We live in a culture that often wrestles with long held truths, even concepts as basic as defining what it means to be a man or a woman, so there should be little surprise that we regularly encounter so many who are in the midst of an identity crisis. Maybe some of us even struggle with our own identity. Play along for just a minute and consider how you would respond if you only had 2 minutes to tell someone very important to you, who you are?
Many of us might opt to list our accomplishments, roles in society, dreams, feelings, or aspirations. Maybe we’d choose to share a story or two from our own experiences that would help illustrate our identities. But what if there’s more to the story?
As we have begun walking through our current series, “Broken Heroes,” we have been confronted with some individuals whose life stories are often evaluated by the same criteria that we would use to describe our own identities. However, one thing we have come to understand about these broken heroes is that their stories are given in order for us to see that our greatest need is for a true and lasting hero who can deliver us completely. We need One who not only calls us to remember or to act in a certain manner but One who totally transforms us, giving us a new, irrevocable, and lasting identity.
Think with me for a moment about who we were, who we are, and who we will be. According to Ephesians 2:1-3, we were once dead in our trespasses and sins. This is an identity that can’t be overshadowed by any of our own activities and can’t be changed by our own efforts or desires. We had no hope, no future, no lasting joy.
And then we get to verse 4 and what we might title a “divine conjunction” as Paul writes, “But God.” In spite of who we were, God loved us. And as a result, from verses 5 – 10, we can identify a number of descriptions of our new and divinely established identity. We are men and women and teenagers and children who, by God’s grace, now understand the following: we are loved, alived (I know – not good English), saved, cherished, sealed, set free, and recipients of God’s favor.
You see, those judges in the OT pointed us to Jesus, and while they were used to bring temporary renewal and hope to God’s people, they could never do what Christ came to do. Christ came to give you a new identity – the one you were created to bear. We are the children of the King!