Even though it is a new year, we are continuing our quest to answer The Five Questions: Who am I? Why am I here? What am I missing? What is truth? and What must I do? Previous articles in this series are always available at http://www.webbweekly.com.
The first question, Who am I?, is the identity question. We have already established that our identity is not found in us, our circumstances, or our ancestry. If identity were based on those things, we would be in a never-ending identity crisis.
The good news is this: our true identity is found in being the children of God. When God is your heavenly Father, no one and no circumstance can take your identity from you. Your identity as a child of God is the solid rock foundation on which life can be built. When life goes sideways, the foundation of our identity in God will hold firm. Of this we can be certain.
Since our identity is found in our heavenly Father, we can learn more about ourselves by learning more about him. We are made in the image of God, so it is in God’s attributes that we discover who we are. The first attribute is life. God is the God of life.
Do you know the courageous story of three young men named Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah? I’m guessing you do, but you may not recognize the names they were given at birth. Their story illustrates the power of identifying as a child of the God of life.
These men were raised in royal families. They were handsome, well-informed, quick to understand, and displayed a natural aptitude for every kind of learning. Their pedigree and their natural talents had them heading for exceptional lives. They could have based their identity on those things, but it’s a good thing they didn’t, because their lives went sideways very suddenly.
Their homeland was attacked and conquered, and they were taken as captives to a new country. To go abruptly from prince to prisoner must have been a major shock. For all intents and purposes, they lost everything.
It gets worse. The conquering king, in an attempt to erase their past and assimilate them into a new culture, changed their names, forced them to learn the language, and trained them in the country’s history and writings. They were being reprogrammed. Clearly, the goal was to change their identity so they would be loyal to their new king and country.
The intense reprogramming lasted three years. They excelled in every way. When the king interviewed them, he found no one equal to them, and they immediately entered his service. In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he found them ten times better than the officials in his kingdom. It seemed to King Nebuchadnezzar that Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah had fully gained new Babylonian identities as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Do those names sound more familiar? Their story is found in the book of Daniel, chapters 1-3.
The three young men rose in prominence and position. But then life went sideways again. (Do you see the problem with basing your identity on the circumstances of life? Things change fast.) They were ordered, under penalty of death, to bow down and worship a golden idol set up by the king. They refused to bow and worship. The king warned them that resistance would result in execution. Their quick and confident response reveals the power of knowing your identity as a child of the God of life:
King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up. Daniel 3:16-18
The identity of these three exceptional men ran deeper than their rich Hebrew ancestry. It ran deeper than their captivity in Babylon, the years of reprogramming, the praise of King Nebuchadnezzar, and the positions of influence they had attained. It even ran deeper than the imminent threat of being burned to death. The deep channel of grace from which their confidence flowed was knowing they were children of the God of life. Because God’s identity is life, their identity was life, and no king or fiery furnace could take that identity away from them.
God made us to live with him forever. Right now, Jesus is preparing a place for us in his Father’s house. Yes, sin cuts in on the physical aspect of everlasting life, and our human bodies will someday be laid to rest, but the spirit God breathed into us has the potential to live forever. As a child of the God of life, your identity is life. Live with that identity, and you will be as bold as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego – and their good friend, Daniel. Yes, Daniel had a run-in with King Nebuchadnezzar, too, but even a lion’s den couldn’t take life from him. That’s the power of knowing your identity!
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. –John 3:16
