The Power of Redeemed IdentityExemplo

Day 1 – Laying the Foundation: What’s Your Identity?

Before we talk about behaviors, especially those that we know are not pleasing to God, we need to ask some basic questions. Where did you get your identity? When you think of yourself, what aspect of your being is most important for you? How do you see yourself? Is it your: -

•Ethnic group? Nationality? Culture of Origin?

•Economic class/status?

•Educational/ Athletic/ Artistic Achievements?

•Popularity or Peer value?

Do you think that God uses any of those characteristics to measure your value and worth, as we humans so often do? And here’s a critical question - what happens to that perceived identity when you mess up, especially in a serious way?

•Do you see yourself any differently?

•Is there a way to restore that identity (if it was positive) to the way it was prior?

Both the initial cause of our “falls” and receiving the complete cleansing (and consequent full restoration) from our “falls” have to do with one vital element:

IDENTITY

I used to work for a global engineering firm. There were periodic training videos required by management dealing with a variety of topics, including employee safety. They stressed doing things in a certain way, to prevent accidents, especially falls. When those incidents happened due to the employee‘s carelessness or distractions, it cost both the employer and worker time and money (not to mention physical pain for the one who fell!). So, as you can imagine, “fall prevention” was an important topic that was talked about in the required training courses.

God is a good God, and He too has a “fall prevention” protocol – it has various behavioral components, but it is built on one solid foundation – IDENTITY. So it is fitting that we start with that vital truth in our discussion of living a life of victory over sin. Let’s look at this verse:

II Corinthians 5:21 –

HE WHO KNEW NO SIN WAS MADE TO BE SIN, SO THAT WE COULD BE MADE THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD IN CHRIST

Did you catch that incredibly Good News? If not – please read it again! It lets us know two things –

Something happened to our sin: Jesus not only suffered for it, but in God’s accounting, he actually “became” it –forever eradicating the very record that the enemy of our souls has held against us – and that perhaps we have held against ourselves, in error. Put another way:

JESUS DIED NOT ONLY TO PARDON US BUT TO GIVE US A NEW START BY GIVING US A BRAND NEW IDENTITY.

Here’s another question - are you “stuck” – once you fall? Or do you bounce back, based on your Redeemed Identity?

In this devotional series we will see that –

•REDEEMED IDENTITY RESTORES US FROM FAILURE

•REDEEMED IDENTITY GIVES US POWER TO LIVE ACCORDING TO GOD’S WORD

•REDEEMED IDENTITY GIVES US NEW HOPE AND PURPOSE

…and as a result -

•REDEEMED IDENTITY UNLOCKS DIVINE CAPACITY

Let’s pray:

“Father God, I thank you that you have paid the full price for all my sins, and that now you are giving me the opportunity to walk in full freedom by walking in my Redeemed Identity. I am so grateful for what you have done for me, and for the New Man that you have made me. Help me to honor you all the days of my life. Amen.”