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God, in ongoing kindness, invites us to know Him through His Word and His creation. The Bible is filled with descriptions of God and loaded with truths about who He is, what He’s like, and His heart for us. Like a young child looking up into their parent’s face for assurance, looking up to the “face of God” settles us and solidifies our identity.
“You will discover who you really are when you spend real time with the One who knows you the best….We will not discover who we are through the broken lens of other people.”
Hosanna Wong – You Are More Than You’ve Been Told
Sadly, I have talked with several precious souls lately who are passionately seeking healing, wholeness, and a clearer identity, primarily by peering through the broken lens of other people.
You know this; at least I think you do. The truth is we will grow in our understanding of who we are as we learn more about Whose we are. We can know more about Whose we are when two particular things happen:
- God’s voice is the loudest voice in our lives, and
- His lens is the lens that we see ourselves through.
As Christians, to know who we are and to understand ourselves better, we begin in childlike faith by looking into the face of God, our Creator, Redeemer, and Father. We find our identity and worth in what God says about us as His beloved children by looking to Him and who He is.
Here is just a tiny sampling of some of the roles of God: What each of these reveals about who we are should shape our identity, and usher healing to hurting places deep inside us.
- Creator
Because God is your Creator, you are valued.
You are His image bearer. He made you. He never forgets about you.
Every person is a creation of God with deep worth and value. - Redeemer
Because God is your Redeemer you are rescued, forgiven, and free.
God’s role as Redeemer implies a special relationship with God that the New Testament uses two different terms to convey: new birth and adoption.
Our spiritual reality and the biblical truth is that we need to be rescued and redeemed by The Redeemer to become children of God. - Father
Because He is your Father, you are wanted, adopted, and beloved.
As followers of Jesus, redeemed by Him, you belong to the Father. He cherishes you. His delight is in you.
I’m looking forward to telling you more this year about some of the promises and truths of God’s Word related to our identity in Him. Recently these truths have put me on the floor, face down, weeping and worshipping in awe. Beloved of God, I couldn’t be more delighted to remind you, or share with you for the first time perhaps, more about who you really are because of Whose you are.