“Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt has lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid”. (Matthew 5:13-14)
As a child of God, knowing and retaining the knowledge of our identity in Christ is vital if we would overcome the challenges Satan throws at us.
Now, Satan is already judged but he is still fighting a last-ditch battle with the children of God, through diverse human agents, with the objective of robbing us of our divine identity in Christ.
That’s why the Bible says “ “Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes!”. (Matthew 18:7).
Here we see that the vessel of temptation is the world and the drivers of temptations are human agents who are under the control and influence of Satan.
But let’s focus on our divine identity in Christ. Who are we in Christ? Among many identities, the Bible specifically says we are more than conquerors through Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:37).
Testifying to this factual identity in Him, Jesus says: “ I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take courage; I have overcome the world!” (John 16:33).
No one can conquer the world on his own except through the in-dwelling power of the Holy Spirit.
Why is the knowledge and application of our identity in Christ vital? A child of God who would not meditate on the word of God concerning his identity in Christ on a daily basis, and apply such identity by standing in the word in faith, would soon become an easy target for the enemy when temptation comes.
When our thoughts are not constantly being checked and filtered through the purifying word of God, they may soon crystallize into sin. When we fail to apply in faith the word of God concerning who we are in Christ we would always readily act on sinful and selfish thoughts therefore falling into sin and error.
What is our divine identity as Christians? The Bible says we “are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light”. (1 Peter 2:9).
Sadly, many who were once conquerors in Christ have allowed the enemy to rob them of their divine identity while succumbing to the lust and love of the world.
Such a Christian was Demas of whom the Apostle Paul wrote: “ Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world, and has departed for Thessalonica”. (2 Timothy 4:10).
Demas who ought to be a chosen vessel of the Lord through whom God would proclaim his victory sadly succumbed to temptation and lost his identity in Christ to worldly pressures. When his hour of temptation came he was found wanting. Such are many Christians today.
Why did Demas desert Paul and turn away to Thessalonica? Thessalonica was a large, wealthy, cosmopolitan city with a lot of worldly activities and distractions.
Demas couldn’t resist the lucrative opportunities that the city offered, and when he weighed his options, comparing the commercial offers to the hard and tedious work of spreading the gospel, he chose to leave Paul. But in doing so, sacrificed eternal glory for temporary prosperity.
James warned us that “friendship with the world is hostility toward God” (James 4:4).
If we would therefore become overcomers, which is part of our divine identity we would have to keep digging deep into our divine identity in Christ and keep applying that knowledge in faith as we engage the enemy in battle.
The deadly consequences of a Christian losing his identity in Christ is that he would soon find himself grinding in the prison yard of the enemy rather than reigning with Christ in the vineyard of his love.
We can never outsmart Satan, his offers are always lucrative and attractive to the eyes but the end result is to kill, steal, and destroy. (John 10:10).
When Samson lost his divine identity in God, followed by his sacred calling through a series of careless and thoughtless actions, “the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes and took him down to Gaza. Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding grain in the prison”. (Judges 16:21).
When a Christian loses his identity in Christ, there will be no middle ground, he would be bound by the enemy, and lose his spiritual power and freedom in Christ with only one option left – to serve the enemy in the dark dungeon of sin and eventual destruction.
If you find yourself in such a situation, it is never too late to confess your sins and return to the Lord for forgiveness and restoration.
And for those who are at the junction of temptation or the danger of backsliding, it is also never too late to begin to confess and apply your reigning identity in Christ Jesus as a conqueror.
God bless you as you do so!
Readings
Judges 16: 1-6; 17-31.
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