Regaining our identity as God's Image bearers

Paramount in what was lost at the fall, is the sense (but not the reality), 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. When we don't know who we are as God's beloved, precious children (1 John 3:1), we are very likely to act out, seeking affirmation and approval wherever we can. We may try to find our identity in our achievements, in our careers, or in what we do. But it's never enough, and we end up feeling empty! We are human beings, not human doings. The first step in coming out of a destructive orphan spirit, is to receive His unconditional acceptance in salvation. When we are saved, the truth is that we are His precious, beloved and valued children (John 1:12; 1 John 3:1).

But for many reasons, the distance between the reality of this truth and our feelings, can be very great. We may still be trying to find our identity in stuff, but “life does not consist in the abundance of things” (Luke 12:15). For the longest time after salvation, I was a Christian workaholic, essentially trying to fill the emptiness through service. When we don't know who we are in Christ, we may try and medicate our feelings of inadequacy and insecurity by substance abuse, or in many other ways. We may become perfectionists, unconsciously trying to earn our salvation. Even as Christians we are  not immune to such substitutes for truth!

At one level or another we are all wounded by life. And too often a lie gets attached to the the wound. If we are rejected, we may believe we are unlovable, and not worthy of love. Many of us are wounded in childhood, and because of this we may have a twisted view of Father God. We can get God confused with our earthly father. It seems to be a widespread belief that 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! But nothing could be further from the truth! If we want to know what the Father God is like, we just need to look at Jesus. In fact He tells us “He who has seen Me, has seen the Father” (John 14:9).

We cannot earn salvation, and God's love for us is unconditional, but as a loving Father He will discipline us. We don't have to like it, but actually His discipline is evidence of our being sons and daughters (Hebrews 12:5-8). His aim is to teach us to walk in the Spirit, and to put to death the deeds and the desires of our inherited fallen nature. When we do this is, it enables us to received (and feel) the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, 'Abba, Father' (Romans 8:12-15).

Father,  Abba, Daddy,  I am Your child. Your Word tells me I am, and I choose to believe it. When I doubt, I need to keep coming back to what You say, and You are not a man that You should lie (Numbers 29:13). And so many times Lord, I need keep telling myself the truth until I fully believe it, and then to tell myself because I believe it.  Help me Lord to live out of the reality of my identity as Your precious and valued child in Jesus Name Amen

Responding to our father's nakedness

It is clear, from Noah cursing Ham's line, that he had felt radically disrespected by his son's disdain (Genesis 9:20-24).  In street gangs in large Western cities, respect can be a matter of life and death. We all need love and respect, and I know that I have felt undermined at times by disrespect.  Mother Teresa's saying that nakedness is not just for a piece of cloth, comes to mind. Respect is easily lost, I mean if I do ten things right and one thing wrong, what stands out in the minds of others?  Noah, in obedience to God, had stood firm against ridicule and accusation, he had rescued his family from the flood that had wiped out the rest of humanity. But all that seems to have been lost in Ham's mind by his father's drunken nakedness.

We saw earlier that nakedness in the Bible is a symbol of guilt and shame and of being exposed (Genesis 3:8-10; Revelation 3:17). Jordon Peterson gives an interesting application of this passage.  He says “We are constantly pushed to see the nakedness of our Father, so to speak, because of the intense criticism that’s directed towards our culture—the patriarchal culture. We’re constantly exposing its weaknesses, vulnerabilities, and, let’s say, its nakedness.”  And surly what is happening here is blindness to the good, and the inevitable overreaction to its faults.  How many people going through divorce make statements like “All men are ...”, or “All women are ...”  And surly the widespread accusation that masculinity is toxic is, in and of itself, part of this overreaction!  In  M97 I outlined some of the many places where our  society has been positively influenced by Judeo-Christian values. These include tolerance and respect for others, the very values that have made criticism acceptable in our culture. But they are now being turned inward and are producing what some authors call the suicide of the West.  I invite you to consider whether any of what is happening in the West, would be tolerated in non-Western cultures.  But I also invite you to consider,  if we throw it all out, what would replace it. History has something to teach us here! In the end, revolution is not change, it simply replaces one oppressed group with different one.

The Scripture commands us to honour father and mother, and to give honour to whom honour is due (Exodus 20:12; Romans 13:7). The freedom we have to criticize, is both good and bad. Free speech gives us the freedom to engage in respectful debate (Galatians 6:1). It can lead us to identify what’s bad and what’s good, so as to keep what's good, and to figure out what, and how,  to change what needs to change (Proverbs 27:17; 18:17). But criticism inevitably goes too far when it flows out of bitterness and resentment. These things defile the culture  (Hebrews 15:12).  And I have to say, from God's perspective, many of the changes are happening in the West are not good. What we have in the West is far from perfect. And we may not be where we need to be, but thank God we are not where we used to be.  

Father, we don't always understand the reason behind your commandments. But we can be sure that as the good, good Father that You are, that You always have our best interest at heart, and that the commandments are there for out provision and protection. Please help us to find the balance between heathy criticism and disrespect (Galatians 6:1), in Jesus Name Amen