In the 2020 theme of FOCUSED we have looked at our TRUE Origin and Purpose. For the next several months we are going to FOCUS on our TRUE Identity. Who are we? How do we view ourselves? This topic affects everything around us, from relationships to how or what we worship.

There is an idea out there, maybe you have heard it, that says people are good. This idea often includes a belief that it is our environment that is evil and we are just trying to survive. Any bad in people comes from this struggle and our environment’s (or society’s) influences on us. This is, as you have already guessed, very evolutionary. A worldview like this leads to the question, “How does a loving God allow horrible things to happen to good people?” This idea does not take into account our Biblical identity.

The Bible is very clear that we are not good (Rom. 3:12). Our desire is to be good, but our sinful nature says otherwise. When Adam and Eve were first created on the sixth day in history, that was the last time people were labeled “good” by the Lord. In the perfection of creation, our human identity was His image. With that perfect image came perfect union with our Creator, until we sinned and lost that “good” standing in and with the creation and our Creator.

To this day we try and fix that standing and our identity by seeking and doing good. Yet our attempts, as great as they are at times, always fall short of His standard. By His grace alone we have a Savior, whose image we bear, who takes our sin and gives us our true identity. Our identity can only be found in the face of our Creator and Savior Jesus Christ. When we come to the realization that He is the only One truly “good”, then we have a standard and moral compass. Without understanding our identity is found in Jesus alone, we go through life with a false sense of identity that is easily swayed by other great sounding worldviews. Our TRUE identity is only found in His grace, mercy, holiness, righteousness and goodness.