The subject of this blog is our identity according to God.
Jeremiah 1:5 KJV, says “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.”
In this blog I will delve deeper into what this verse means and how it is tied to our identity in God.
This subject is very personal to me because this is something I have really struggled with throughout my life. Self-esteem was not instilled in me by my parents, and I suffered a lot of rejection. My dad was a disciplinarian and did not know how to show his love to his family. As a result, he dwelt with me harshly. Whatever he went through in his life, he never got over it, and my mom was such a sweet and loving person, but she suffered severely from clinical depression. How many of you know that if you struggle for your own self-esteem, you can’t instill that in someone else. You can’t give what you don’t have. My parents couldn’t give me what they didn’t have. I had to learn how to let things go. Forgive, give it to God, and move on.
You see Satan over played his hand in my life because when grew older I started the process of seeking God and reading the Bible. I wanted answers. I needed and wanted the healing only God could do. I was suffering from a serious identity crisis.
As I searched the scriptures and listened to many teachings, I started finding out who I am according to God.
Which leads me back to the scripture I shared with you Jeremiah 1:5 KJV,
[5] Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
It is one of my favorite scriptures to go to when I’m feeling down.
This verse is powerful. Just think about it. Before God formed us he knew us. He thought about how he wanted to make us. He thought about what we would look like. He thought about what talents he would give us. He gave everyone a purpose before we were born. How amazing is that to know you’re not just here by accident. Your parents may not have been expecting you but God put purpose on your life rather your parents meant to conceive you or not. We are all fearfully and wonderfully made by God as stated in Psalm 139:4.
In this blog we will see how our identity is in God by studying:
- How God created us,
- How we became the righteous of God,
- God’s purpose for our lives, and
- Staying focused on God.
How God Created Us
To find out how we were created we have to go back to the beginning to Genesis 1:26-27 KJV,
[26] And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
[27] So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
Note verse 26 says let us make man in our image. We know that us means the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In the first chapter of the Gospel of John, he tells us that Jesus was the Word and the Word became flesh. All things were made by him and without out him nothing was made.
So God created man in his image. We all as Christians know that but what does that really mean. We don’t know what God looks like but we do know that God is a spirit.
Genesis 2:7 KJV, says “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”
I believe that when God breathed life into Adam he put a piece of his spirit into Adam to give him life. In that way God reproduced himself. The bible does not plainly state that but I believe we can derive that from the scriptures. God made man in his own image. Just like with natural conception there must be a mother and a father. Each parent contributes their DNA to conceive a child. God is a spirit. The Apostle John teaches us that in John 4:24. In order for us to be in his likeness and become a living soul he had to give us a piece of his spirit. Wow! Can you imagine that God wanted a family so bad that he reproduced himself by giving us a piece of his spirit to give us life. We have the DNA of the Almighty God. This makes mankind the greatest creation God ever made.
Psalm 8:4-6 KJV, says:
[4] What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?
[5] For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.
[6] Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:
The Passion Translation really breaks down these scriptures, it says:
Psalm 8:4-7 TPT
[4] Compared to all this cosmic glory, why would you bother with puny, mortal man or be infatuated with Adam’s sons?
[5] Yet what honor you have given to men, created only a little lower than Elohim, crowned like kings and queens with glory and magnificence.
[6] You have delegated to them mastery over all you have made, making everything subservient to their authority, placing earth itself under the feet of your image-bearers.
[7] All the created order and every living thing of the earth, sky, and sea- the wildest beasts and all the sea creatures- everything is in submission to Adam’s sons.
Notice the Passion Translation uses the word Elohim in verse 5 which is the Hebrew name for God meaning the living God. This translation actuality says we were created a little lower than God.
Before the fall Adam and Eve did not have and identity crisis. They didn’t know anything different than being made in God’s image. They didn’t have any insecurities or doubts about who they were.
Psalms 139:13-18 describes how God fearfully and wonderfully made us. The Passion Translation really gives a wonderful description, it states:
Psalm 139:13-18 TPT
[13] You formed my innermost being, shaping my delicate inside and my intricate outside, and wove them all together in my mother’s womb.
[14] I thank you, God, for making me so mysteriously complex! Everything you do is marvelously breathtaking. It simply amazes me to think about it! How thoroughly you know me, Lord!
[15] You even formed every bone in my body when you created me in the secret place, carefully, skillfully shaping me from nothing to something.
[16] You saw who you created me to be before I became me! Before I’d ever seen the light of day, the number of days you planned for me were already recorded in your book.
[17-18] Every single moment you are thinking of me! How precious and wonderful to consider that you cherish me constantly in your every thought! O God, your desires toward me are more than the grains of sand on every shore! When I awake each morning, you’re still with me.
This passage is a wonderful and beautiful description of how God made us. It’s amazing how God carefully and lovingly forms us in our mother’s womb.
The bible makes it completely clear that mankind is God’s special creation. We didn’t evolve from monkeys or apes. God made us deliberately, consciously with intent. Our identity is in him. Only God has the right to tell us who we are because he made us in his image.
How God Made us His Righteousness
We lost the truth of our identity after the fall of man. The fall of man caused us to fear and be insecure about ourselves. It is our sin nature that tells us that we are not worthy or adequate. In this day and time there is so much that can reinforce these feelings. Social media is a big offender if you let it. There is so much opportunity to compare ourselves with each other and feel that others are so much better than we are. Aren’t you glad God doesn’t view us like that. In fact, God considers us to be the righteous of God through Jesus Christ.
2 Corinthians 5:21 KJV, says “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
So what does that mean to be the righteous of God and what does that have to do with our identity?
The KJV Life Application Study Bible explains it like this:
“5:21 When we trust in Christ, we make a wonderful exchange: He takes all our sin upon himself and makes us right with God. He bore the punishment for our sins on our behalf (see Romans 3:25). God poured all our sin on Christ at his crucifixion, and he poured all of Christ’s righteousness into us at our conversion. This is what Christians mean by “Christ’s atonement for sin.” Normally, bartering works only when two people exchange goods of relatively equal value. But through this eternal transaction, God offers to trade his righteousness for our sin—something of immeasurable worth for something completely destructive. How grateful we should be for his kindness to us.”
God thinks so much of us he made a way through Jesus to give us his righteousness. It doesn’t matter who you are or what you have done this is available for everyone who will make Jesus the Lord over their life. God would not have done that unless he thought we were very valuable. That should make you very excited.
God’s Purpose for Us
In our original text Jeremiah 1:5 KJV, God told Jerimiah that he ordained him a prophet unto the nations. This teaches us that God gives everyone a purpose before they are born. God gives us the talents and everything we need to accomplish his purpose in us.
The Apostle Paul teaches us in Ephesians 2:10 KJV:
“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”
I love the way the Passion Translation states it.
Ephesians 2:10 TPT
“We have become his poetry, a re-created people that will fulfill the destiny he has given each of us, for we are joined to Jesus, the Anointed One. Even before we were born, God planned in advance our destiny and the good works we would do to fulfill it!”
The KJV Life Application Study Bible gives a wonderful explanation for this verse.
“2:10 We are God’s masterpiece (work of art, workmanship). He alone masterminds our salvation. He works powerfully and creatively in us. He uses us as his canvas. If God considers us his masterpiece, we dare not treat ourselves or others with disrespect or as inferior work.”
Wow! I think that is so powerful. We do not have the right to treat ourselves as inferior or unworthy of God’s love and forgiveness.
Most of us will not be commissioned by God to be a prophet or even work in what we Christians call the five fold ministry but we all are called to do something. It’s everyone’s job to live a life pleasing to God. God cannot promote you if you can’t do the basics such as walking in love and forgiving each other.
It all boils down to that God wants to fellowship with us above everything. He has created us with love, intent, and purpose. As long as we continue to seek him we don’t have to worry about his purpose being fulfilled in us. The Apostle Paul teaches us in Philippians 1:6 KJVS,
“Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:”
As long as you continue seek God and continue to mature in him, he will continue to work in you.
It is so comforting to me to know that my identity is in God and not in the world.
Staying Focused on God
Now we know where our identity comes from the real work begins. We have to stay focused on God and his Word. This is not always easy. There are so many distractions with family, friends, work, and media. It’s so easy to lose focus on who we are in God and start feeling down on yourselves. It’s a constant fight.
I had a dream during the time I was preparing this study. I was living in a nice big house by myself. Over time I realized someone was living in the house with me. I asked them to leave but they refused. Over time I noticed there were more people living in the house with me. The house was just crowded with uninvited people. I got feed up and said if you don’t leave I’m calling my lawyer. Of course the next day I thought that was just what we call a pizza dream but I got to thinking why did I say I was calling a lawyer and not the police. Then the thought came to me that Jesus is my lawyer. Doesn’t the Bible say that Jesus is our great High Priest and that he continely makes intercession for us? Yes, it does you can read about it in the book of Hebrews.
This dream is a wonderful representation of how unwanted thoughts come to live in our minds. I got to thinking maybe the house represented my hopes and dreams for my life and the people represented all the negative thoughts that kepted me down.
Then I realized where the imagery of the dream came from. I couldn’t help from laughing. I was watching TV when my husband came home for work. I was watching something on the Science Channel. I really wasn’t watching it because I was working on something on my phone. He said you got any Voyager. Voyager was a Star Trek series that aired in the 90s. Of course I got aggravated because I won’t paying attention to the TV and I didn’t want to get all wrapped up with anything. But I looked through the DVR and chose an episode. In the episode I chose one of the characters was losing her identity. She was overtaken by thousands of very different personalities because of a virus planted in a piece of technology. The engineers worked to shut the device down and another crew mate worked to help her fight the other personalities in order to find hers and restore her identity. He had the ability to get into her mind a see all people threatening to steal her identity. He was able to help fight them to help her restore her identity. I didn’t get into much detail because you wouldn’t understand unless you are a Trek fan but I thought it was funny how God can use anything to speak to you.
My whole point of sharing this story is that it is great analogy to how the enemy, the devil works. He tries to get in our minds to tell us his lies. You are not good enough. You are such a failure. You will not achieve your dreams. We all have to fight these lies that come to us in our mind.
We just can’t pray our self-esteem issues away. Yes God has the power to remove them instantly but I believe he generally does it gradually as you study his Word and nurture your relationship with him. We are not alone and helpless just like that character had someone helping her God is there and he has given us the ability and the weapons to fight with.
We all have to monitor our thoughts. The way we think is very important. The bible says in Proverbs 23:7 NKJV, “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he…”
In 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 KJV, the Apostle Paul teaches how to fight. He says:
[3] For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:
[4] (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
[5] Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
The biggest thing we have to master is the war in our minds. We are so conditioned to think negative thoughts and the devil plays into that big time but it’s up to us to take back control by using God’s word. God has given us the weapon, it’s up to us to use it. You have to get in the Word, learn and meditate on the scriptures, and speak them over yourself. Everytime you find yourself thinking a self-defeating thoughts you quote scripture to bring your thoughts back in alignment with God’s word.
In Philippians 4:8 NKJV, the Apostle Paul teaches us what to think. He says:
Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy- meditate on these things.
You are who God says you are. You are God’s special creation, you are the righteous of God through Christ Jesus, and God gave you a purpose before you were born. Keep your focus on him. Your identity is in him.
Deborah K. Givens, Admin
