Wherever we go, commodities are all around us. Picture yourself going to the supermarket and purchasing groceries: eggs, bread, milk, meats, and vegetable. You take them home and make a tasty meal for your family.  You can taste the oranges, the cucumbers, mushrooms, and grilled meats. Every item has a unique taste and smell.

Your five senses are in overload as you eat your favorite meal. You can easily identify each food by smell and taste. Your brain helps identify each object and whether they taste good or bad. You give each taste an identity and know exactly what you are eating by the identities your brain associates with each taste.

But what about you? Who gives you your identity? While we can easily identify the things around us, we still battle in our hearts the uniqueness of who we are. We go around in circles trying to find our true identity. We look up to the sky hoping someone can answer these questions for us.

Some people believe in reincarnation and that they were animals in a past life. It gets even more confusing when it comes to evolution. Some people swear that we are relatives to monkeys. For the answer of who we are, we sometimes look to our relatives who help mold us in our world. Some people believe that there are many gods that guide us and can tell us who we are. Some of us have been deceived by myths and by false soothsayers proclaiming to be prophets. Look at the Internet and you will find all kinds of deceitful information that only adds to the confusion. It can lead man to despair and eventually destruction.

Our society wants to dictate our identity by identifying what our worth is by social status or even separate us by the color of our skin. But even the powerful of this world struggle with their identity.  Kings and queens of the past have struggled and died without finding out who they truly were.

Today we will settle this for you. There is only one way to define our identity. I’d rather listen to the creator’s voice who explains our identity.

Truths about who we are:

• Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the light.” John 14:6
• God created man in His image. Genesis 1:27
• We all came from Adam. Romans 5:12
• Adam sinned. We all sin. We came from him. Romans 3:23
• Sin entered into the world which equals death (separated from God). Romans 6:23

Because Adam lost his identity after he disobeyed God, we are all born separated from God’s spirit. This is the reason why Jesus came– to restore us back to our original state (identity) just like Adam once had and so we could have a relationship with the Father as Adam did. 1 Corinthians 15:22: Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life.

The good news is that the first man Adam was replaced by the last man Adam (Christ) who became a life-giving spirit. We will find our true identity only by accepting Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. Jesus became sin so we can live. He offered His life as a sacrifice for all of us and the way that we can find our true identity. We must believe what the apostle Paul said and believed in 2 Corinthians 5:17: This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

After the resurrection, man’s identity is in Christ! If you accept what Jesus did for you, then you are in the right standing with God (Romans 3:22, Romans 3:24, Romans 1:8). Man is looking for an identity that can only be found in Christ. God is looking for those who will agree and obey what He says in His word.  If you agree with who you are, what you have, and what you can do in Christ, you will be changed into your new identity.

Remember the devil is out to destroy that opportunity and your identity. The more you know about what God says about you, the more able you are to fight off the devil’s attacks. You will know what the Father has made available to you and for you.

Let Jesus Christ have the last word in your life. Study God’s word to find out who you are just as Jesus found who He was and did what the Father had assigned Him to do.  Jesus was chosen to save the world from their sins and to give us an unshakeable identity forever. Amen.

For more on this subject, I recommend the book “Taking your place in Christ” by Mark Hankins.