ is to throw the checklist-rulebook out the window and start focusing on God Himself. I have come to this conclusion. "We must do God's will, God's way." As we finished chapter 4 this past Tuesday, we looked back quickly at the story of Abraham and Sarah and Hagar (Genesis 16 & 21, respectively), and the biggest thought that struck me was that with Ishmael (son of Hagar) was born through Abraham attempting to do God's will, Abraham's way. But when we look at Isaac (son of Sarah), we see how Abraham did God's will, God's way. So now God is trying to teach my that my identity in Christ will come with my acceptance of two things. 1) Being identified with Christ, I must seek to become like Christ (to imitate Christ), which means I must 2) Understand how Christ was different than we are as humans... meaning that He always did God's will, God's way. If I am to surrender to my identity, I must live out these two things. No longer can I look to a list of self-made rules in order to "checklist" my Christianity status, but I need to love God and follow Christ, which in turn will lead me to do all those things anyways, only now, for the right reason.

Colossians 2:20-23
20 Therefore,[a] if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations—
21 “Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,”
22 which all concern things which perish with the using—according to the commandments and doctrines of men?
23 These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.

The only way I am going to overcome the problem of my pride/selfishness is to "let go and let God" (yes, I know it's cliche).

Remember: "God's will, God's way." Let's see if we as Christians can't spend our lives finding out what that truly means.