Identity
In 1975 Michael Griffiths, then General Director of the Overseas Missionary Fellowship, wrote a pithy and prophetic book with a telling title: Cinderella with Amnesia. He commented, “Christians collectively seem to be suffering from a strange amnesia. A high proportion of people who ‘go to church’ have forgotten what it is all for. Week by week they attend services in a special building and go through their particular, time-honoured routine, but give little thought to the purpose of what they are doing.”
It’s all too easy for us to forget why we’re here, to mislay our purpose, to lose sight of why we do what we do. But perhaps the problem goes deeper: we can forget who we are in Christ.
We shouldn’t be surprised by this, because Satan tried very hard to undermine the identity of Jesus Himself. Notice the progression between Luke 3 and Luke 4. At His baptism, Jesus’ identity is affirmed by the Father: “You are my Son.” As Jesus begins His ministry by being baptised by John in the Jordan, and as He spends time talking with the Father, heaven opens, and the Father speaks back.
What would you say to the One who is embarking on the greatest and most significant mission in the history of planet Earth? Perhaps you’d assure Him that you’d be with Him all the way, or comfort Him with a reminder that, although great pain lay ahead, glory was in the future too. But instead the Father speaks just one sentence.
Jesus hears His sonship celebrated. He is told that He is loved, and that the Father’s pleasure is upon Him. Before we do anything for God, we need to do it from the place of knowing who we are in God. In Christ, He is already pleased with us. Failure to grasp this will cause us to strive.
Immediately, in the wilderness, the devil tries to undermine Jesus’ identity: “If you are the Son of God…”
The satanic skirmishes came in three waves, and the first centred on Jesus’ physical body. Contrary to what some preachers suggest, Jesus was not “God with skin on”. In a way that is true but beyond understanding, He was both fully God and fully man. After forty days without food, He was literally starving. And so the question came, “If you are the Son of God…”, followed by the invitation: prove yourself.
Do a magic trick with bread, for your own survival.
The devil’s question amounted to this: “Who do you think you are?”
The second temptation was about power. In return for an act of satanic worship, Jesus would have total earthly authority and be exalted, without having to go to the cross. Then the final attack came, complete with a misapplied portion of Scripture, as the devil suggested that Jesus throw Himself off the pinnacle of the temple, some 450 feet (about 140 metres) high.
Some ancient rabbis taught that when the Messiah came to reveal himself, he would stand on the roof of the temple. Through a full-frontal attack, Satan tried to undercut and undermine Jesus’ identity. And he will do the same with us.
Our identity matters.
As we break bread, celebrate in worship, share in small groups, pray and reflect on the truths of Scripture, we affirm that Christ is Lord and the only way, and that we belong to Him. We remember who He is, who we are and whose we are.