May the Truth set you and I free from the emptiness of our lost identity and the fearful thought patterns fo condemnation and guilt we experience from living in a fallen world among fallen angels. May our knowing the Truth of who God created us to be give us FREEDOM.
John 10:10 (NIV) (Jesus says) “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.”
The Giver of Life gave us life and the abundance of His identity. Our identity is in Jesus. God is the Giver of identity. The Lord is the One Who gives you and I the breath of life.
Genesis 2:7 (KJV) 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.
Job 33:4 (NIV) The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
You and I were created in the very image of God. God breathed His very breath of life into us and we became a living soul…alive by God’s power and love. As time went on, the enemy came to ruin what God had made because the devil by his own pride and sin had ruined himself.
GRAND THEFT IDENTITY
The thief began his evil work in the garden and it continues today.
Genesis 3:1-13 (NCV) Now the snake was the most clever of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day the snake said to the woman, “Did God really say that you must not eat fruit from any tree in the garden?” The woman answered the snake,
“We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden. But God told us, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden. You must not even touch it, or you will die.’ ” But the snake said to the woman, “You will not die. God knows that if you eat the fruit from that tree, you will learn about good and evil and you will be like God!” The woman saw that the tree was beautiful, that its fruit was good to eat, and that it would make her wise. So she took some of its fruit and ate it. She also gave some of the fruit to her husband who was with her, and he ate it. Then, it was as if their eyes were opened. They realized they were naked, so they sewed fig leaves together and made something to cover themselves. Then they heard the Lord God walking in the garden during the cool part of the day, and the man and his wife hid from the Lord God among the trees in the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said, “Where are you?”
The man answered, “I heard you walking in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.” God asked, “Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat fruit from the tree from which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “You gave this woman to me and she gave me fruit from the tree, so I ate it.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “How could you have done such a thing?” She answered, “The snake tricked me, so I ate the fruit.”
Adam and Eve were given 2 trees to eat from: the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil; and the Tree of Life. People were told not to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The devil came in the form of a snake as he never comes as who he really is. The devil told some of his first lies to mankind. The evil one questioned God. When the enemy of mankind questioned God, the devil wanted the man and woman to question God not trust Him. The devil wants us to question God. People disobeyed and sinned and thus brought death and destruction upon the entire human race.
Ephesians 2:1-5 (NIV) As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of His great love for us, God, Who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions– it is by grace you have been saved.
God had a special identity and a special plan for each one of us because He loves us. The enemy came and stole that plan. It began in the garden and it continues today. The destruction upon people’s lives has been magnified today greater than ever. If we recount the story of Adam and Eve, we see that as people went their own way and as they did their lives were gripped with fear and shame. Their sin caused death to destroy their bodies and souls. Because of going their own way, there was now death and pain. Sin had opened up a whole new window of bad things that people had never experienced. Before this people had been walking with God in a state of peace and joy. Man and woman were walking in harmony with each other and with God as He poured
His love and identity into them. However, Satan stole their identity. I will tell you that satan has stolen my identity and your identity. When people have their identity stolen, they are looking for something or someone to be their identity. I turned to the “ways of this world” in an attempt to find my identity. Each of us has done the same thing.
Yet God sent His Son Jesus to restore our identity to us so that in Jesus or “in Christ” as the Word says we know who we really are. God wants us to know who we really are and not be endlessly searching on the world’s path of self-destruction for our identity.
IDENTITY RESTORED
I John 3:8 (NIV) He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.
Jesus came to destroy all that the devil has done or is doing; and to give you and I identity and life. His breath of life gave us identity in the beginning and the same is true today.
John 20:22 (NIV) And with that He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
Every day the evil one tries to steal our identity. How does the evil one steal our identity? He lies to us about who God is. He lies to us about who we are. Through these lies Satan causes fear, shame, guilt and condemnation. Jesus came to free us from all these forces of evil.
Fear is a spirit (2 Timothy 1:7). Fear is also the greatest fiction writer of all time. Fear attempts to create stories (lies) in our minds all day long. In our minds, fear will draft out a story that will debilitate us. However, none of the stories are true. When the devil speaks to us, we have to forget that we know the Truth from the Word of God.
A world without sin instills identity into us. Since we don’t live in a world without sin, we must get our identity from heaven. You are a citizen of heaven.
Philippians 3:20-21(NIV) But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, Who, by the power that enables Him to bring everything under His control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like
His Glorious Body.
All of God’s Love to you,
Gary and Debbie Landon
