Who are you? Can you prove that you are who you say you are?
It seems like several times a day, I have to prove my identity. I’m not talking about showing a traffic cop my driver’s license. No, I’m having to prove my identity to my computer, to my phone and to the numerous websites and applications that I regularly make use of. Don’t you hate it when you forget a password? It can be quite a process when that happens, and it’s all about proving your identity.
As we continue our focus on Covenant and Kingdom this Lent, we are being reminded that we have a Covenant Identity. The most important part of who we are is what God in his love has declared us to be: His beloved children. Our Covenant Identity is given to us by grace through faith in Christ, who went to the cross in order to bring about this covenant of forgiveness and love and sent His Spirit to give it to us.
So that is who I am. My identity is my relationship with Christ. But can I prove it? There’s no password that I have to remember. It’s not something that can merely be invoked as a key or can be hacked by a criminal. How do I prove my identity as a child of God?
Quote simply, it’s the third part of the Covenant Triangle, which we call “obedience.” Now, I know we sometimes have trouble with that word – when it is applied to adults. But think of it this way: If my covenant identity is oneness with Christ, then Christ and I are one, and my life is to look more and more like His. That’s what this “obedience” is all about: My life looking more and more like Christ’s life. My character being shaped and conformed into His character.
So every decision we make, every encounter with another human being, every opportunity to hear and live God’s word, is a chance to “prove” our identity, to show that we are in fact the children of God. May Christ’s character grow more and more in each of our lives, that others see Him in all that we say and do.
