Identity: In Christ (Part 1)

i·den·ti·ty  /ˌīˈden(t)ədē/“condition or character as to who a person or what athing is; the qualities, beliefs, etc., that distinguish oridentify a person or thing…. the sense of self, providing sameness and continuity” (from Dictionary.com)

The night sky—the stars shine bright in their blue light, cold in their distance. Sometimes life can feel like that—each of us in our own orbs. Rubbing past each other. Each with our own light, bright.

Yet the stars exist only in their balance to each other. Shift a bit, and orbits, temperatures, gravity, black holes, supernovas, all would swirl into chaos and non-being.

Being, identity itself, who we are, is relational.

~ The Biblical Story ~

Who is God? Three-in-One. There is no God apart from his relatedness to himself, within himself, that wonderful mystery of the Trinity. God is love—and Love is action, relationship. Pause—let the Spirit brush the breeze of the Triune harmony, unity, dance. The perfect love of the self-giving God of one to another.  We are made in the image of this God, the God overflowing in love that he wanted to share, share, share, invite us into himself. The God-of-Three-Relationship invited us into relationship. That was woven into the fabric of who we are. (1)

What was the fall? The attempt to define ourselves without relationship to God. The attempt to blame others, breaking relationship. We hid in shame, no longer knowing how to relate to others, afraid of ourself, broken apart. The cosmos of our being was ripped apart; the cold distance of shame, blame, was like light-years apart, even though we rub shoulders. The deep chill shudders its way into our bones, our soul, our minds—we believe the lie that we are alone, that God is distant, no one understands, etc. We stand on our accomplishments, build our identities on other things, to get a sense of self.

Spanning the galaxy, Jesus stepped down. He, too, formed his identity relationally. “I am the Resurrection and the Life.” Yet, listen closely, let the Scripture speak. It was the Spirit who raised him from the dead (Rom. 8:11); Jesus raised himself from the dead (Jn. 2:19; 10:18); the Father raised Jesus (Acts 4:10; Gal. 1:1). “I am the Door,” himself in relationship to us, the Way to the Father, by the Spirit’s prompting (Jn. 3:5; 16:8). In Jesus’ mission statement, the core of his purpose, he quotes Isaiah, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me…” (Lk. 4:18). He was the Spirit-Anointed, the One-the-Father-Has-Sent-and-Given-the-Spirit. His favorite title for himself, “the Son of Man,” names himself in relation to us and the Father bound by the Spirit. (2)

Paul was clear—we are in Christ Jesus. That is who we are.

Both identity and "in Christ" has a locative dimension, we are “in Christ” in the heavenly places (Eph. 2:6), that is where we are at.

It has a gifting dimension, it is in Christ we receive the redemption, blessings, inseparable love, made alive (Rom. 3:24; Rom. 8:39; 1 Cor. 15:22).

An action dimension in which Paul speaks of his ways in Christ, his speaking truth in Christ, a pattern of faith and love (1 Cor. 4:17; Rom. 9:1; 2 Cor. 2:17; 2 Tim. 3:13)

A unity dimension, in which we share in love, are fellow workers in Christ, become fathers and brothers and one body (1 Cor. 16:24; Rom. 16:3; 1 Cor. 4:15).

"In Christ" has an identification dimension. It is Paul’s way of identifying us; rather than using “Christian” as an identity factor, Paul said we are “in Christ” (2 Cor. 5:17; 1 Thes. 4:16).

Our placing/location, gifts, unity/family, titles are all ways we form identity. “In Christ” is more than just a fact, but a who we are.

*Take a moment and praise God for who he is, love in action!

* Would you add other "dimensions" to being in Christ?

NOTES

(1) To be clear, I do think the image of God is more than relationship; I do not hold to the relational image of God (vs. substantive, functional) only.

(2) Ezekiel is prominent in the Lord’s use of the title “Son of man” as well, Ezekiel, the prophet filled by the Spirit to speak, who saw the in-breathing of the Spirit to cause dry bones to rise (Eze. 37), the in-filling of the Spirit in the new covenant Jesus would live out, fulfill, and bring (Eze. 11:19; Eze. 36:25-27).