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God promises His blessings
by His word --
and God cannot lie.
This hope we have
as an anchor of the soul.
(Hebrews 6:17-19)
Through our identification with Christ in His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension, we have been given a new identity. This new identity is rooted and clothed in the righteousness of Christ! We have been made acceptable by the Father, which is how we can have an intimate relationship with a holy God!
This is the blessing promised by God to Abraham many years ago!
This is our hope...and our identity in Christ is our anchor...today!
A DISCIPLESHIP TESTIMONY
I am ministering to a young adult Christian who has made some wrong choices the past several years. He recognizes the "tough love" from people to hold him accountable for what he did and to encourage him to do better. And he genuinely wants to "learn from his mistakes."
However, learning from his mistakes and trying to do better have failed apart from the anchor of knowing his true identity in Christ. He has falsely believed as a Christian that his identity has been faulty, that his salvation gave him forgiveness but not a totally new heart. Therefore, his well-intentioned attempts to do better have been fleshly efforts from a foundation of "sinking sand." He's done his best...apart from Christ.
He is beginning to receive God's revelation of his true identity in Christ. From this "solid rock" foundation, he is beginning to surrender his futile fleshly efforts and to appropriate by faith the resources of Christ in him!
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Identity is not determined by what you do. Identity is
determined by your birth. There are only two identities in the
world...those born in Adam and those re-born in Christ. What you do is
determined by what you are believing is your true identity. A Christian
who doesn't know (has not received God's word regarding) his true identity in Christ has no anchor and is
"tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine" (Ephesians 4:14). |
THE SOLID ROCK
Edward Mote wrote a hymn about this hope in 1834 in London. The hymn is presented in the right column, along with some special quotes by Mote. Following are excerpts from the hymn that testify of the hope and foundation we have with a new identity in Christ:
My hope is built on nothing else than
Jesus' blood (my forgiveness)
and righteousness (my new identity).
I wholly lean on Jesus' name (my nature).
My anchor holds within the veil (united with Christ).
(I am) clothed in His righteousness alone.
On Christ the solid Rock I stand (in my true identity with Him).
CLOSING
I look back now and see Christ has faithfully been my Anchor. When my wife Joy was severely handicapped. When I lost my job. I realize how much of my identity and my worth I have relied upon with good health and a good job. These are good things indeed, but they are not anchors to depend upon. Christ alone defines who I am and what I'm worth.
During this Rest Stop, may the Spirit affirm our true identity in Christ through revealing this line from our hymn as a song deep in our hearts:
I rest on His unchanging grace. :)
 
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