A Bruised and Broken Identity
English poet William Wordsworth (1770–1850) wrote beautifully of the ruins of Tintern Abbey, the 12th-century cathedral ruins found in Wales. A visit to the site makes an indelible impression. One sees greatness, yet one also sees ruins. One sees remnants of grand structures yet they have crumbled beyond repair, if not beyond recognition. So it is with humanity.
Our lives are just like these ruins. Scripture teaches that humans were perfect when they were first created, just as what God said about them, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness” (Genesis 1:26). Our image came from God who is perfect, and we were created to reflect the perfect image of Him. But, because of sin, we become corruptible like those ancient ruins. We have lost the perfect image of God. Scripture also teaches us, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23). Not only that, the harmonious relationship we once enjoyed with God is also compromised as the Bible indicates. “And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds” (Col 1:21). Thus, we must recognize that we are part of a human race that is corrupt both by nature and in practice. We are a “fallen” people.
Then what does the fact about the fall say to us? The fall explains our outbursts of anger, our lust, our gluttony, our petty envies and jealousies and covetousness, our cruelty, our selfishness, self-centeredness, and self-absorption. Since the fall itself is so shattered, how does it manifest in our lives? It includes any wayward thoughts, motives, words, and deeds. Our fallen nature in a fallen world means we cannot trust our minds, our emotions or our volitions. We cannot trust our passions, our desires, or our dreams. We cannot rely on our reasoning, our arguments, or our explanations.
All these “cannot’s” make us begin to loathe the truth and justice, and we also begin to detest the true Creator of the world, who is God Himself. We become the enemies of God. Our fallen nature deviates us from what we are made for: we are meant to be made to know God, to love Him, and to enjoy fellowship with Him. But now, we do not want to know Him, to love Him, and to enjoy fellowship with Him.
In a fallen identity, we are getting lost and are starting to search for alternative identities, such as those of success, freedom, wealth, and so on. We replace one for another, and none of them can bring satisfaction and convince us that we really are what they say we are. Since we live in this world, we all need an identity. So we need to explore a new one.
But how? God speaks to us through this created world. But because of our fallen nature, we often deny Him, who is the very Creator. The book of Romans tells us, “For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened” (Rom 1:19-21). This is the reality of our rejection of God. We ignore the grace that He has given us through His creation, or even resist such a common grace that God has given.
So, God leads us to return to Him in a very special way, namely, making us right with Him. By making Jesus Christ our Savior, God pardons our sins and saves us. The name of Jesus reveals why He came to this world, “and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Mathew 1:21). This is the only salvation that God has prepared for us. Only in Jesus Christ can we be released from the corruptible nature and identity caused by the fall. Jesus Christ redeem us through the death on the cross and gives us a new identity, one that is justified and reconciled with God. And we also pass on to others such an identity and a mission. Just as 2 Corinthians 5:17-9 say, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.” For this, we shall rejoice and be glad, because with Jesus Christ we are no longer lost, and we do not need to live in an uncertain identity. Jesus Christ, who has paid a very high price, has given us a new identity, one that will last forever. It will restore our relationship with God. And through the gospel of Jesus Christ, we can also bring such a good relationship to those around us and begin to live a life in a new identity.
This article is adapted from Who Am I? What the Bible Teaches About Christian Identity by Terry Johnson, Chapter 3, Fallen Identity. Copyright©️2022. Published with the consent of the 10ofThose Ltd (www.10ofthose.com) All rights reserved.
