Identity is the Secret of All Authority

A policeman has a uniform, a badge, and a weapon.  Without them, he blends into the crowd.  He has no authority.  Wearing them, he carries all authority.

Jesus said, “I have all authority in heaven and earth.”  Why are Christians still living as “victims” instead of “victors?”

“Identity issues” hold us back.  We retreat.  We hold back.  We blend in.  We defer.  We hunker down, accepting every circumstance as our lot in life.  I’ve had those feelings.

This blog will tell you what changed that. 

Let’s go to work on how you see yourself and why you have lived a life of “retreat” and “defeat”:

1.   We don’t know WHO WE ARE.

Assume a new identity in Christ.  Take off your old, tattered image of yourself and put on the identity of authority.  Put on the uniform and pin on the “badge” of a disciple, an ambassador of Christ’s authority.

Jesus gave His disciples authority.  His last words to them were, “All authority is given unto Me in heaven and earth…GO THEREFORE” (Mt. 28: 18-19).  He holds the “keys” (authority) of the kingdom of heaven…and He has given them to YOU! 

2.  We don’t know SATAN IS DEFEATED.

Colossians 2:15 says that Christ “disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.”  When Christ died, He openly challenged and defeated Satan and all his forces.  His only power is what we hand over to him!

A snake with no fangs can “intimidate” but not “injure” you.  Knowledge is critical!  Christ is seated “far above” Satan’s forces now and you are “seated with Him in heavenly places” (Eph. 2:6).

“Christ shed His blood to change your identity from “sinner” to “son or daughter.””

3.  We don’t know WE ARE FORGIVEN.

Forgiveness is not automatic.  You have to RECEIVE IT.  Christ shed His blood to change your identity from “sinner” to “son or daughter.”

Your parents gave you your natural identity.  Your heavenly Father gave you your spiritual identity.  Like the Prodigal Son, you are forgiven!  Come on back home even if you have made wrong choices and decisions.  Re-assume your lost identity.

4.  We don’t know WHAT BELONGS TO US.

We are the HEIR.  When your name is included in the benefit of a will all you have to do is produce your identity!  It doesn’t matter who tells you you cannot have it, if the man left it for you he intended you to have it.

“Now if we are (God’s) children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ” (Rom. 8:17).  Your inheritance is NOW.  CLAIM your inheritance, all the many promises made in Scripture that Christ paid for. YOUR NAME IS ON IT.

I’m told that the best way to repeat good habits is to change your identity.  Think of yourself as an organized person, a forgiving person, a smart person, a productive person.

Put on your “uniform, your badge, and your weapon.”

STAND UP in your new identity!