Do you sometimes feel unloved, unforgiven, disconnected from family and friends, lonely, disrespected, betrayed, misunderstood, ridiculed, and more?
Consider this stark contrast: When we face our trials, struggles, and adversities, we should remember that our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ endured far more than we ever will. His suffering surpasses ours, yet He understands and empathizes with our pain.
Jesus was tempted (though He never yielded to temptation), betrayed, beaten, spat on, mocked, and nailed to a cross. He took on the world’s sins (though He was Without Sin Himself) and paid the penalty for humanity’s sins.
When Jesus lived in physical form as a man here on earth (and sadly even today), He was not respected by many as the Deity that He truly is. As I mentioned, Jesus endured great suffering, and He sympathizes with our struggles and weaknesses. The Bible says in Hebrews 4:15-16 ESV, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
We must fix our gaze on Jesus, not our unfavorable life circumstances. Our identity is rooted in Him, and this truth should guide our thoughts and actions.
Today, I wanted to discuss our identity in Jesus Christ as children of God and born-again believers/followers of Jesus Christ.
This list is not exhaustive; it is simply a condensed list of ten identity characteristics of born-again believers/followers of Jesus Christ.
I hope you will be encouraged by this the next time you experience one of those awful feelings of despair I mentioned earlier in this post. You must know that you are loved by the only true and living God. I pray that you will be encouraged by this list of ten. I encourage you to dig deeper into the Bible to learn about other identity characteristics. I hope you find them encouraging as a born-again believer and follower of Jesus Christ.
Your Identity In Jesus: You Are:
1. BELOVED
“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” – John 3:16 NLT.
“But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” – Romans 5:8 NLT.
“We love each other because he loved us first.” – 1 John 4:19 NLT
2. A CHILD OF GOD
But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.” – John 1:12-13 NLT.
“See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him.” – 1 John 3:1 NLT
3. FORGIVEN
“But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.” – 1 John 1:9 NLT
“Brothers, listen! We are here to proclaim that through this man Jesus there is forgiveness for your sins.” – Acts 13:38 NLT.
4. A TEMPLE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
“Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself,
for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.” – 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NLT
5. ADOPTED INTO GOD’S FAMILY
“God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.” – Ephesians 1:5 NLT
“So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children.” – Romans 8:15-16 NLT
6. RIGHTEOUS
“He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” – 2 Corinthians 5:21 CSB
7. NEW
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” – 2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV
8. AN AMBASSADOR OF CHRIST
“Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” – 2 Corinthians 5:20 ESV
9. NEVER ALONE
“Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me.” – Psalm 23:4 NLT
“Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you.”– Deuteronomy 31:8 NLT.
“For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,
nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” – Romans 8:38-39 ESV
10. WHOLE IN CHRIST
“For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body.
So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.” – Colossians 2:9-10 NLT.
Again, I pray that you are encouraged to know that God very much loves you and that you will embrace this list of ten with a thankful heart and mind, as well as the many other identity characteristics you will discover as you delve deeper into the scriptures.
As always, remember to Seek Jesus 4 Life!!!
