Identity in Christ
Identity is key. Satan knows this as well. When Jesus launched His ministry, Satan launched his counterattack. And every temptation started with, “If you are the Son of God…” If Satan could steal Jesus’ identity, all would be lost. Satan tempted Jesus with power – power over hunger, power over angels, and power over people. Ironically, Jesus actually had all that power and more, far more than the one tempting Him. But He was secure enough in His identity that He took no shortcuts, exercising phenomenal restraint. (*1) This was good practice, as He would need even more self-restraint in His last hours on earth pre-resurrection. (*2) At any point in time He could have ended the suffering, but He chose not to. Surely every demon around was whispering in his ear perpetually,
Take a shortcut, Jesus. Compromise your identity, and ‘come down from the cross. (*3)
Nails weren’t what held Him there – it was His love for you and me.
Power is the primary pull of partisan politics. Politics itself isn’t the problem, even though for many the word has been so dirtied by its practice that it can hardly be uttered without disdain. But when politics becomes about power instead of public service, partisanship is evident everywhere. In power struggles, there are winners and losers, a reality which stokes the competitive fires so deeply inherent in many of us. The pursuit of more power for our favorite mammal can cause all we might otherwise know and value to be tossed out the window – manners, morals, common sense, clear thinking, and the like. Power isn’t a new issue; it’s been a struggle as long as there have been people. Richard Foster wrote a book back in 1985 called Money, Sex & Power: The Challenge of the Disciplined Life. (*4) The temptation is to turn money and sex into power pursuits also, such that the title could just as easily be “Power, Power, and more Power.”
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The answer for Jesus is the same for us: be secure in your identity in Christ. For Jesus, knowing that He was the Messiah (*5) didn’t lead Him to a power trip; it led Him to a path of service: unmatched public service. Earlier the same evening that He prayed the John 17 prayer for our unity, He set the tone for His coming sacrifice on the cross through a most unexpected plot twist. There’s a verse that reads,
Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under His power, and that He had come from God and was returning to God; so He got up from the meal…
and what would you expect to follow such a sentence? (*6) Some display of power, right? Or at least a powerful speech of some kind. But no, He got up from the meal to begin washing the feet of His followers. Power in the Kingdom of God is about service.
For us, too, the answer to our partisan politics fiasco is to be secure in our identity in Christ. Our struggles with power all go back to the Fall, where we rebelled against giving God His rightful place in our lives. (*7) Instead of being content as literal children of God, we took the enemy’s bait and wanted to be our own gods. (*8) Instead of gaining a more powerful identity, we ended up losing the very powerful identity we already had. Dutch Sheets wrote an entire book about all that was lost and how to regain it, entitled, Becoming Who You Are. As Deb Waterbury wrote,
Don’t let a confused and frustrated world identify who you are, even if that confused and frustrated world consists of confused and frustrated Christians. Your identity is in Jesus. (*9)
When we know who we are in Christ, we have a security and refuge that can withstand any attacks (political or otherwise,) and instead of responding in kind and escalating the war, we may not need to respond at all. When we know who we are in Christ, we discover a peace, a meaning, a significance that can weather any storm.
Matthew 27:41-44. Satan loves little more than when he can get humans to give utterance to his own temptations.
Similar to Keller’s book in 2009 of a similar title, quoted on page ???
The words “Messiah” in Hebrew and “Christ” in Greek both literally mean “the anointed one,” referring to the long promised Savior.
I say “we” instead of Adam and Eve because if Adam and Eve had remained sinless, and their kids sinless, all the way down to me, I would have likely been the one to blow it. Their issues look remarkably like our own.
Dr. Deb Waterbury, The Lies that Bind, and the Truth that sets you Free, p. 79.