It's like each new circumstance causes some sort of metamorphosis - a remoulding till I finally settle down into my new shape. Each time I have to remind myself of who I am deep down at my core, the part that doesn't change. It's exhausting. I'm only 32 so I know there are still at least one or two (dozen) more changes coming - how can I learn to live through them without all the drama? Who am I really, at my very core?
The Bible says that Jesus has never changed - He is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8) and yet his outward appearance went through more changes than we will ever experience. He went from being the morning star (Rev 22:16), the glory of heaven, to a human baby of poor parents (Phil 2:7-8). He went through puberty and emerged as an adult.(Luke 2:41-52) Then he changed from being alive to being dead to being alive again! (Romans 8:34) After that His body could do all kinds of things it couldn't do before like walk through locked doors and ascend into the sky (John 20:19, Acts 1:9). So many transitions, so many changes in circumstances but His core identity never changed and He never forgot it, never had an identity crisis, never caved to external pressure to be someone He wasn't. How did He do that and can we possibly learn to do the same?
Let's look at 3 influences that try to tell us who we are and how Jesus handled each other these when he walked the earth.
Influence One
One being who tries to influence our identity is known as the father of lies. In Jesus's first few months of public preaching and healing, before anyone really knew who he was, he met a demon who shouted "I know who you are!" The demon cried out through the man it inhabited "The Holy One of God!" (Mark 1:24). Immediately Jesus told it to "Be quiet and come out of the man."
I sometimes find it confusing that Jesus tells the demon to shut up. Didn't Jesus want people to know who He was? But then if I was new in town, would I really want to be introduced to everyone by a demon? Jesus had enough trouble convincing people that he was not from the devil (Mark 3:22) without a bunch of groupie demons introducing him to everyone. But I also think there was something deeper going on.
The father of lies loves to try to tell us who we are. He loves to whisper in our minds things like "You're a failure." or "You're annoying/useless/unlovable/pathetic/unforgivable / ..." (don't fill in the blank!). The odd thing is, what the demon said about Jesus was true - Jesus was the Holy One of God. Sometimes, a lies starts with something that is true; perhaps a one-off occurrence that happened a long time ago but if we listen to it, the father of lies will twist it to suit his own purpose. He uses those evil words to label our identity till we believe that is who we are and can't ever change. Jesus would have none of it and neither should we. When we hear those lies in our minds we should immediately tell them to shut up and go away in the name of Jesus, just like Jesus did. Then fight back with God's word's of identity over us (see below). Our identity is not formed by our failures and mistakes. Our identity is not in the hands of the father of lies.
Influence Two
Sometimes the people who followed Jesus on the earth thought so highly of him that they were ready to make him their king after one of his greatest miracles. (John 6:15) Other times they are ready to stone him (John 8:59). One minute they are pledging their undying love and allegiance (Matthew 26:35) and the next minute they are crucifying him for heresy (Matthew 27:22). John 2:24-25 says that at the high points of his popularity, when many believed in him "he refused to commit himself to man because ... He knew what was in man."
This is huge. Jesus knew well the fickle hearts of human beings - human beings who could betray with a kiss, who could steal from you with one hand while the other shakes yours warmly. He knew. And so should we. We may be blessed with wise friends who can give us great advice but even they do not determine our identity. I'm sorry to break it to you but we are not who we are because of what has been spoken over us by others for good or bad. Have you experienced the cutting words of another over your life? Words that practically winded you with their force and finality? Did it change your actions? Did it change the way that you see yourself? Or did you cling to what the word of God says about you instead? I am guilty of listening to the praise of others to influence my actions and I am guilty of allowing the criticism of others to influence my actions. Am I also guilty of speaking these kinds of words over others? Probably.
Reinhard Bonnke once said "I am immune to the criticism of man because I am immune to the praise of man."
Rudyard Kipling's poem "If" praises this kind of person:
"If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;"
Influence Three
Paul knows the answer: "I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me." (1 Cor 4:3-4) Paul says men judge wrongly and even looking within ourselves (which is the answer we find in popular culture today) we are likely to judge ourselves wrongly too (Because we usually think we are better than we really are and at the same time we usually think we are worse than we really are too - ever asked a kid to pick their own punishment when they know they've done wrong? They tend to be a lot harsher on themselves than others would be.)
There is only one who knows our hearts and who we should listen to for our identity and that is the one who designed us (Eph 2:10)
Whose voice did Jesus listen to? Who did Jesus allow to speak words of life and hope and identity over him? Who did Jesus commit himself to, knowing that His words and His character was forever faithful and unchanging?
Matthew 3:16-17 says "When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”"
Jesus identity came from His Father and His Father alone.
Interestingly, Jesus's Father announced His "Well Done Son" from heaven, before Jesus had done a single thing to deserve it - that is, from a human point of view. So far he hadn't performed a single miracle and had not even one follower. His identity was not made by what He did but was based on who He was and confirmed by His Father.
We can know our identity because it has already been written. No matter the changes in your circumstance or surroundings, your job or your family position, God calls each of us by name (Isaiah 45:4) to live the life that He and He alone designed us for (Ephesians 2:10) and that core identity doesn't change.
If you believe in Jesus you have been given the right to be called a Child of God (John 1:14). When you are born again you get a new name (Christian, Child of God, Rev 3:12), a new family (with a father in heaven and brothers and sisters here on earth), an eternal inheritance (Romans 8:17, Hebrews 9:15) and every spiritual blessing that heaven has to offer (Ephesians 1:3). You are more than a conqueror through Christ (Romans 8:37), you are forgiven (1 John 1:9), you have been washed clean by the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5) and you belong to Jesus and the Father (John 17:9-10).
When you speak to God, you have the right to enter his presence and say "It's me. Your .....[say your name here]." (Hebrews 10:19, Song of Songs 7:10) What more could we ask for?
There are always going to be those who want to put a label on us that God has not given us. We not only need to tell those influences to be quiet but we need to replace them with the truth. That means reading, speaking, praying, singing, memorizing, meditating and dwelling on words of truth as spoken by the Father about who you really are.
That's how Jesus did it - that is how Jesus remained secure in His identity despite the physical transitions he went through. Because He didn't trust to the fickleness of humans or the truth-twisting words of demons but stood firm on who He was at His core, the part that never changed as spoken over Him by His Father in heaven - He was God made flesh, the Saviour of the World.
What other verses come to your mind when you think about who your Heavenly Father says you are?
