Identity: In Christ (Part 2)

Last week's Part 1 explored the biblical theology of our identity in Christ, and how Christ himself lived that out. But what does that really look like? 

~ Stepping In: Us Today ~

Identity shapes our self-perception, and when we are in Christ, we no longer think of ourselves as one. We. I am not alone, but it is Christ in me. I think “we do” more than “I do.” This was Paul’s take: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2:20). Christ lives Paul’s life; Paul lives Paul’s life. Paul was crucified with Christ; Christ was crucified for Paul.

 

So, too, for us. We are not alone. Christ-and-you do your day together. He-and-you face the hard conversations, as well as the simple pleasure of a meal. You and he (should) speak the same, act the same. We often speak of the verse, “And I will be with you to the end of the age,” but still so often identify ourselves singularly, feel alone, or act independently. Yet, we are in Christ and Christ is in us. We think “we do” more than “I do.”

Having been sick for about half of my life, it is a temptation to define myself as The Sick One, The One Who Can’t. Pain can seem part of me. Yet, when I am hurting, I am in Christ and held by my High Priest with nail-scarred hands. He is interceding for me, supplying strength, fruit of the Spirit, breathing his resurrection life into my soul and body. It is his temple as well—he is right-proportionately concerned about the health decisions I make, as well as my heart behind it. Proverbs rightly says, “The heart knows its own bitterness, and no stranger shares its joy” (14:10). Suffering is intensified by its loneliness. It knows its own bitterness, and no one can drink of that cup—except, except, there is one who shares my heart, Jesus. He understands suffering not just from his own, but from my own as well. I am held, with him, and he with me. My sickness does not have the last word; though my body is not, I am immortal because I am in Christ and share his eternal life. I am in the heavenlies in a real, true way in my High Priest, just as true as I am in my body. My identity is in Christ.

We become our identity increasingly as we grow. We are dynamic, and so is our identity. A married couple becomes one flesh. They pick up each other’s habits, and grow more like each other. Studies show they actually begin to physically resemble each other. So, too, we in Christ. Closer than a married couple, we are one with the Lord in Spirit (1 Cor. 6:17). We are growing into him increasingly, and we pick up his traits. His heart beats by the Spirit, pulsing through our minds, bodies, hands, acts. His breath our breath, more and more. Our identity is in him.

Like a sun—he is radiating through us, he the flame and we the color orange. Inseparable, but yet not the same. No longer stars swinging billions of light years apart, we are included in the Son. More than a mere fact, it is who we are. How can there be closer intimacy with the Shining One on this side of the veil?

*What would look different in your life if you grasped that?

*How has this relational in Christ shaped your identity? How is it continuing to shape your sense of self?