The Void of Identity
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I’ve been talking a lot about those who truly believe in Jesus Christ. What does it mean to truly believe in Jesus Christ?
What exactly are we supposed to believe about Jesus Christ to have faithful belief in Him?
The early church gave us that answer in what is called the Apostle’s Creed.
Some churches today still recite the Apostles’ Creed in their service. Others have an issue with it because it says “holy Catholic Church” and “the communion of saints.”
We have to understand “holy Catholic Church” means “universal Christian Church.” We know as early as the 2nd century (AD 100-199) forms of this creed were distributed. That predates the Roman Catholic church.
And “Communion of the saints” doesn’t mean we worship the saints. It actually means the fellowship of the saints (the saints being all who believe).
One 4th century commentator wrote there were widespread views that the apostles actually wrote this after Pentecost, prior to leaving Jerusalem.
I believe a member of the opposition party destroyed the cell phone footage. So, we jut can’t be certain of that event.
However, understanding what we must whole heartedly believe is important, especially for today’s topic filling the void of identity.
Let me read the Apostles’ Creed.
The Lexham Bible Dictionary The Later Creed
I believe in God the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth;
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord,
Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born from the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried, descended into hell,
on the third day rose again from the dead,
ascended to heaven, sits at the right hand of God the Father almighty,
thence He will come to judge the living and the dead;
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy Catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the remission of sins,
the resurrection of the flesh,
and eternal life.
Amen.
We just read the core principles that we must believe. If we remove or leave out any one of these principles the Christian faith falls apart.
And while it’s important to notice what’s in the Apostles’ Creed, I also want you to notice what’s NOT IN IT.
It doesn’t say any specific church doctrine we must follow. It doesn’t say anything about any societal labels we must achieve.
Just believe in these core values and you will find your true identity in Christ.
Our identity is rooted in being adopted children of God through faith in Jesus Christ, freeing us from the bondage of the law and societal labels.
Paul, in Galatians 3:23-4:7, tells us how we fill the void of identity. He says we progress from being under guardianship to having an identity unified in Christ and adoption as sons.
The world is such an alluring place. Yet in the world we never quite know who we are or how we might fit in.
No matter what we try or where we go there’s always this void we just can’t fill. We’re never satisfied with who we are.
Before we believed in Christ and even now when we seek our identity in the world we are slaves to the Law, and the Law is our guardian.
Under Guardianship
Under Guardianship
Paul tells us this in Gal 3:23-25
23 Before this faith came, we were confined under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith was revealed.
24 The law, then, was our guardian until Christ, so that we could be justified by faith.
25 But since that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian,
In the Ancient world and especially in Greek culture a child from birth to adulthood would be placed under guardianship. That guardianship provided two important roles.
The child would be taught all about life by the guardian and they would be protected by the guardian. Some children might view this as a form of imprisonment.
The guardians were always there never leaving them. The children as they were taught the ins and outs of society and interacting with society would get harsh treatments at times.
The guardians might whip them, hit them with reeds, grab them by the ear and drag them away and reprimand them. They were there to guide them along the path to be the person they needed to be as an adult.
The guardians also protected them from losing their identities in the world around them. Young boys in bath houses seeking the love of men might be one example.
The Guardians kept them from trying to find their identity in social justice issues. Paul is saying the Law was our guardian. It has taught us, reprimanded us, and continually pointed us toward justification by faith.
The Law showed us what morality was supposed to look like. The Law pointed our moral compass to Christ.
The Law smacked us and drug us back by our ear when we tried to find identity elsewhere.
How often have we tried to find identity through acceptance?
Maybe we feel accepted by a group and that becomes our identity. But there’s always another group out there that opposes our identity.
Maybe we seek identity in the love of another person. If this person just shows me love I have an identity in them.
Have you ever noticed how none of our half-baked ideas ever seem to give us a fulfilled sense of identity? Sometimes those ideas lead to a total destruction of our character.
Sometimes we are forced to realize this sin’t working and we start seeking somewhere else. We might even be drug out of that situation by family or circumstances.
We know right from wrong and we might self-sabotage because we don’t think we are worthy of our identity. All of this is designed to point us to the one place we have a fulfilled identity.
An identity in Christ.
Identity Unified in Christ
Identity Unified in Christ
Paul says, “All you have to do is believe!”
26 for through faith you are all sons of God in Christ Jesus.
27 For those of you who were baptized into Christ have been clothed with Christ.
28 There is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male and female; since you are all one in Christ Jesus.
29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, heirs according to the promise.
We read the Apostle’s Creed earlier. Do you fully believe everything it says?
Do you trust that what Jesus Christ did on the cross is sufficient, is enough, for your salvation?
If deep down in your soul you truly believe, then “through faith you are all sons of God in Christ Jesus!!”
You are “Abraham’s seed, heirs according to the promise!!”
We are sons of God. That is your identity. It’s guaranteed, it’s eternal and nobody not even we ourselves can take that away from us.
Jesus makes that clear in John 10:27-29
27 My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me.
28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand.
29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.
I want you to notice the present tense of what is said. “I give them eternal life,” not I will give them eternal life. It’s present tense, it’s right now.
Paul says in verse 29 of our text today “if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, heirs according to the promise.”
We have a difficult time understanding the importance of this statement today. We are such an individualistic society that identity is placed completely on the individual.
We say a person is judged by their actions. A person’s identity comes from their own individual character.
In ancient times a person’s identity was tied directly to their family. If their character wasn’t very good that reflected negatively on the family.
If their character was good that reflected positively on the family. For Paul to say you are sons of God, Abraham’s seed, and heirs to the promise places their identity as part of God’s family.
It’s important to understand how identity is tied to family and not an individual. It brings a level of responsibility we don’t have today.
Think about it! We take care of number 1 first, right?
In ancient times it was family that came first. You always acted in a way that brought positive views to your family. You’re family was your identity and if you were rejected by your family you had no identity.
We pretend to have individual identity in our society. We say things like “I am my own person.”
But how often are we seeking to be identified as part of this group or part of that group. There is an innate nature inside us to find our identity associated with family or group.
How many people do you know or hear about that are abandoned by or just don’t have their biological family?
They seek a group of people, a place they feel welcomed and they call them family. My wife’s business has so many people who say it feels like a family.
Our identity IS NOT and NEVER HAS BEEN meant to be found in our individual persons. Our identity from creation has always been found in our corporate relationship with God.
We are IN CHRIST!! We can never be taken out of God’s family. We have a perfect and complete identity in Christ.
That identity started the moment you believed in Christ. It’s not some future identity when Jesus returns and a new heaven and new earth are created.
It’s right here, right now!! The problem is we still live like it’s somewhere off in the distance future. No matter how hard I squint my eyes I just can’t see it in the distance.
We say things like “I can’t wait for that day to come!!” or “Come Lord Jesus!”
All the while we continue to seek our identity in worldly ways. We fear our friends and family will abandon us. We fear we won’t be accepted by certain groups.
In our insecurities we try so hard to please others. We fear that our loved ones will stop loving us. We fear our friends will quit caring about us.
We’ve all been hurt by people who are very close to us. It traumatizes us. It causes insecurity and trust issues.
Some have been hurt deeply by the church. They were abandoned or worse yet crucified by the church in the moment they needed the church most.
If we can’t trust the things we can physically see and touch, then how are we supposed to trust that which we can’t see and touch.
Why is it that we can trust that Jesus was in fact born of a virgin, died on the cross for our sins, rose again, ascended to heaven and sits at the right hand of God,
He did all of this to pay the price for our sins so all who believe might have eternal life?
Yet, we can’t trust the identity we have in Christ?
The Lexham Bible Dictionary The Old Roman Creed
About 50 years later, Tyrannius Rufinus wrote a commentary on this creed in Latin (Commentarius in symbolum apostolorum). In it, he recounted the viewpoint that the apostles wrote the creed together after Pentecost, before leaving Jerusalem to preach
All who believe will not perish but have eternal life. It starts now. The moment we believed in Christ our identity stopped being associated with worldly things.
Our identity is no longer a Republican or a Democrat. It’s no longer about what gender we think we are. Our identity is no longer tied to anything in our past.
No matter what kind of horrible abuse we might have endured. No matter how abandoned we might have felt. No matter what horrible things we might have done.
Nothing in our past has anything to do with our new identity in Christ. As God’s children we are to be unified in Christ.
Unity doesn’t mean uniformity. Unity means we come alongside each other and support each other. We help lift each other up with the love of Christ.
We are unified because we recognize each other as the adopted sons of God.
Adoption as Sons
Adoption as Sons
In verses 4-7 Paul gives a summarized conclusion of everything he just said. But in the conclusion he adds some very important aspects we need to understand.
1 Now I say that as long as the heir is a child, he differs in no way from a slave, though he is the owner of everything.
2 Instead, he is under guardians and trustees until the time set by his father.
3 In the same way we also, when we were children, were in slavery under the elements of the world.
4 When the time came to completion, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law,
5 to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.
6 And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba, Father!”
7 So you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then God has made you an heir.
Here again it’s important to understand ancient family dynamics to get the full picture of what Paul is talking about.
A child especially in ancient Roman culture, even though they are set to inherit what the father owns, are under guardianship.
During the time of guardianship the children are treated not much different than the slaves. The guardian taught them to behave in society.
How to be the owner and leader they were expected to become when they inherited that which the father gave them. What the father gave them depended upon how well they became the person the father expected them to be.
When the father decided they were ready to take their inheritance he would give them the reigns while he was still able to guide and direct their leadership.
God gave the law as a guardian to teach us there is no way we might achieve perfection without God. He provided His Son, born of a woman, also born under the law to be perfection for us.
It’s important to understand Jesus, fully God, yet fully human was subject to be under the guardian. Jesus was taught by the law and tempted by every sin.
Yet, Jesus followed the guardian’s guidance perfectly and upon His sacrifice took on the punishment of our sins so we could receive adoption as sons.
We are no longer under the guardianship of the law, rather we are under the guardianship of the Spirit.
We have the Spirit in us crying “Abba, Father.” We are sons whom God has made heirs. We are God’s children. We must understand our identity is only found in God’s family.
Quit seeking to find your identity in worldly places. Quit seeking acceptance into this group or that group. Because you’re already accepted into a group far greater than any worldly group.
You’re a child of God. As a child of God through Jesus Christ. We have the Holy Spirit living in us, teaching us, and transforming us. We are heirs and guaranteed our inheritance.
We are assured of this in Phil 1:6
6 I am sure of this, that he who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
We went from being under the guardianship of the law and trying to find our identity in the world to being a child of God through Jesus Christ with the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
And having a unified identity in Christ. We should have assurance through our identity in Christ. We must be the children of God who love each other and lift each other up.
We should have confidence in our lives because we are children and heirs of an all powerful, all knowing, and always present God.
We are adopted by a Father who will never let us down. Who will never abuse us or hurt us. A Father who promises to complete a perfect work in us.
I don’t know about you, but I can’t think of a better way to be identified.
I used to have fears that my family would reject me. After having two wives be unfaithful, I had fears that my wife would be unfaithful.
I had fears that I would be rejected by friends and groups whom I associated. I even had fears that the church would reject me.
Those fears caused me to act in ways that would almost guarantee the outcome I feared. It’s our human nature. It’s what we do.
But, the day I truly realized my identity in Christ. The day I fully trusted in my adoption as a child of God. That day changed my life forever.
I fully trusted that God was always present, He lives in me. I fully trusted God’s power over this world. And I fully trusted that God knew everything.
I was free from all those fears that controlled my actions. Okay let’s be honest, mostly free.
Then Holy Spirit began to work in me and transform me. How I reacted to all those fears changed.
It completely transformed my relationships. It brought me closer to all those I love. My relationship with people in general changed in dramatic ways. All because I trusted in God and understood what it meant to be a child of God.
I quit trying to control everything in my life. Well… Okay, so I’ve gotten much better at not trying to control everything.
I’m telling you from experience, quit trying to find your identity in this world. Fully trust in the fact that you’re a child of God.
Let go of your fears and trust in your identity in Christ. It will dramatically, in a positive way, change your life forever.
