have accurate answers to these questions so that you can be what God created you to be and do what God created you to do.
Your Identity Determines Your Worth
Realize your identity ultimately determines your worth and your destination. In a very practical sense, if I were to enter a bank, step up to a teller, and say, “May I have $100?” the teller would ask for my account number or my name. If I had amnesia and didn’t know who I was, I could not provide this information. And if I continued to request money, I would receive nothing but the directions to the front door.
However, knowing there are resources in my name—regardless of who placed them there—as long as I provide the teller with my name and account number, I can quickly receive the cash requested. My identity definitely determines my worth and my ability to draw upon that reserve.
Your Identity Determines Your Destination
What about your destination? Where are you going?
Some time ago I planned to fly from Dallas to Atlanta to speak at a convention and arrived at the airport with time to spare. Prior to the final boarding call, I made a quick phone call, using the extra time I thought I had. When I began to board, I was told they had started assigning seats for standby passengers and I should have checked in at the main desk (mistakenly, I thought the boarding pass in my hand was sufficient…but my seat might have been given to someone else).
My heart raced as I approached the agent at the desk and handed him my ticket. Would I be allowed to leave? A silent eternity passed as he scanned a computer screen for the official flight passenger list.
He checked for my name, saw it, and said with a smile, “Yes, you are on this flight. You may board the plane.” Indeed, my identity was directly linked to the destination of that plane.
Much more critical is our identity in terms of ultimate worth and eternal destination. The Bible states there are two different “identities” or “families” for all human beings: those who are in Adam, and those who are in Christ. First Corinthians 15:21-22 says, “Since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.”
The question is this: To which of these two families do you belong? Your personal identification with one of these families will determine your characteristics and your inheritance.
Your Identity Determines Your Characteristics
Our physical characteristics are determined by our biological families. In college, my freshman roommate was Josephine Eng from Hong Kong. She had straight black hair, dark brown eyes, a dark complexion, flattened features, and a small frame. In stark contrast, I had curly blond hair, green eyes, a fair complexion, angular features, and a large frame.
No matter how much time I spent with Josephine, I could never possess her characteristics. Simply put, I could not have Eng characteristics unless I had been born into the Eng family. Likewise, when we were born into the family of Adam, we inherited characteristics from his family line.
Since Adam made the choice in the Garden of Eden not to obey God, he and all his descendants are “identified” with sin (this is their identity). This heart of independence is the basic nature we have all inherited. Psalm 51:5 says, “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.” Consequently, our natural inclination is to sin because we are born of Adam’s family.
Your Identity Determines Your Inheritance
However, since God made it possible for us to change families, we are able to receive a new identity— a new nature! You can be “adopted” into the family of Christ and become a child of God. Then you lose your identity in Adam and receive your identity in Christ. As a result, you receive your new characteristics. The Bible says, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has
Your Identity Determines Your Worth
Realize your identity ultimately determines your worth and your destination. In a very practical sense, if I were to enter a bank, step up to a teller, and say, “May I have $100?” the teller would ask for my account number or my name. If I had amnesia and didn’t know who I was, I could not provide this information. And if I continued to request money, I would receive nothing but the directions to the front door.
However, knowing there are resources in my name—regardless of who placed them there—as long as I provide the teller with my name and account number, I can quickly receive the cash requested. My identity definitely determines my worth and my ability to draw upon that reserve.
Your Identity Determines Your Destination
What about your destination? Where are you going?
Some time ago I planned to fly from Dallas to Atlanta to speak at a convention and arrived at the airport with time to spare. Prior to the final boarding call, I made a quick phone call, using the extra time I thought I had. When I began to board, I was told they had started assigning seats for standby passengers and I should have checked in at the main desk (mistakenly, I thought the boarding pass in my hand was sufficient…but my seat might have been given to someone else).
My heart raced as I approached the agent at the desk and handed him my ticket. Would I be allowed to leave? A silent eternity passed as he scanned a computer screen for the official flight passenger list.
He checked for my name, saw it, and said with a smile, “Yes, you are on this flight. You may board the plane.” Indeed, my identity was directly linked to the destination of that plane.
Much more critical is our identity in terms of ultimate worth and eternal destination. The Bible states there are two different “identities” or “families” for all human beings: those who are in Adam, and those who are in Christ. First Corinthians 15:21-22 says, “Since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.”
The question is this: To which of these two families do you belong? Your personal identification with one of these families will determine your characteristics and your inheritance.
Your Identity Determines Your Characteristics
Our physical characteristics are determined by our biological families. In college, my freshman roommate was Josephine Eng from Hong Kong. She had straight black hair, dark brown eyes, a dark complexion, flattened features, and a small frame. In stark contrast, I had curly blond hair, green eyes, a fair complexion, angular features, and a large frame.
No matter how much time I spent with Josephine, I could never possess her characteristics. Simply put, I could not have Eng characteristics unless I had been born into the Eng family. Likewise, when we were born into the family of Adam, we inherited characteristics from his family line.
Since Adam made the choice in the Garden of Eden not to obey God, he and all his descendants are “identified” with sin (this is their identity). This heart of independence is the basic nature we have all inherited. Psalm 51:5 says, “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.” Consequently, our natural inclination is to sin because we are born of Adam’s family.
Your Identity Determines Your Inheritance
However, since God made it possible for us to change families, we are able to receive a new identity— a new nature! You can be “adopted” into the family of Christ and become a child of God. Then you lose your identity in Adam and receive your identity in Christ. As a result, you receive your new characteristics. The Bible says, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has
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