What is our identity?

15/06/25 Breaking of Bread Service

John Coombes

If I asked you to pretend you’d never met the person sitting next to you (very hard to imagine I know!), how would you introduce yourself? What would you say to identify who you are?

I have a theory that as Christians the better we understand our identity, who we really are, the more we’ll love God and the more we’ll want to praise him!

It’s not just me. I think the apostle John had the same theory.

In this letter he identifies his top 2 points about who Christians really are. Here’s the first one:

"My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world". 1 John 2:1-2

Identity 1 - We are a justified people

In the eyes of God, we are justified because Jesus died the death we should have died.

John is saying that even though we shouldn’t sin, God knows we will. But we have a defence lawyer. Jesus, who speaks to God the father on our behalf.

Imagine this: Every time I sin, he stands before God’s throne and says ‘Father, I know that John has sinned and that change needs to happen in his life. But it wouldn’t be fair for you to convict him and condemn him for this sin. You would be punishing two people for the same sin, him and me. That would be unjust of you, Father’. 

Imagine that is going on in Heaven right now! 

We are a justified people.

Identity 2 – We are adopted as God’s children

1 John 3:1a "See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!"  

‘SEE’ (in the KJV ‘behold’) means ‘Stop and think about this. Don’t miss this incredible truth!’ John is really excited about this one.

The phrase ‘what great love’ literally means ‘from what country can you get love like this?’

We might say: ‘where on earth does love like this come from that makes the God of heaven adopt us as his children?’ 

And now, as John rereads what he’s written, he’s overwhelmed - and he exclaims ‘And that is what we are!’ He can hardly believe who he really is because of Jesus!

My wife’s brother and his wife had 3 great kids, but they felt God was calling them to adopt another. 

Like any adoptive parents they had some choice about who to adopt.

They didn't choose one of the 'popular' kids that prospective parents fight over: 

• They chose a mixed-race child because they aren't as ‘popular’. 

• They chose an older child because they aren't as 'desirable' 

• They chose a kid with a known heart disorder, because people don’t want children who aren’t physically ‘normal’.

…and that little girl (she's now 12 years old) has been lavished with love. She is in the centre of the family: she knows she is wanted, she is accepted, and she is blessed.

Multiply that by a million times and that’s what God has done for us. We didn’t deserve to be his children. But he chose us and placed us at the centre of his family and he lavishes us with love.

So what is our identity as Christians? Who are we, really?

1) A justified people where Jesus himself is our defence lawyer in heaven.

2) Chosen and treasured children of God.