Worthy: Embracing Your Identity in ChristSample

Think of your closest relationships. Is there someone who knows you better than anyone else? Someone who knows what makes you glad and what puts you in a bad mood. Someone who knows how you order your food and where to find you when you have a day to do whatever you choose. Someone who has taken the time to get to know you deeply and truly.

When we invite someone into our lives and share the big things—and the little things—with them, we naturally grow in our closeness to them. But for Christians, even the closest person to us is not as close to us as Jesus. Jesus’s closeness is different from the closeness we experience in other relationships. His closeness isn’t based on what He knows about us (although He does know us completely). It is instead based on His union with us.

“Union with Christ” is a theological phrase that describes the close nature of our relationship with Jesus and the spiritual benefits we receive as a result. Through our faith in Him, we are so closely bound to Him that whatever can be said of Jesus's character can also be said of us.

• United with Christ we are holy.
• United with Christ we are pure.
• United with Christ we are children of God.
• United with Christ we are saints.

All of these phrases sound great, but what do they mean? They mean that though we are imperfect if we have recognized Christ as our Lord and Savior; the Father sees the perfection of Jesus when He looks at us. The righteousness of Christ is placed on us through our faith in Him and because of His death on the cross. Jesus’s identity becomes our identity. As Lord and Savior, He alone defines our sense of self because He alone redeemed us from our sin and disobedience to God.

Our union with Christ can never change because it is not dependent on us maintaining it, but on Christ’s sacrifice, which is perfectly sufficient. When we begin to view our identity as something given to us in Christ rather than something we earn, then we can live in freedom knowing our identity is eternally secure.

Reflect and Respond

How does your identity in Christ differ from the ways you or others have defined you?