Who Am I? - Pt 2

From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:16-21 ESV).

The second identifier is found in today’s reading: We are new. We are finally free from the slavery of sin and death. There is now no condemnation for you. All our sins are forgiven. All our unrighteousness has been cleansed by the blood of Jesus. We are now righteous in our sight with the very righteousness of God’s perfect Son. We are saved by grace and justified through faith. We are utterly secure in Christ; nothing will be able to separate us from our love in Christ Jesus. No one is able to snatch us out of his hand. And I will never leave you nor forsake you. We are not only new spiritually, but relationally. We have a new Father and a new family (cf. Luke 8:21). We are now part of the people of God (cf. 1 Peter 2:9). That brings us to a point of transformation in our lives. The more I talk with people about this principle, the more I am convinced that few have really experienced that in their lives. It’s the difference of riding a merry-go-round and hiking the Grand Canyon. The former takes you nowhere; and, the latter, while challenging, is full of new vistas and wonderful sights. Jesus did not die so that we would experience a life merely existing. He died that we might have real life and that “abundantly” (cf. John 10:10). The difference is always found in our focus. When I go to work, as much as I enjoy what I do, I don’t go to work because I enjoy it; I don’t do it because I really enjoy hearing all the difficult experiences and tragic stories of my clients; and, I sure don’t do it because it is my responsibility. I go to work because it is what God has asked me to do and because I love Him, I want to do it. Years ago, when I was still in high school, I skipped classes one day. I drove to where my dad was working at the time and helped him in the meat market. He asked why I wasn’t in school and I said that I had gotten out early. I think he knew that was a lie, but he was glad to see me and we spent the afternoon together working and talking. I think he knew I just needed to be with him that day. I’m not condoning skipping school! The point is I was glad to work just to be with him. Relationship leads us to transformation. That is abundant life. We have been transformed. That’s who I am!