What Just Happened?
You Have a New Identity
I am so happy for you because you asked Jesus Christ into your heart as your Savior and Lord. You will now enjoy a quality of life that only God can give you. As you walk with Him, you will grow as a believer and have the assurance that you will go to heaven with Him for eternity.
But before you move forward, you need to understand that when you repented of your sins then your identity changed. Here’s is what happened…
Your disobedience to God’s commandments is called sin. The rightful punishment that God requires for sin is death. But, He does not want you to die; He wants you to live. So, God the Father gave His only Son, Jesus Christ, to pay for the penalty of your sins by dying in your place. As the saying goes, I owed a debt I could not pay. Jesus paid my debt that He did not owe.
But, such a gracious and loving act on His part comes with consequences. See, you are not freed to now return to your former lifestyle. The power of your former life was broken by Christ. The Apostle Paul commented on this and wrote, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (II Cor. 5:17). The consequences of Christ’s payment for your sin is that you now belong to Him and that you have a new identity; the new has come!
Previously, you were enslaved to your sins and your self-focused way of life. But, now that you accepted Jesus’ sacrifice on your behalf, you are a servant of Jesus Christ. He bought you and paid for you. The Apostle Paul put it this way, “I no longer live but Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2:20). The paradox is that only by being a slave to Christ will you find true freedom; freedom to be all that God created you to be.
Your new life goal is to please your Master, Jesus Christ. This will require that you throw off the sin that so easily entangled you. For now you must devote the entirety of your heart, mind, soul, and strength to pleasing Jesus Christ. This will require that you lean a new way of thinking, acting, and reacting. Jesus will teach you how to walk as He walked, how to talk as He talked, and how to thrive in life as He thrived.
Jesus is your Master and you are His servant. Your life goal is to please Him. If I ever get the pleasure of meeting you in person, we will each give our names and then share something about ourselves. As a new believer in Jesus Christ, your first response will no longer be to give your name, your tribal affiliation, and your job title. Instead, you can give your name and then declare confidently, “I am a servant of Jesus Christ.”
So, what just happened? What happened is that you now belong to Jesus. You are a new creation. Your old nature no longer lives but Christ lives in you. Your new identity is this: “I am a servant of Jesus Christ.” As you travel life’s journey, I pray that you will live in the fullness of your new identity.