“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places…to the praise of His glorious grace, with which He has blessed us in the Beloved.” Ephesians 1:3, 6 ESV
Words. Little words, big words, easy-to-say or hard-to-pronounce words. Words are fascinating. Some are straightforward, carrying little or no nuance.
Other words are trickier because they have multiple meanings. Definitions may vary based on usage or context. Sometimes words have archaic meanings that color their modern use. Some words are complex and easily misunderstood.
As a writer, I love words. I love to explore the shades of words – definitions that vary based on usage or context. Words in Scripture are particularly interesting and, when accurately understood, can provide a whole new level of understanding and richness to a text. Definitions are important.
Yes indeed, definitions are important.
As living, breathing humans, we spend time, energy, and financial resources attempting to define ourselves. We say we want to understand ourselves, so that others see the real “me,” but we what we really want is to package ourselves so that others see and appreciate the “me” we want them to see.
Maybe this sounds almost reasonable to you, but there are dangers lurking just beneath the surface.
Danger #1. As we attempt to self-diagnose and define ourselves, we can fall prey to the lies and excuses we make up for things we see that we don’t like. We don’t want to take responsibility for the things we don’t like about ourselves – attitudes, actions, faulty thinking, the list can be long. We want to manage and edit the definition we establish for ourselves.
Danger #2. When it comes to success and good things, we are likely to take much more credit than deserved. We do not want to give credit to any external source of help, nor do we want to acknowledge an easy situation from which we benefited simply by being in the right place at the right time. We want to take all the credit for the good things in our lives – our successes, accomplishments, winning personality, and whatever other talents or gifts we possess. We want acclaim and glory, and we don’t want to share it.
We want to write our life’s narrative.
We want to define ourselves.
If anyone in Scripture had the opportunity to define himself, it was the Apostle Peter. But in both of his letters to the Church, Peter gives us an example of how believers are to be defined.
In 1 Peter 1:1 and 2 Peter 2:1, Peter’s description of himself is simple: an apostle and servant of Jesus.
An apostle is one who is sent out as a representative of another. An apostle carries the message given to him by a superior.
The word used for servant in this passage refers to a bondservant, one who voluntarily submits or subjects oneself to serve another. The bondservant is so devoted to the one served that he or she will disregard his or her own interests to serve well.
In Peter’s greetings in 1 and 2 Peter, there are no reminders of his past.
There is no reminder of his skills as a fisherman: no mention of being the first disciple chosen by Jesus, not a word about walking on water or witnessing the transfiguration of Jesus on the mountain, and nothing about being one of the three disciples in Jesus’ inner circle. Peter could have bragged about all these things, but he did not.
Nor did Peter mention his many failures:
- The harsh rebuff from Jesus, “Get behind me, Satan. You’re a hindrance.”
- Falling asleep three times in the Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus told him to pray.
- Running away when Jesus was arrested, and
- Denying His Lord three times as Jesus was being tortured and standing trial.
Peter had been humbled by his betrayal of Christ and by Jesus’ love and grace in restoring him. Peter realized he could not define himself.
Who Peter had been in the past was exactly that—it was his past. After that reconciling walk on the beach with his risen LORD, Peter began to live in the fullness of his calling as a servant and an apostle.
Peter’s life had been newly defined by Christ.
In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of His will, according to His purpose, which He set forth in Christ. Ephesians 1:7-9 ESV
Friend, here’s the lesson for us.
If we want to live in the fullness of our identity in Christ, if we want to flourish and fully contribute to the beauty of the body of Christ, we cannot allow our past to continue to define us.
Deep hurts, heartbreaks, pains, wounds, and offenses left untreated and unresolved will fester and grow. Even the successes and accomplishments of an ungodly past are tainted by sins of the flesh, pride, ungodly ambitions, and selfish desires.
If a self-centered, world-focused past clings to you, it will weigh you down in spirit, in effectiveness, and it will mar the beauty of who you are in Christ Jesus. Every person you touch, every service you offer carries a faint stain of your past. It’s NOT because your past was not redeemed when you accepted Christ, but because you insist on holding on to it and dragging it along wherever you go.
Put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. Ephesians 4:22-24 ESV
Listen to Peter’s final words in his greeting: I’m writing this to you. You have an identity in Christ as I have! You have equal standing with ours (the disciples). When we, this includes you, stand before God, He sees Jesus. Your past is behind you.
You are defined by Christ. You have equal standing. That is, you are equally precious, honored, and esteemed because of Jesus. You have equal privilege, equal access, equal treatment by God, equal standing, and equal opportunity to serve. God does not play favorites.
We are equally loved and favored.
All the identities and descriptors of our past fade in importance when measured against the one identity that truly matters.
The only definition that truly matters is our identity in Christ Jesus.
The question we must each ask ourselves is, “Who or what defines me?”
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. Galatian 2:20 ESV
Other passages referenced: Matthew 4:18-20, John 1:35-42, Matthew 14:29, Matthew 17:1-8, Luke 9:28-36, Matthew 16:23, Matthew 26:33:38.