Our Identity in Christ

Psalm 67

For many years, Jan and I were a small part of what was known as “Lay Witness Mission” a program of the Methodist, and my mentor Jack Archer was the Southwest director.  Why I’m telling you this is I was raised in a small Baptist Church and never heard anyone end service in this way.  Often in the Methodist and Presbyterian Church, you will listen to this Scripture used to close a service.  You will find it in Psalm 67:1a, “May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us.” That’s a great closing to anything, but that is not all the verse, for rather than a period, it is a comma, and verse two ends the sentence, in this way; “that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations.” 

The problem is unless you finish the verse it’s about you, but it is not, it is about our Lord, His blessing and saving power for all people.  That verse always was a blessing to me and I often wondered why it is not used in the Baptist Church, until I finished the sentence and it became clear, it’s not about me, it is about God.

Verse three and four give us more discernment, “Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!  Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you, judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth.”  Verse five and six are also asking and thanking God for His blessing but let’s end with verse seven.

Verse seven, “God shall bless us; let all the ends of the earth fear him!”  After about 60 verses, I quit counting the times fear was used about God, but this I do know that one who has entered into Christ and Christ is living in them should never fear the Father not being true to all of His promises.  The problem often is no understanding of what our Father has promised, such as I will never leave you, I will be with you in your trials and temptations, so we depend on others and not the Lord.  Jesus has told us that the Father knows and takes care of the sparrows and tells us our value is more than a sparrow’s value.  If you are in Christ, do you understand your true identity is in Christ?

As we understand our identity in Christ, we also will have to understand that our Father created time, and you and I were seen, and the number of our days was established before one of them happen.  The cross is outside of the timeline, for before the foundation of the world, God’s plan was determined to send His Son, His only Son, in the form of a man to die for all men, and yet many will reject Him and religiously try to attain God’s forgiveness by their act.  There is a big problem with that, Jesus tells us your acts of goodness apart from Christ are as filthy rags in God's sight.  Do you recall Thomas asking Jesus the way to the Father, and we have Jesus’ reply in John 14:6, “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life? No one comes to the Father except through me.” 

If you are in Christ it is like a two-headed coin, on the one side you are in Christ, and on the other side, Christ is living in you.  My dear friends Bill and Anabel Gilham would often use this concept – “God never allows a problem to come into your life for which He does not already have a solution.”  Let me close with this truth I was taught by those two beautiful saints, who are now basking at the feet of Jesus.  Concept – “It is from the perspective of who you are “in Christ” that you understand your true identity and realize that Christ is your life.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice