Identities Part 5: The Ultimate Identity ... in Christ

This last of a five-part series on identity analyzes an identity in Christ.  This identity answers the three fundamental questions:  who is my God (spiritual dimension), who is my neighbor (social) and who am I (psychologic dimension).  God is the trinitarian God proclaimed and embodied in Jesus Christ.  Our primary duties and obligations lie in the first two questions through the two greatest commandments … love of God and love of neighbor.  These loving relationships then answer the question of who I am with the answer that I am a child of God and an apprentice or disciple of Jesus.  

An identity in Christ best answers our five clarifying questions.

1.     How much is it based on truth?  Jesus stated that he was truth.  God’s holy word is both internally consistent and externally validated through various truths and historical facts.  

2.     How unifying is it?  The ethic of love transcends any ethnic, racial, or gender lines.  This identity is open to any who put faith in, trust in, and follow Jesus.  Ultimately, there will still be a division between those who follow Jesus and those who follow their own self-invented identity and desires.  

3.     How competitive is it or willing to harm basic goods?  The ethic of love along with the definition of love (willing and taking actions to promote another’s good) means that it is antithetical to be in Christ and intentionally harm another’s good.  Jesus challenges us to not only love our friends and family but also our enemies. 

4.     How meaningful is it?   And #5, How permanent is it? Since this identity will be an eternal one that cannot be taken away by anyone, it is then very permanent.  Also, the eternal nature of this identity means that its meaning will impact not just 70 or 80 years of a life, but forever.  This meaning will be manifested in the treasures we store up in heaven from our faithfulness to God and our good works.  

References

Practicing the Way by John Mark Comer

Renovation of the Heart by Dallas Willard

The Treasure Principle by Randy Alcorn

E-mail for comments and questions at: Rootsofflourishing@gmail.com

Transcript

Identities Part 5:  The Ultimate Identity … in Christ

            Welcome back as we wrap up our series on identity.  Last episode we discussed and analyzed the victimhood identity demonstrating its problems.  However, the reality of being a victim is altogether too common and our response to an injustice speaks volumes about the type of person we are.  Arguably, the most egregious act of injustice ever perpetrated was Jesus’ treatment by the religious and political institutions of his day.  In the Gospel of John, Jesus upon being threatened with stoning states “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?” Jesus escaped the stoning but then later went willingly to the cross.  How Jesus responded to his mock trial and unjust execution was foretold hundreds of years before by the prophet Isaiah when he said, “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.”  Jesus had options regarding how he could have responded to this injustice and his impending victimhood.  Jesus states at the time of his arrest, “Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?” No angels arrived and there was no stay of his execution.  The only totally righteous and perfect man who ever lived was then crucified on a cross.  The Gospel of John quotes Jesus when he said, “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” 

He defeated power not with power, but with love. 

            This then leads us to the ultimate identity … in Christ.  Properly understood, this identity concretely and decisively best answers all our questions.  Our first understanding of identity was framed around the answers to the questions of who my God is, who is my neighbor, and who am I.  Christ shows us who God is.  Jesus says in the Gospel of John “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.”  John later says in 1st John “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” Christ showed us God’s love by dying on the cross to reconcile humans with God.  Jesus’ teachings, works and his sacrificial death were all vital to restoring our humanity as it was designed to be.  Jesus could have come to enforce servitude to His Kingdom, but instead he stated that “just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”  This then begins to help us understand more about the character and nature of God.  He is a loving god who wonderfully created the universe and then came to make a way to bring about harmony with God while at the same time showing us what duties and obligations we have.  These duties and obligations are summed up most magnificently in two commandments when Jesus said “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

            Which then leads naturally to the answer to the 2nd of our three fundamental questions:  who is my neighbor?  We are commanded to love our neighbor, but then who is our neighbor?  Again, Jesus helps us by telling the following story “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’ “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”  Hence, anyone can be our neighbor including those we would not normally associate with being our neighbor such as Jews and Samaritans. Now, you might think, this guy was in trouble and beaten unjustly so we might have more compassion on a victim, but what about the situations where maybe we are the victim of unjust treatment by my neighbor?  Jesus’ tough teaching is very clear when he says, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.  And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.”  Jesus then sums it up by saying “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor[i]and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven.”  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. echoed these thoughts regarding so called “enemies” when he said, “Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.” Why is this true?  All humans are made in the image of God which then confers great dignity to all no matter who they are or what they have done.  Everyone is then our neighbor and deserves our love.  The Apostle Paul states, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”  Thus,our enemy is not the person in front of us who is the image bearer of God, but rather supernatural evil forces.  

            Which then leads us to our 3rd question of who am I?  Jesus says that we are children of our Father in heaven. The Lord’s prayer begins with “Our Father who art in heaven…” that reinforces who we are in Christ.  We are God’s children, and not just servants.  This familial relationship is one that God Himself has chosen for all who believe in, trust in, and obey His teachings.  It’s important to note that we are to be servants in the same fashion that Christ was a servant.  This identity in Christ leads us to realize our full humanity only through self-denial.  This is best seen in Jesus’ declaration “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.”  We are not only children of God but also disciples or apprentices of Christ.  We must learn from the master human to become fully human.  John Mark Comer in his excellent book Practicing the Way summarizes the three key points of being an apprentice to Jesus.  These three are:  Goal #1: Be with Jesus, Goal #2 Become like him, and Goal #3: Do as He did. 

            Now you may be wondering, Christians have done lots of wrong in this world so how can that be the ultimate identity.  Gandhi, who was not a Christian, said “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”  Undoubtedly there was a lot of truth to this statement, but it should not be taken as an absolute indictment of all Christians as there have been and are many today who are practicing the way of being an apprentice of Jesus.  The difficulty is frequently found in a hyperrational view of the Christian faith where it merely becomes an assent to some core doctrines rather than using these core doctrines as a springboard for a vital and loving ongoing 24/7 relationship with the God of the universe where the followers of Christ’s top 3 priorities at all times are the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of God, and the Kingdom of God.  The difficulty is that we in the church have watered down this notion of discipleship with the discipline that inevitably goes with it in exchange for some doctrinal truths and a social identity with something called a church.  Now a church is a vital mechanism whereby we can hear God’s truth, encourage, and bless one another as we, together, build up the Kingdom of God.  But far too frequently, it becomes just another avenue for self-will and people’s agendas and their own kingdoms which are frequently far removed from God’s Kingdom.  

            Now we can test our identity in Christ with our five questions.  The first question is whether it is true or not. Truth can be defined as correspondence to reality.  Jesus stated that he not only spoke the truth but was truth itself when he said “I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.”  Jesus referring to God’s word stated, “Your word is truth.”  The Apostle Paul continues this high view of the veracity or truthfulness of Scripture in his 2nd letter to Timothy when he says, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”  The Bible is also historically accurate as has been validated time and time again.  

            How else can we know the truth of the Bible?  Again, how well does it correspond to reality.  I think answering questions regarding how we got here, what is the problem of humanity, what then is the solution, and what is our future can be very helpful.  The Christian doctrines provide the most integrated and beautiful answers to all these questions.  We got here because a loving creator God made us, gave us dominion over his creation as faithful stewards, and created us for loving harmonious relationship with Him, with each other and with creation.  

Next the problem of humanity is the presence of sin in our lives which means that we put our own thoughts, emotions, and desires before loving God, our neighbors or creation.  The solution is restoring our relationship with God.  This restoration has several aspects which make it very elegant and beautiful.  The first aspect is that it satisfies the just requirements of a holy and perfect God making right His relationship with his rebellious humans through the perfect sacrifice of his own Son, our savior, Jesus Christ.  The second aspect is that God then empowers us to fulfills the commandments to love Him and love our neighbor through the gift of the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit fills the followers or apprentices of Christ to do the three goals that John Mark Comer espouses:  Goal #1: Be with Jesus, Goal #2 Become like him, and Goal #3: Do as He did.  The third aspect is that it restores our relationship with God—the 1stCommandment--and then empowers us through the gift of His grace and mercy to restore our relationships with others—the 2nd Commandment.  By fulfilling these commandments through the work of God, we become more whole or healthy in our psychologic, social, and spiritual dimensions.  

Lastly, what is our future?  Our future is in eternity.  Our choices and whether we follow Christ by denying our own passions and desires and building His kingdom, or whether we follow our own self-invented destinies and desires will determine where we go for eternity.  Most everyone has an innate sense that this life and world is not all there is.  Jesus has told us where we will be going based upon the path that we choose.  Either with God or eternally separated from Him.  The website “Got Questions” summarizes this eternal rejection of God well when they say, “Envision a realm devoid of good, a reality stripped of joy, goodness, and love—the outcome of persisting in self-rule and rejecting reconciliation with God.” For those disciples of God, the future will be heaven as foretold by the Apostle John in the 21st chapter of the book of Revelation when he writes “Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” I for one am ready for this place of no more death, mourning, crying or pain.  

Our second question is how unifying is this identity?  The identity in Christ is different than other identities.  It is not based on race, ethnicity, or gender.  Paul writing to the church in Colossae says this “Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.”  The author and philosopher Dallas Willard in his book Renovation of the Heart expands upon this when he says “in that view the usual human distinctions (between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free person, and so on) do not matter in how we relate to people, because Christ is (or can be) in all alike. What is more unlike humans than to treat all kinds of people with equal truth and love?”

In addition to our usual classifications that may distinguish groups, we commonly treat children as second-class citizens in our societies chiefly because of their lesser decision-making capabilities.  We then wisely limit their ability to decide in order to prevent harm to themselves, but that frequently translates into a perception that they are of lesser value.  Not true with Jesus in Matthew’s gospel which says, “Then people brought little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked them.  Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” Additionally, Jesus did say that there would be a division of people based upon whether they followed Him or not, so the Way of Jesus or the identity of being in Christ is not universal but is open to “whoever believes in him" as John 3:16 says.

Additionally, although it certainly has firm foundations in truth claims, it ends up being the ethic of love which most clearly distinguishes this identity from other religions and provides the avenue for greater unity.  The Islamic scholar and professor at George Washington University Seyyed Hossein Nasr observes this difference between Christianity and all other religions in his book Knowledge and the Sacred.  Jesus emphasizes this in the Gospel of John when he states, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”  The unity of those in Christ is something that Christ Himself prayed for in His high priestly prayer in John chapter 17.  Jesus stated, “I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.” As Dr. King said “Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.” 

            All who believe and follow Christ can then be unified in this identity through the ethic of love.  As we noted before, there are many who claim or have claimed to be Christians with very divisive thoughts and actions.  Augustine is famously attributed to saying, “In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity,” (or love).”  This reminds us that it’s our job to love our neighbor and encourage them to holiness while its God’s job to convict them of any error.  

            How third question addresses how competitive an identity is or how willing is it to harm a basic good?  Since this identity is fundamentally based in love and love is the willing of the good of another, then violating a basic good would then be antithetical to an identity in Christ.  In other words, if one intentionally harms another’s basic good then that would not be consistent with an identity in Christ.  On the contrary, as we have seen, our neighbors and even our enemies should be the recipients of our love and actions to promote their basic goods.

            Our fourth question addresses the topic of how meaningful it is while our last question asks how permanent the identity is.  We can best address both questions at once.  First, we see that the reality of being in Christ is an eternal identity.  This identity is conferred upon us by God Himself and thus this identity cannot be taken away by any human.  Additionally, this identity is grounded in the reality of eternity and this specific identity in Christ means we will be with God for eternity as one of His children. 

            Regarding meaning, then our meaning will not be just for 70 or 80 years here on earth, but rather forever.  Jesus talked about treasures.  He wasn’t against storing up treasures but rather he reminded us we were treasuring the wrong things.  He said this about treasure on the Sermon on the Mount “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”  These treasures that we can store up are the good works that we do on earth in loving God and loving our neighbor—the two greatest Commandments.  Randy Alcorn in his excellent little book entitled The Treasure Principle pithily says, “You can’t take it with you, but you can send it on ahead.”  These treasures in heaven will be ones that we will enjoy not just for a few days, months or even years, but eternally.  Let that sink in.  

We can certainly experience some joy in this world from accomplishments, vacations, or possessions.  However, it is always a temporary phenomenon and frequently not a perfect joy since there is always some tinge of disappointment or lack.  For instance, you may have had your dream vacation, but it almost always has some difficulties, costs too much, ends too soon, or you had wished more, or other people could have shared it with you. Similarly, the new car smell wears off way too fast while the payments come too quickly, and cost more than you would have liked.  We need to remember that these joys are a mere foretaste of what will go on forever in a perfected state.  However, our joy will not come from serving ourselves, but rather it will come from our good works and faithfulness while on earth—sending our treasures ahead—and this joy will go on eternally and with 100% satisfaction and joy. 

         We have come to the conclusion of our series on identity where we have seen what fundamental questions identity claims can answer regarding who is my God, who is my neighbor, and who am I.  We also analyzed how good an identity is through our five clarifying questions.  This episode we considered the identity in Christ and have shown that this identity best and most completely answers all our questions.  The answer is evident before us, but whether we are willing to crucify the self, take up our cross, and follow Jesus 100% without reservations is a decision each of us must make.  This decision and the life that necessarily follows it will not be easy.  Dallas Willard comments “it will require genuine openness to radical change in oneself, careful and creative instruction, and abundant supplies of divine grace. Most people cannot envision who they would be without the fears, angers, lusts, power ploys, and woundedness with which they have lived so long.” He goes on to say, “he must content himself with the mere identity: ‘apprentice of Jesus.’ That is the starting point from which his new identity will emerge and it is in fact powerful enough to bear the load.”  Finally, missionary C.T. Studd put it all into eternal perspective when he said, “Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.”