Identity

  It has been a loooong time since I've posted anything here. Nevertheless, I was listening to a message today while exercising and the minister said something profound. I'm sure some may have heard this before, but it struck a chord in my soul. 

He said, "God does not define you by your worst mistakes."  Think about that for a minute. What torments your soul? What regret(s) are you harboring? What have you done or failed to do that causes you to shrink back from boldly entering the throne of grace? 

I was reading my bible recently and was in Luke. In the third chapter he gives a genealogy. Generally I have sort of skimmed over these. As I was doing this in Luke, I got to the end of the genealogy. It says in verse 38, "the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God". I didn't think much about it when I read it until I heard the minister today. 

If you are like me, I typically associate Adam with original sin. After all, it was his act of treason that led to the fall of man. Go back and read Genesis when you have time. Because of the fall, we all inherited a sin nature. Lust, greed, envy, hate, murder, etc are all fruit of our sin nature. It's natural for us to associate Adam with these consequences of sin. Not only does his sin have consequences but ours too! Yet God defines him in Luke still as the son of God. God never gave up on Adam and His purpose for Him. He doesn't give up on us either regardless of how bad we've royally blown it! Isn't that good news? 

I don't know about you, but I've already blown it in 2018 more than once, but God does not define me or you by our mistakes! He has provided the solution in Christ Jesus. Because of Christ, we have been eternally adopted as sons and daughters. We are joint heirs with Christ. We are loved. 

No matter how bad you think you've messed up, you can confess your sin to Jesus. He is faithful and just to forgive us and purify us from all unrighteousness. You might say I've messed up and confessed a lot. Well I believe scripture teaches where sin abounds, grace much more abounds. We cannot out sin His grace. When he defeated sin and death, he whooped it completely. 

What sin are you lifting above the finished work of Jesus Christ? Trust in His word and what He says about you, not what you feel or what others might say. He loves us and will never leave us nor forsake us. As a Christian, we are sons and daughters of God. This is our identity.