Thursday 20 November 2008

'My' identity is Christ

I must 'choose an identity'? Fine then - I will choose the Identity in which I was chosen before the first keys were struck to write the script of blogger, and before the first words were spoken to create this world, or me. I will choose the Identity with which I was identified when He lived, died and rose again 2000 years ago. I will choose this identity because He first chose me. I will choose this Identity not just today, to put aside tomorrow: this Identity has consumed my past and replaced it with His own. How can a dead person blog? You ask me to choose an identity - but it is no longer I who blog: I have died with this Identity, and the blog I now blog I blog by trusting in Him, who loved me and gave Himself for me. Crass? But you asked me to choose an identity. God has identified me with Christ. Nothing more is needful.

For much more wonderful stuff on the reality of being identified with Christ, united with Him, found in Him, such that, "The determining factor of my existence is no longer my past. It is Christ's past," see Union with Christ, by Michael Horton. I was in Philippians at the weekend with Aston CU, and this beat doesn't let up throughout the letter: in Christ, in the Lord, in Christ, in the Lord,... And thus such a key antidote to our natural inclination to look inside ourselves for salvation. Our passion, our worship, our evangelism, our ability, our Quiet Times, our church, our faith: worthless. Worthless for righteousness within ourselves. That I may gain Christ, and be found in Him, not having a righteousness which comes by law but that which is by faith in Christ Jesus, the righteousness from God that depends on faith...

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nice contextualisation of Gal. 2:20..! I might check out that book.

étrangère said...

Thanks. Even easier to check out - it's an article on theologynetwork.org