Everybody needs to know their God given identity – who they are in Christ. Many people just figured out how to live life with an identity but not rooted in Christ.

Matthew 3:17, “And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

Acceptance, Affection And Approval

Let us look carefully at three parts of this verse.

“This is My Son” – The first part of this verse speaks of acceptance. God is declaring His acceptance of Jesus into the family of God.

“Whom I love” – This shows affection. This is not conditional but positional love. It is not a matter of the good Jesus did to deserve this love but it voices love because of His identity; this speaks of a sonship type of love.

“With Him I am well pleased.” Here, we see God’s approval.

Our choices, decisions in life, frame of thinking and actions we take all come out of the overflow or lack of identity in Christ. Every action that you’ve made from the time you were born until today have all been influenced by this. You did that deed, you thought that way, you made that decision out of the lack or overflow of that you are accepted, God loves you and He approves of you. When you do not act out of the overflow of God’s acceptance, love, and approval, you act out of the need for acceptance, affection and approval. Any product of approval, affection or love that you pay for will always be overpriced.

Focus on your relationship with God today so that you don’t have to fix yourself tomorrow. Everything neglected will one day become infected. Click To Tweet

Many of us are dealing with things in our adult lives which we had neglected in our youth and teenage years. As part of the family of God, we don’t work out of the need to get approval; we work out of His approval. Don’t work out of the need to be accepted; work out of the fact that God has already accepted you as His own.

Full Of The Word Or Full Of The World

Proverbs 27:7 – “One who is full loathes honey from the comb, but to the hungry even what is bitter tastes sweet.”

This is what it is like when you have discovered your identity in Christ. When you are full of the Word of God, the food of the world, society and culture will not be pleasing to you because you are already full of who God says you are and what God says you can do.

If our identity is not secure, we will accept anything to fill that void. When you don’t know your God given identity, you will be willing to accept worldly standards. That is why our society, even our young people today are proof of a neglected wound in the past.

When men have a good opinion of you and you have man’s approval, it is not a bad thing. The problem comes when the approval of man is essential and the opinion of God becomes extra. We have to see God’s opinion and approval as essential. What God says should be essential to your life.

What God’s Word says is what you should build and root your identity in. You need to know who you are and Whose you are. Then, your daily actions and activities will derive out of your identity in Christ. Click To Tweet

Identity Rooted In Christ

You don’t need changed habits; you need a changed heart. The Bible says protect your heart above all because everything you do flows from it, (Proverbs 4:23). If you have a changed heart, actions will follow. A great many people try to change their actions before they change their identity and root their identity in Christ.

Matthew 16:26 shows our sonship and identity is not conditional or based on what you do; it is based on what Jesus Christ has done on the cross for us. When you understand this fundamental principle of Christianity, your life will look different.

In Matthew 4:1-11, we see that Jesus was accepted before the journey and temptation. Your identity will always be tested in a wilderness season. What God said in the good season will be tested in the wilderness. Remember, you did not become as son of God by works in the first place.

Identified By Grace

Ephesians 2:8-9, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast”.

The world has adapted a way of thinking that you have to do something to be something. If you do not live a life on purpose, you will not walk in the fullness of what God has for you.

Jesus was accepted before the journey and He was accepted for the journey. Everyone will face a wilderness season in life, but we can face it with a God who has already overcome for us (John 16:33).

While you can derive your identity in what you have accomplished or what you are able to do, you should derive your identity from who God says that you are. Click To Tweet

What matters is not how good your good times are, not how pretty your house gets to look but how solid is your foundation. For then, even in the storms, the house will stand to the glory of God. I implore you today, build your life on the Rock of Ages because when your family, marriage, health, or career fails, God’s Word doesn’t.

An identity that is rooted in the world, produces an ‘if belief’. ‘If God does something, I will serve Him’. An identity that is rooted in the Word of God produces an ‘even if’ belief like we see in Daniel 3:17-8. This type of faith says, ‘Even if my finances don’t increase, my health doesn’t improve, my family doesn’t reunite, I will serve the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings!’

Sermon By Zach Parkhotyuk; Blog By Ed Gardiner.

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