Identity Crisis

Good morning. I’m so glad to be back with you today. My recovery is just starting but now on morning three I am feeling better than I did on morning one. Thank you for your prayers and I appreciate you continuing to pray for me over the next few weeks as well.

This morning I was reading in Matthew 16 where Jesus asked His disciples who the people were saying Jesus was.

“Jesus went to the area of Caesarea Philippi. He said to his followers, “Who do people say I am^[a?” ¹⁴ They answered, “Some people say you are John the Baptizer. Others say you are Elijah. And some say you are Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

¹⁵ Then Jesus said to his followers, “And who do you say I am?” ¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Matthew 16:13-16 ERV

The crowds had been following Jesus for quite sometime and had seen many miracles. The Pharisees and religious leaders were very upset by the things Jesus was doing and they were doing all they could to get rid of Him. They knew the longer Jesus associated with the common people the harder it would be to remove Him from public life. They had to try and discredit him.

Jesus wanted to know who the disciples believed Him to be. They were the ones who had lived with Him and associated with Him on a daily basis. Did they believe that He was God’s Son? Were they willing to follow Him without hesitation? Jesus had a mission from the Father. He was sent to reconcile the relationship between God, the Father, and mankind.

He came to earth to be the Savior of all.

“God did not send his Son into the world to condemn its people. He sent him to save them!” John 3:17 CEV

The last few days I have had a lot of time to sit and think about that truth, what it means to be reconciled with God. Some of the people of Jesus day were confused about who Jesus really was. Was He the Messiah or just a man? There are many of us now, after His death, burial and resurrection, who recognize Jesus as God’s Son. No confusion here.

However, there is still an identity crisis that needs to be addressed. Let me paraphrase Jesus words and ask “who do we say that we are”? Do we overestimate our own potential by thinking that it is our hard work and superior intelligence that has gotten us the good things in life? Or do we underestimate our value and see ourselves as unworthy of being loved and ill-equipped in life?

When we accept Christ as our Savior we become new; we take on a whole new identity, we become the children of God Almighty!

“The Word (Jesus) was already in the world. The world was made through him, but the world did not know him. ¹¹ He came to the world that was his own. And his own people did not accept him. ¹² But some people did accept him. They believed in him, and he gave them the right to become children of God. ¹³ They became God’s children, but not in the way babies are usually born. It was not because of any human desire or plan. They were born from God himself.” John 1:10-13 ERV

The Apostle Paul, who wrote a large portion of the New Testament, spent most of his time instructing us on who we are in Christ and how we should live to reflect our relationship with our Father.

“When anyone is in Christ, it is a whole new world. The old things are gone; suddenly, everything is new! ¹⁸ All this is from God. Through Christ, God made peace between himself and us. And God gave us the work of bringing people into peace with him. ¹⁹ I mean that God was in Christ, making peace between the world and himself. In Christ, God did not hold people guilty for their sins. And he gave us this message of peace to tell people. ²⁰ So we have been sent to speak for Christ. It is like God is calling to people through us. We speak for Christ when we beg you to be at peace with God. ²¹ Christ had no sin, but God made him become sin^[b] so that in Christ we could be right with God.” II Corinthians 5:17-21 ERV

We should be humbled by the fact that God has chosen us to be His children. He has made everything new. Jesus spoke boldly about His Father, we should too. How is it possible for us to be accepted by God as His children? It’s only possible through our relationship with Christ. This life we have been given isn’t mission impossible.

The mission, my friend, should you choose to accept it is entirely possible through Christ.

“When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved? ²⁶ But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:25-26 KJV