MY LIFE: #39 Driving Force of Identity

Since meaning and purpose come from our identity, it is critical that we know who the driving force of our identity is – the enemy or Christ.

THE DRIVING FORCE OF IDENTITY IN CHRIST

Since meaning and purpose come from our identity, it is critical that we know who the driving force of our identity is – the enemy or Christ. If the man is unsaved, as depicted in the Holy Scriptures, we can expect nothing less than behavior that supports such an identity.

“Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned--for until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law.”

(Romans 5:12-13)

I FELL AND COULDN’T GET UP

In God’s absolute and infallible Word, the fallen nature of man is a central theme to define the condition of humanity upon birth. It originates from the account of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, where they disobeyed God by eating from the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil. This act of disobedience, often referred to as ‘The Fall’, brought sin and death into the world by and through the seed of Adam - throughout all generations.

The fallen nature of man refers to our inherent sinfulness and our natural inclination towards sin - not only being birthed in sin but becoming the full representation OF sin. It’s the idea that we are born with a sinful nature due to Adam and Eve’s original seed line sin. This concept is often associated with the teachings of the Biblical Paul, particularly in Romans 5:12, where he writes:

“Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned.”

However, the Bible also offers hope. In my story narrative today, I will share the power of being redeemed from this demise for all who receive the indwelling Life of Jesus Christ.

MY IDENTITY CONFUSION

In the quiet solitude of my office, as a young counselor intern, my mind was burdened by the weight of my past mistakes, sins, and identity confusion. I felt lost, adrift in a sea of regret and guilt, particularly regarding the hate I held toward my father. The world seemed a harsh, unforgiving place, and I felt trapped in my confusion between the fallen nature of humanity and my supposed new nature in Christ Jesus.

On this particular day, a well-used page of a book of diagrams sat open on my desk, which caught my eye. It had been a required study series for my internship. I have studied this particular diagram on many occasions. However, this time, the pictorial of “In Adam” stood out to me uniquely. With nothing to lose, I prayed, Lord, show me the power of my new nature in Christ.

Moments after praying, something stirred within me. I found myself on the floor in an uncontrollable rage - shouting, I hate my father, I hate you! As I was shouting and throwing things around my office, a fellow intern ran to my supervisor’s office, reporting my outrageous actions. To which the supervisor said, “Leave him alone, for the Lord is bringing him to the end of his self-life.”

That rage went on for two hours. After being exhausted, I repented for my hostility and actions of hate toward my father. Before the Lord, I accepted my new nature in Christ for the first time as an experiential reality. Peace immediately filled my mind, and off to my supervisor’s office I went.

Without allowing me to rabbit trail my experience, Keith stops me in mid-sentence, saying, Stephen, pack up your bags, drive back to Iowa, confess your sins of hatred to your father, and seek his forgiveness without bringing up the wrongs of your father.

I fulfilled this homework assignment to the letter of the law. I drove 15 hours to accomplish such a feat. The results were miraculous. Not only did my father forgive me, but he confessed a boatload of sins and sought my forgiveness. My father and I became friends from that day forward, which ultimately allowed me to lead him to Christ before he died.

The message of redemption and transformation resonated deeply with me. I realized that in Christ, I was not defined by my past, nor was my father. I was a new creation, I had a new nature, and my father was in desperate need of knowing the same. Both my father’s sins and mine could only be dealt with by the sacrificial love of Jesus through an imparted new nature.

A sense of hope began to kindle in my heart for all who suffer from hatred. From this experience forward, I understood that my fallen nature was crucified with Christ on the Cross 2,000 years ago - end of story. In Christ, I found the new me by discovering the practical aspects of being given the nature of Christ Himself. In short, I found a new beginning, a new identity. This realization marked the start of an experiential journey toward a Christ-as-Life faith, forgiveness, and, ultimately, leading droves of others to freedom.

In the above diagram (ID-100), we learn about the model of a fallen man. The illustration in diagram ID-101 gives us an understanding as to how all people become sinners – through their descent from Adam. Sin travels through the seed of man, NOT the blood. This is why there was NO sin found in Jesus’ mortal body, for He had been conceived through the seed of God by way of the Holy Spirit.

Man is born with sin and in sin, due to the seed of Adam becoming corrupt after The Fall. Therefore, all mankind is born dead to God and alive to the enemy – Satan. This is why people go to Hell if they don’t receive Christ.

Note the following:

1. This line diagram can be used to lead others to Christ.

2. We are all born “IN” Adam and receive his nature and consequences.

3. The dashed line next to the pathway line to Hell illustrates our grandparents' lineage from Adam – seed to seed.

4. Being in Adam means receiving spiritual death, receiving his nature to sin, and having the identity of a sinner.

5. By birth, we are related spiritually and physically to Adam and under the sentence of death spiritually, psychologically, and physically.

6. All are on their way to Hell and go past eternal life (Life of Christ), unless they are transferred over into the Life of Christ through Salvation.

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If it wasn’t for my supervisor on that day of helping me realizing my new nature & making it clear the condition of being transferred from my fallen state in Adam to the nature of Christ – I would never have come to embrace my need for the exchanged life – “Not I, but Christ.” All the identity stuff I was warring with, feeling stupid, retarded, and any other Adamic label that I was carrying around, was actually true about my fallen state - NOT MY NEW NATURE. These identity statements came not from my family and schoolmates but from my Natural Man. They may have been empowered by those around me but Truth being said, God needed these identity labels to lead me to a new identity in His Son.

Everything that was true about the fallen state of Adam was true about me – plain and simple. I was on my way to Hell because of these realities. I was in need of a new life, a life that could only come by being transferred out of Adam’s life into Christ’s Life – even this could only come by His choice and not mine.

WE DON’T CHOOSE CHRIST

"You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you. (John 15:16)

As our above passage reveals, Christ DOES THE CHOOSING. This is an impossible thought to embrace without the power of the Holy Spirit revealing it to the person.

As stated before, all are born in Adam and doomed to Hell. In the illustration, we see that the pathway is interrupted by Christ introducing Himself to the candidate of being a Savior and offering the position of being a bridal member of Christ. Colossians 1:13-14 tells us:

“For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His Beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

This action of being transferred is the greatest act of exchange in all eternity. We are not only put in the Life of Christ, but He puts our Adamic nature to death through His crucifixion with Him – that we share in being crucified with Him (Gal. 2:20). Once the transference is complete (born-again), we are given a brand-new past, present, and future - that of Jesus’ past, present, and future. This is why it is possible and a reality to be crucified, buried, resurrected, and raised with Him.

Note the following:

• Christ chooses us, but we respond to His touch.

• Christ’s Life and heritage is the believers by spiritual re-birth (1 Cor. 15:22).

• Jesus did not come to make bad people good, but to make dead people alive.

• Christ’s Life is eternal and never changes - past, present, and future (Heb. 13:8).

• The chosen believer is actually removed from being “in Adam” and placed “into Christ” for eternity – the key word is “transferred.”

• In the Greek, the word “transferred” emphasizes removal – permanently taken out. God removed us from Adam and grafted us into Christ’s very life.

• Once transferred from Adam into Christ, “Everything is new about the believer.”

• The only thing that carries over with our bodies is the sin or trash - the Adamic heritage left behind within our memories. That, too, will be renewed upon our physical death.

• The flesh (trash left behind) resides in our mortal bodies, but God has use for it. By choosing righteousness from within against the desires of the flesh, the believer experiences the power of the Cross (Phil. 2:12).

• The believer’s eternal life began when he was grafted into Christ’s Life. Being born-again IN Christ means receiving the Holy Spirit (His Life), being sanctified by His Life, and functioning in and through the identity of Jesus.

In summary, I learned that while understanding that we were born with a fallen nature, we can be redeemed and transformed through faith in Jesus Christ. In Him, we find forgiveness for our sins and the promise of eternal life. This is the essence of the indwelling Life of Jesus Christ in all those who receive Him through the Holy Spirit.

Coming up next is #40, “Identity in Salvation.”