Finding Our Identity Through Christ’s Resurrection
Her heart and her steps were heavy as she made her way through the quiet streets. Over the last few days, Mary had witnessed the death of a relationship and a person who had grown so dear to her heart.
Jesus the Messiah, her Rabbi and friend, taught her what it meant to be loved, accepted, and encouraged, especially in a culture where women were not regarded as such.
What will life look like now that Jesus has died? And will her new identity as His disciple continue on?
Meeting her gaze to where her Beloved was last laid, she found a stone rolled away and an empty grave.
Quite often, we can stake our identities in our circumstances, both good and bad. We relate our achievements and social circles with how successful we are, and when brokenness and disaster come, we sink into an identity that is not true.
Romans 6:4 NIV says, “We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”
Who we are has nothing to do with what we could ever do. Instead, it has everything to do with what Christ has done.
So how do we embrace our identity in Christ? Let’s look at it through His death and resurrection.
Death on a Good Friday
Christ sacrificially gave His life for us on a sinner’s cross. On that fateful Friday, He held the weight of death because it was too heavy for the world to bear.
Our lives are filled with choices and actions that we’re never meant to carry. Yet, we go about our days clinging to worldly dreams, unending guilt, and prideful desires. We believe the worst in ourselves when Christ sees the gold.
Like Jesus, who committed himself to death for our sake, we, too, must release and crucify the things that are hindering our identity in Him.
Pondering on a Holy Saturday
I imagine the silence after Christ’s death was an uncomfortable tension to be in. However, it was necessary.
This place of stillness allowed the disciples to grieve the death of human expectation. The heavy quietness gave them space to sit in confusion while pondering the last three years of their lives.
Like the disciples, we, too, can usher in healing as we mourn the loss of dreams and achievements. The silence of Saturday is where we can release our identities by the world’s standard, inviting God to comfort and strengthen our hearts as we embrace our new ones.
New Life on a Sunday
Just as God resurrected Christ on the third day, He is faithful to resurrect our downtrodden hearts into life!
My friend, take heart – your identity does not dwell on the past but clings to the promise of Christ! He has rewritten the narrative and made all things new. God will repay in full what the locusts have stolen, and what the enemy has taken will be returned to you!
Because of Christ’s resurrection, our identities are secure in eternal life, shining Sunday’s light and victory in all we do!
Pre-order your copy today – Your Identity in Christ: Who You Are and Whose You Are, a 31-day devotional to take you on a spiritual journey to embrace your identity as a beautiful daughter of God. If you’d like to join my book launch team, and I hope you will, you can reply via email.
