How do you identify yourself to yourself and to other people? Do you think of yourself as a poet or writer? An artist or musician? A mechanical genius or a talk show host? A mom or dad? An accountant, a teacher, pastor, or postal worker?
How might someone else identify you? Are you the lady in the purple hat? The guy with the great smile? The kid alone on the playground? The woman who comes once a week to clean? The spoiled brat next door? The shabby person with the shopping cart? The gorgeous, well-dressed, well-coiffed socialite?
Actually those possibilities are not really forms of I.D. They’re just labels. But whatever we call them, do you think any of those identifications matter to God?
The potential problems with identity became apparent in the early stages of civilization as Genesis 11:1 shows when “The whole world had one language and a common form of speech.” With the power of the people as one body, they came together to “make a name for themselves” (Genesis 11:5) by building a tower that would reach into the heavens.
Genesis 11:6 in the Amplified Bible records God’s concern: “And the LORD said, ‘Behold, they are one [unified] people, and they all have the same language. This is only the beginning of what they will do [in rebellion against Me], and now no evil thing they imagine they can do will be impossible for them’.”
Let that sink in.
From the start, God has been aware of the power of oneness as people come together with one heart, one mind, one purpose. However, before the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ that single-mindedness would inevitably be up to no good!
Then 2 Corinthians 2:17 gives us this reassurance: “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come,” (New American Standard Bible.)
With the advent of God’s Son on earth, everything changed! In the New Living Translation of the Bible, 1 Peter 2: 10 explains, “Once you had no identity as a people; now you are God’s people...”
Whoever you are or however you have identified yourself in the past has no bearing on who you actually are. As the Contemporary English Version of Galatians 3:28 says, “ Faith in Christ Jesus is what makes each of you equal with each other, whether you are a Jew or a Greek, a slave or a free person, a man or a woman.”
That’s our identity! Faith in Jesus Christ makes us all equally beloved children of God.
When you look in the mirror now, you will see a child of God. When you look at your family and loved ones, you will see children of God. When you come face to face with a stranger, you will see a child of God.
This universal identity equalizes everyone in God’s sight, regardless of what anyone says or how anyone treats us. But here’s the powerful thing: When we’re in the company of other Christians, we have the ability to build what God wants. Not the tower of Babel to make a name for ourselves, but the biblical blueprint to build a family, a church, a community, a world that glorifies the name of God.
Dear Lord God, forgive us for thinking too little or too much of ourselves or anyone other than You. Help us to believe and receive the newness of life You have given to through Your Son, Jesus Christ. Help us to see ourselves and one another as Your precious children. Unite us in love through Your Holy Spirit. Then send us forth, Lord, in one body with one heart, one mind, and one purpose as we do the work You have given us to do in the power, authority, and Name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
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