JESUS OUR TRUE IDENTITY PART 1

 

I will be conducting a series of workshops in a few weeks and one is focused on ‘Our True Identity.’ I thought it was important to examine this topic in the light of the new workshops. As I explored this topic, I discovered in 2014 over 17.6 million Americans were impacted by identity theft. The thieves used Americans’ private information to incur debts by obtaining credit cards, purchasing expensive items, and other fraudulent acquisitions. Unfortunately, many never realized the deception taken place until it was too late to stop the activities. I remembered this happened to Tony when we were in Arizona. Someone used his name and social security number to get credit cards and charged a lot of debt on his card and we didn’t know about it until a company notified him asking if he had made charges in cities we never lived in. Immediately, we contacted the credit bureaus to freeze his credit and to learn more about what other erroneous activities had occurred. We later discovered, someone who worked for a credit card company not only used Tony’s information but other consumers as well.  Identity theft is a serious matter and the truth is, how will others know who you really are unless you can show proper evidence of the facts?

 

 

As we reflect on the subject of ‘Identity Theft’ let’s look at where it all began. Genesis 1:26-27 Amplified version states: Then God said, “Let Us (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) make man in Our image, according to Our likeness (not physical, but a spiritual personality, and moral likeness)…So God created man in His Own IMAGE, in the IMAGE and LIKENESS of God, He created HIM; male and female He created them. Mankind was created to look like and reflect in every way the magnificence, glory, and grandeur of their Father, Brother, and Holy Spirit who also was their creator! What was God really like? How was man-made just like Him? What were His attributes and characteristics which revealed who He was and who man was?  These are the questions we will answer in our future blogs.

 

Secondly, let’s talk about what happened to man’s identity in the garden. We know the story how the serpent deceived Eve into eating the fruit of death and how Adam was not deceived but chose to disobey His father and ate the forbidden fruit. We understand the lie the enemy told Adam and Eve, “Your Father knows the day you eat this fruit you will be as gods.” The TRUTH was, they were GODS, created in the very image and likeness of their Father; Father didn’t want them to know or experience what good and evil were… ONLY LIFE. From the beginning of time, man has suffered from divine amnesia. Had he lived in the Garden of Paradise in his darkened soul and dead spirit eating from the Tree of Life, all of mankind would have been doomed forever. But, because our Father already knew the decision man would make, he removed him from paradise so he wouldn’t be tormented by guilt of the joy he had experienced and what he had done to forfeit it. Through the scriptures, we never hear of Adam and Eve talking about The Garden of Paradise ever again. Thank you Father! The next scripture I read about Adam was in Genesis 5:3; “Adam begat Seth in his own image.” In The Garden of Paradise, the serpent stole Adam’s identity when he disobeyed his Father. Because of Adam’s sin, mankind was transformed into the image of the evil one and no longer bearing the resemblance of his Heavenly Father and Godhead. What do I mean by that? Who is a liar? Who steals, kills, and destroys? Who gossips, murders others with their tongues? Who separate and divide people? Who seek out ways to be seen, known, or popular? We can feel the darkness of sin, the flesh, fear, worry, and anxiety lurking in our bodies, who put them there? Our Father in the Old Testament sent the Law to be a mirror to show us how lost we were and how sinful our behavior, actions, and hearts were before Him. But our Father knew, laws and rules could never change us, but He had a plan to BRING US BACK HOME TO HIMSELF. The Glorious plan was JESUS CHRIST! He came not only to show us what our Father was like but reconnect us to the only relationship to GIVE US LIFE AGAIN! Hebrews 1:3 in the Amplified states: Jesus Christ being in the BRIGHTNESS of His Father’s Glory and being in the EXPRESS IMAGE OF GOD’S PERSON (the exact representation and perfect imprint of His Father’s essence).  Jesus in John 10:10 warned us about false teachers who come to keep us from beholding Him as our ‘True Identity’ but they come only to keep us in bondage to religion, emphasizing the importance of ‘doing’ in order to ‘be like God.’ When the truth is, In Christ, WE ARE back in union with our Father… we are ONE again! The purpose of false teachers and religion are to: rob us of our identity In Christ, oppress us with man-made requirements, keep us under the yoke of the Old Testament or Old Covenant, and keep us from beholding Jesus Christ as THE ONLY WAY, THE ONLY TRUTH, and THE ONLY ONE WHO GIVES US LIFE!

 

It is easy to say who we are, we love Jesus, and He lives in us. The world requires evidence of the fact. Father said, “Let your light shine so bright that MEN MAY SEE YOUR PROOF BY HIS LIFE BEING EXEMPLIFIED THROUGH HIS WORKS THROUGH US and glorify your Father who is in Heaven (a holy and sacred place).

 

Prayer: Thank you Papa for reintroducing me to Your character and image. I can see what you are really like when I behold the face of Jesus in my spirit and in your Word. Make Him more evident in my heart and life in order that I can experience Your love each moment and share You with others. AMEN