You Can Have A New Identity

“You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:26, NIV).

All of us have things related to our lives that give us our identity. Our job, family, and friends, along with our interests and hobbies, are some of these areas. They each contribute to our image of who we are. How would you like to be identified by your family and friends 20 or 30 years from now? How do you see yourself today? Do you feel blessed with the kind of family, job, and friends you have today? How about those born among the poorest of the poor, those abandoned and adopted children? Do you think their backgrounds would affect their identity?

Some people are born privileged, while most people are born averaged, and many are born to a less fortunate family. Some people are never going to be happy because they settled to believing on the negatives. Life, to them, seems to be a never-ending drudgery of the same, sad routine. Are you this way?

Well, life is hard. For some, it is downright hard. Many times the hardships in life contribute greatly to ones’ identity. But it doesn’t have to be this way, because the answer is not to get rid of hardships in life but to find a new definition for it.

How would you like to hear your name followed by “a child of God”?

“Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, Abba Father” (Galatians 4:6). When we repent before God for our old sinful life, He forgives us. God sends His Holy Spirit to live within us and to give us a new nature. The Holy Spirit will convict us in those areas of our life that need change. As we yield ourselves to Him, He will begin the work of recreating us according to God’s design.

No matter what your background in life is, the moment you receive Christ into your heart, you were adopted into God’s family. Above everything else, you are now a child of God! You have been adopted into His eternal family. This is a great privilege and responsibility. It should affect every aspect of how we see ourselves and conduct our lives.

Along with our adoption into His family, God has also given us a new nature. 2 Peter 1:4 states that we are “partakers of the divine nature.” His Spirit has been sent into our hearts, depositing within us the likeness and character of God. He gives us new motives, new desires, and new attitudes. Indeed, becoming a child of God will give us a new identity and a new nature. We no longer enjoy thinking, feeling, and behaving the way that is displeasing to Him. Oh, how good it is to be identified as a child of God. How about you? Why don’t you accept God’s plan for your life and submit your life under the lordship of Jesus Christ today? Life apart from Christ is filled with fears and concerns. In Christ, the promise of a new life, new identity, new nature, and a new lordship is revealed.