What is identity?

According to the Oxford dictionary:

Who am I? That’s the question most people struggle with today. But if we really took a moment to read the Bible, we would find the answers soon enough.

If someone had to ask me, Who am I?

I would have to answer: I am Kristian.

But before I even say my name, I must say I AM.

And we all know who I AM is.

According to Exodus 3:14, God’s name is I AM.

Therefore, before we can even state anything about ourselves, we must first acknowledge the existence of God. Our existence relies solely upon His existence because, without Him, we are nothing. He is the I AM of all I am.

Therefore, that tells us something. To discover our identity, we must first know who God is before we can even understand who we are.

Therefore it says in Acts 17:28, “In Him we live and move and have our being.”

In today’s world, people identify themselves with all kinds of things. I’m sure you all know of a particular community that identifies itself with all kinds of fantastical things. Why? Because it’s all a fantasy. 

But ask those people what their viewpoint of God is and you’ll find some bizarre answers. Their god is not the God of the Bible! Therefore, we can conclude that an incorrect view of God and who He is, will cause us to have an identity that isn’t who we were supposed to be.

Many want to be wise, rich or strong in today’s world but an identity without God is meaningless.

Jeremiah 9:23-24 This is what the LORD says: “Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches, but let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares the LORD.

Jesus was very concerned about how people saw Him. In Matthew 16:13-16, He asked his disciples who people thought He was. Some thought that He was John the Baptist, or Elijah or Jeremiah. He did this because the disciples did not have the right identity. They were always arguing about who was the greatest. And even though Peter had they revelation that Jesus is the Christ, He still did not know who the Christ was. The Bible says that the Christ would come and save Israel and the Gentiles but they though He came to save Israel and destroy the Gentiles.  Many people know that Jesus is God but do not know His character. Without knowing His character, we fail to be accurate representatives of Jesus because we are operating out of an incorrect identity. And that is why Peter later on went to deny Christ 3 times, He did not know who Christ is! 

He thought that Jesus came to rescue Israel and kill the Gentiles but He came to save all. So when Peter denied Jesus by saying that “he didn’t know Him,” he was actually telling the truth! We should never settle for what other people say about God, we should test everything with scripture. The disciples didn’t know the character of God that is why when Jesus and the disciples were entering Samaria and was faced with opposition, they wanted to call down fire from heaven to destroy them but Jesus rebuked His disciples. 

Luke 9:56 For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives to to save them.

Having the correct identity leads to further benefits…

Daniel 11:32 but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.

This verse tells us about purpose. The revelation of your identity will lead you to your purpose.

Everyone has an identity but that identity isn’t always the right one. But an encounter with Jesus will cause the wrong identity to be destroyed and the right one to be established. It will be a new identity.

Since our identity has a reference, we must make sure that the identity we have is referenced by God.

In Genesis 32:22-32, Jacob who was known for always running away, came face to face with the living God. The encounter caused him to obtain a new name, and a new identity. He was struck in the hip so he couldn’t run anymore and he had purpose, the father of Israel.

Exodus 3, Moses, a murderer who ran away to the Midianite land, encountered God at the burning bush. He had a son named Gershom which meant ‘an alien there’. His identity had slipped down to the next generation. But the encounter with God gave him a new identity, despite the resistance to it and he became Israels leader.

Identity of God, identity of oneself, then purpose.

Isaiah 6, Isaiah had an encounter with Yahweh. Immediately he became aware of his flawed identity, but the angel brought a coal to his lips and a new identity was given. Then God said who shall we send? Isaiah said “send me!”

And lastly, Saul who was a thoroughbred Jew, a descendant of Abraham, had the wrong identity of God which meant he had the wrong purpose because he was persecuting Christians. The wrong identity of God leads to the wrong identity of oneself which gives you the wrong purpose.

But Saul had an encounter with Jesus. And he asked, “Who are you, Lord?”

Jesus replied, “I am Jesus whom you persecute.”

He didn’t know who God was but he was doing God’s work! He was studying this God for years!

Saul goes on a pilgrimage to search for Jesus. He spent time learning about Him. And when he began preaching, he knew who Jesus was, he knew who he was, and he even had a new name, Paul. And he knew what his new purpose was.

Because knowing who God really is will reveal your identity and your purpose.

Know thy God

Know thyself

Know thy purpose.