The Image of God II: Regaining our identity

Paramount in what was lost at the fall, is the sense of who we are as image bearers of God (Genesis 1:26).  In fact,  the spirit of the age is the orphan spirit, the spirit of not belonging. Again,  outside of Christ we are  “without God and without hope in the world” (Ephesians 2:12). Because of this, we try to find our identity in our achievements for example,  our careers, or in what we do. But we are human beings, not human doings, and it's never enough! We can do this even after salvation. For the longest time I was a Christian workaholic, essentially trying to feel good through good works. We also try to find identity in stuff, but “one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things man possesses” (Luke 12:15). Also, when we don't know who we are, we may try and medicate our feelings of inadequacy by substance abuse,  or in other ways.

Bringing the Kingdom to earth in this area (Matthew 6:10), is primarily about reclaiming our identity as precious sons and daughters of the living God. But because of the imperfections, or worse, of our earthly fathers, many of us have a twisted picture of Father God.  We get Him confused with them. We think Jesus is okay, Holy Spirit is okay,  but you've got to watch out for Father God.  He's out to get you, just waiting for you to mess up,  so He can condemn you. Nothing could be further from the truth! Jesus said that if we want to know what the Father is like, all we have to do is to look at Him. He tells us “he who has seen Me, has seen the Father” (John 14:9).

John invites us to see “How great is the love that the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” (1 John 3:1 NIV). He also tells that as many as received Him, to those who believe in His name, to them He gave the right to become children of God,  and inheritors of the Kingdom (John 1:12; Romans 8:17;Luke 12:32).  Pertaining to judgement Paul tells us “there is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ”  (Romans 8:1).

All this is intended to be a reality for us, but in order to tap into it, there's a part we need to play. In particular,  “if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, 'Abba, Father.' The Spirit himself witnesses to our spirit that we are God’s children” (Romans 8:11-16).  Abba can perhaps best translated “Papa” or “Daddy,” but it also connotes great respect and reverence. It's a radical undreamed and unheard-of intimacy with God. No other faith address God as “Abba.”

Father,  I'm Your child, Your Word tells me that I am, and I choose to believe it.  When I doubt,  I need to keep coming back to what You say in the above and other Scriptures. You're not a man that You should lie (Numbers 29:13), so I need to tell myself these truths until I fully believe them, and then tell myself them because I believe them.  Help me Lord to live out of the reality of my identity as Your precious and valued child in Jesus Name Amen