Identity: Lost

Who am I? ..Not an easy question to answer, huh? Where can we go for answers? If we look at Genesis 1-3, we can see that humanity enjoyed constant commmunion and connection with God, but it was lost through the Fall of Man...and with it, their identity...once connected and communing with God but then after rebelling against Him, this led to disconnection from Him. He is Creator, we are His creation, and if the two are seperated, what is the meaning of the created? Who do you turn to for answers? And for identity? Let's take that understanding and apply it to a child in an orphanage. What is his/her identity? In time the child will question: "who is my mom?" "Who is my dad?" Or even more significant, "where are they and why did they reject me?" "What is wrong with me?" Even if the child is chosen by healthy parents, they will always ask this question until it is resolved...How can it be resolved? How can we know who we are? How can we regain our identity? Understand #1: you are the created, and #2: You have a Creator! Go back to Him. We can recognize God's desire to be reconciled with us as He paid the ultimate price by sending His Son to pay the penalty of what seperated us-- (see Romans 5:6-21)--the human race--from Him to begin with: sin (i.e. idolatry, rebellion, hatred for authority, unforgiviness, sexual immorality, envy, pride, greed, sorcery, liars, etc.).

In the family, as God designed it, the child gets his/her identity from the father (Ultimately because he was created to reflect the character of our Heavenly Father--more on this later). Through the father , a child is intended to gain identity, affirmation, educational achievement, discipline, protection, and provision, among many other things. However, we are currently faced with a generation of "fatherlessness" --inside and outside the "church"--due to divorce or having a father who is emotionally disengaged from the family (in the home but not connected to the family). In either case, we have generations of men, women, and children who lack(ed) this very significant part of their life which leaves them aimless, without backbone, and without hope.

So how do we regain our true identity? Who is the "real you"? So long as you are willing to ask the question, there is an answer...("So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you." -Luke 10:9). If we are to find the "true self"...we must go back to Our Creator.

suggested reading: Who I Am in Christ, by Neil T. Anderson

Next entry: Identity: Found