Life Marks: No Identity Crisis Here

It was one of my favorite cartoon characters who said, “I ‘yams whats I ams, and dats all that I ‘yams.” Now that’s a mouthful of yams! Apparently, even Popeye knew who he was, even if it was closer to a yam than a sailor man! And speaking of yams, that’s another thing that Peggy served at our special Thanksgiving dinner with our Chinese twins earlier this week.

Knowing who you are is one of the most important things in life. I’m sure all of us, at one time or another, have said or thought to ourselves, “I’m stupid,” or “I’m no good,” or even, “I’ll never amount to anything.” For me, it usually comes out on the golf course after I hit a shot that veers off into the woods (not just “the woods” mind you, but “the deep woods”) and I proceed to whisper to myself, “You dummy!” And then I look behind me to see if anyone caught the shot on video for posting on “The world’s most pathetic golf shots!” Although it’s definitely not healthy when we say or think these things about ourselves, it’s even more tragic when someone else directs those same biting words to us, “You’re stupid,” “You’re no good,” “You’ll never amount to anything,” or yes, “That’s the worst golf shot I’ve ever seen!” But the good news is, while others may have verbally abused us, and although we may do a certain amount of negative “self-talk,” God never does. In fact, His opinion of you, and me, is pretty amazing. Let’s look more closely at what the Bible has to say.

Many have suggested that the greatest fear that human beings experience is the fear of failure. Not to diminish that assessment, but I’d like to take it one step further and suggest that our greatest fear is rejection, which usually comes on the heels of our failures. Once we fail at something, or many things, we fear the rejection that we are certain will come from our family, friends, co-workers, colleagues, and yes, even God. However, if you are a Christian, there is no fear of rejection by God. Don’t get me wrong, this does not give us license to do “stupid things,” or to live life any way we want to. Realizing that we all make mistakes and fail at one thing or another, even though others may reject you, God never will. Why is that so? In this blog, I like to suggest one primary, overriding reason, and then next week, we will follow-up with another critical aspect regarding one’s identity in Christ.

Consider the price that Jesus had to pay to redeem you. When you spend a great deal of money on something, you want to hang onto it. On the other hand, some things you possess may cost you little, but they are of value to you for other reasons. It was with great passion and determination that I hung onto the old, scuffed up football shoes that I wore my senior year in college. From apartment to apartment, from house to house, those shoes traveled with us. They started out in a box, then went to the floor of my closet, and finally, I took them out of the house and placed them on the wall in our garage so that I could look at them whenever I found some work to do on my workbench. What was I thinking? Finally, after repeated prodding by Peggy for over 30 years, I got rid of those “old shoes.” It was a tearful parting, but I just had to move on!!!! However, I have to tell you that I did not throw them in the trash, but into the recycle container, thinking that just maybe, someone may still get some use out of those old shoes. How thoughtful was that!!!!    

In all seriousness, I wasn’t all that attached to my shoes, even though Peggy and I still laugh about it.  But God is very attached to His children because of the price that He paid for us. When the Bible speaks of “redeeming” someone, it means “to buy back,” and when someone has been “redeemed,” it means that he or she has been “bought back.” But “bought back” from what? Jesus told the religious leaders that if anyone has not been set free (redeemed), they are still “slaves” to sin (Jn. 8:34). Using the biblical metaphor of the Roman slave market, when Jesus “redeems” us, He removes the chains and sets us free from the penalty and power of sin so that we can freely serve Him without being encumbered by the oppressive weight of sin.

One of the special metaphors used of Jesus is that of the Lamb. When Jesus came to be baptized in the River Jordan, John the Baptist said, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (Jn. 1:29). One of my favorite Bible verses memorized over 60 years ago in Vacation Bible School was a reminder from the Apostle Peter that, “….you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver and gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, yes, the blood of Christ” (1 Pet. 1:18-19). And the Apostle Paul put it this way, “In Him, we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our sins, and it’s all because of the riches of His grace” (Eph. 1:7). Wow, redemption brings forgiveness of our sins, all because he has granted us such undeserved favor (that’s what “grace” is).

And here is something else to consider. The writer of the Book of Hebrews, thinking of the sacrificial lambs of the Old Testament, says that Jesus “….offered Himself without blemish to God…..” (Heb. 9:14). For centuries, the High Priest would offer a seemingly unblemished sacrificial lamb on the Day of Atonement for the sins of the people, but Jesus, when He died on the cross, offered Himself as the perfect and sinless sacrifice. And here is the amazing “twist” to the story, Jesus (our great High Priest) offers the lamb (Himself) as the sacrifice for our sins. To put it yet another way, “The High Priest Himself becomes our Sacrifice for sin.”

And so, I believe that this is the greatest reason why you will not be rejected by the One who bought you – He paid too high of a price FOR YOU to let you go! The price was not in dollars, but in the shedding of His own blood, the price He paid for your redemption. If you have repented of sin and come by faith to the great High Priest, the Lamb of God, then you belong to Him and He will never reject you. He’s got a tenacious grip on you, and He won’t let you go. Knowing this truth makes all the difference in the world as you consider your identity. No need for an identity crisis – You belong to Him! 

But there is still more, and we will consider that next week.