What Does God Say about Our Identity?
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As a character-driven novelist who started writing books out of my own deep love for reading, I have a huge heart for coming of age novels. In these, a (usually young) protagonist must navigate emotional, intellectual, spiritual, and psychological changes as they shift from one stage of maturity into the next. Usually, discovering their identity is a huge part of the character growth arc. For instance, a young woman forced to grow up in nineteenth-century Alaska must discover she is strong, capable, persistent, and resourceful in order to survive and thrive.
Today, there’s a lot of talk about identity — owning our identity, claiming our identity — and it makes Christians wonder: Does the Bible address this?
What Does God Say about Our Identity?
It turns out that God has a lot to say about our identity, and his loving, generous, and merciful guidance starts right in the very first chapter of his holy Word. In Genesis 1:27, we’re told, “God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”
That’s right — we’re made in the very image of love and goodness and perfection itself: God Almighty. That doesn’t mean we ourselves, on our own, are perfect. But because we are made in God’s image, we know that we are special to him, beloved, and intentionally created. We have the potential to be like him, though it is only through the saving power and merciful gift of Jesus Christ that we are able to be saved and fully reconciled to God.
That’s a beautiful and tremendously precious thing.
Many of us struggle with our identity. Perhaps we self-identity based on our upbringing, or the sins of our past, or even the names bullies gave us on the school playground. Maybe we’ve given ourselves inflated or false identities, identities that fade with the world. But as Christians, we get a new and eternal identity. And God has quite a lot to say about that.
The Bible contains a number of statements God makes about our identity. Let’s dive in to see what these are.
We Are a New Creation in Christ
Those of us who are Christians get an unexpectedly wonderful gift when we choose to follow Jesus: We are new creations. We get an entirely new start in life. All of the mistakes of our past are wiped clean. In 2 Corinthians 5:17, Paul writes, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”
It reminds me of what Jesus talked about with Nicodemus in John 3:3 about being “born again.” When we are born again as believers, baptized with water and Spirit into God’s heavenly family, we are then able to enter God’s kingdom. We become part of a new identity, that of “Christ-follower.” As John later explains in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Remembering this clarifies everything.
We Are God’s Children
Another extraordinary truth is that we are sons and daughters of God, part of God’s family. John 1:12-13 tells us, “To all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God — children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”
Ephesians 2:19 tells us that because Jesus destroyed the barrier between us and God, we who believe are “members of his household.”
Galatians 4:5-7 says that because of Jesus, we were adopted as God’s own — no longer a slave but God’s own child. (Ephesians 1:5 echoes this.)
As Romans 8:16 so passionately proclaims, “The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.”
Remembering that identity reminds us to behave as children who honor their heavenly Father.
We are ‘Heavenites’ — Citizens of Heaven
People from Brooklyn are called Brooklynites, while biblical people from Israel were called Israelites. We, however, are told in Scripture that we are citizens of heaven; therefore, we can claim identity as “Heavenites,” people of heaven.
Philippians 3:20 tells us clearly that “our citizenship is in heaven.” And Jesus himself said that he was going ahead of us to his Father’s house — heaven — to prepare a place for us there in the many rooms that await (John 14:2-3). Because we are citizens of heaven, we must take this seriously and do our best to live this way on earth. Paul writes that we are “Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us” (2 Corinthians 5:20), and that’s true.
For many, we are the face of God. We shine his light and spread his word so that all may know, fulfilling Jesus’s Great Commission that he gave his followers in Matthew 28:19-20 to go and makes disciples of all nations, baptizing them and teaching them to obey. We are not to love the world and its ways (1 John 2:15-17), but rather to love only God, and second to love others as ourselves (Matthew 22:36-40).
Remembering that identity reminds us to live our lives in a way that points to him, now and always.
We Are Part of God’s Body
The Bible is clear that we are the body of Christ, with every person as a different part (1 Corinthians 12:27). Some are teachers, healers, or prophets, just like there are eyes, ears, or feet.
Therefore, we must understand that our bodies are not our own. Bought with a price, they are temples of the Holy Spirit who lives inside us (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).
Ephesians 1:22-23 says much the same, noting that Christ is our head.
In John 15, Jesus talks about being the true vine, while we are the branches. As he explains, just as with branches on a tree, they are fully connected: “If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).
Remembering that identity helps when we walk in the world.
We Are Forgiven and Free
As followers of Jesus, we have the assurance that our sins are forgiven. This means we’re no longer destined to agony but liberated for heavenly glory. We’re not chained to the past but free for God’s good purpose.
As 1 John 2:12 says, “Your sins have been forgiven through Jesus.”
And as Galatians 5:1 reminds us, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”
Remembering this helps us stand up straight when on assignment from God.
What are some more identities God gives us? The Bible is filled with many more statements about our identity: beloved, strengthen, complete, made whole. Here are a few:
- I am healed (Isaiah 53:5)
- I am whole and complete (Colossians 2:10)
- I am hopeful (Jeremiah 29:11)
- I am victorious (1 Corinthians 15:57)
- I am comforted and peace-filled (John 14:27)
- I am joyful (John 15:11)
- I am wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14)
- I am beloved and valuable (John 3:16)
- I am not alone (Joshua 1:9)
- I am God’s own (Isaiah 43:1)
- I am strong (Psalm 18:32)
- I am protected (1 Peter 1:5)
- I am accepted (Romans 15:7)
At our core, our identity is found in our relationship with Jesus Christ. To echo what our savior said in John 15:5, apart from him, we can do nothing. Our identity is rooted in him, woven perfectly in a protective, loving bind that lasts for eternity. We receive a God-given sense of purpose and belonging in this, liberating us for the good purposes God has for his glory.
And that is far better than anything this world can offer.
Thanks be to God!
Photo credit: ©Getty Images/BrianAJackson
