But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ. Ephesians 2:13
Yesterday we talked about the truth that our identity is not wrapped up in what we do. It is not about our performance in our jobs or anything we can produce. Today, we will talk about the truth that our identities are solely based on what someone else has done. Our identities are solely based on what God has done for us. You see, Jesus bore our sin and shame and rescued our lives so that we could be rescued and take on His righteousness instead. This, friends, is where our identities can be found.
The apostle Paul, who wrote many of the books found in the New Testament, focused on the identity that Christians have in Christ. He was not afraid to talk about our lives before Christ, but He always wanted his readers to know that we have new identities in Jesus because of what He has done for us. “Once you were far away from God,” Paul wrote. It’s true. We were all once far off from Christ. We were lost in sin. That is where we all were before Christ. That was our old identity. But, Paul continued, “but now you have been brought near to Him through the blood of Christ. You see, Jesus did what we could not. He lived a sinless life, paid the price for our sins through His death on a cross, and rose again, conquering sin and death. We can have life because of what He did when we place our faith in Him. Our identity is found in Him and what He has done.
This truth in Ephesians 2:13, of course, applies to us as well. However, when we place our faith in Christ, we have a different bar to look to for our identities. We do not look at our performance. Instead, we look to Christ. He saved our lives through His death and resurrection, and if we have placed our faith in Him, this saving act from Jesus is where our identities lie. Will you look to Him today?
Memorize the verse of the day today. Remember this verse every time you are tempted to base your identity on your performance or something you have done. Let it be a reminder to you of who you are and Whose you are because of Jesus and what He has done for you.
Ephesians 2:11-18 (NLT)
11 "Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. You were called “uncircumcised heathens” by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts. 12 In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. 13 But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ.
14 For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. 15 He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups. 16 Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.
17 He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near. 18 Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us."
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