School of the MiraculousSample

Knowing Our Identity

One thing is certain: if we are going to walk consistently in the miraculous power of God, we must know who we are. Understanding our identity is one of the most important aspects of our spiritual life.

Jesus asked His disciples this weighty question: “Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?” After they had given a laundry list of answers, Peter rose up and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16).

Jesus told Peter that flesh and blood had not revealed this truth to him. God the Father Himself had disclosed it. Then Jesus said, “You are Peter [Petros, Greek], and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18).

This is a profound revelation. After Peter articulated the revelation of who Jesus was, he received the revelation of who he was!

Jesus used an interesting play on words here. He used two different terms for “rock.” The first is Petros, which means “a rock or a stone.” The second word is petra, which means “a large stone, cliff, or mountain.” In other words, Jesus was saying that Peter was firm because of his revelation of who Jesus was, and the church would be established or founded on the “mountain” of the revelation of Jesus Christ.

What Is Identity?

Identity is defined as “the characteristics determining who or what a person or thing is.” Genesis 1:26 tells us that human beings were created in the “image” of God. The Hebrew word translated “image” is tselem, one of whose meanings is “resemblance.” We were created to share a family resemblance with God. Of course, this is not in a physical sense, but rather in our essence—the core of who we are as spiritual beings. We resemble God in our spirit-man!

You were not created to know God from afar. You were created to know Him up close and personal. Adam’s first encounter with God was face-to-face, when God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. He wanted Adam to see Him right away when he came alive so that God would be the image all human beings would look to for their identity. God also He gave us a mandate to have dominion over the earth. (See Genesis 1:26.)

Thus, Adam immediately knew who he was in God and what he was created to do. Likewise, we were meant to walk in the waking consciousness of who we are in Christ. In that place, we can operate with God-confidence. 

Do you know who you are? You must be able to answer this very important question. Why? Everything in your spiritual life flows from your identity. That is the very reason why the devil wants to keep people trapped in an identity crisis. He tempted Adam and Eve to rebel against God, and when they succumbed, humanity was left in a fallen state in which the image of God was distorted in them. They lost their sense of identity in Him. But God had a plan of restoration.

Born Again of Incorruptible Seed

God was so eager to restore us to His image that He sent His own Son to die for our sins, rise triumphantly from the dead, and give His Spirit to live within us. Jesus died to take away the punishment we deserved so the Father could give us the abundant riches we did not deserve.

The Bible says that when we receive Jesus as Savior and Lord, we are “born again.” What does this mean? It means that God puts His spiritual DNA inside us once more. We receive a new supernatural identity.

When we are born again, God calls us into an encounter with Himself. Until we have a personal experience with the true and living God and receive His Spirit inside us, our efforts at changing our life are merely “behavior modification.” We don’t see true transformation until the One who created us makes us a new creation. When we become one with Christ in salvation, we enter into a new consciousness of who we are.

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17)

The term “new creature” comes from two Greek words: kainos and ktisis, which signify “a new kind of being that has been recently transformed.” We become part of a new “species” the moment we are born again. We are “Jesus men and women.” We are children of God and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ. (See Romans 8:16–17.) Everything we do in the kingdom of God depends on our comprehending who we are in Christ.

We have been born again of incorruptible seed (see 1 Peter 1:23) by the same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead. This means we have been born from and for the miraculous.

Behold, I and the children whom the Lord has given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the Lord of hosts, which dwells in mount Zion. (Isaiah 8:18)

The more we discover who we are in Christ, the greater the dimensions of His presence and power we are able to access.