“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” — 2 Corinthians 5:17
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How do you typically respond to the question of identity? Do you reveal what you do or where you are from or who you are connected to? Does that identity even really describe the depths of who you are?
At a certain level, we all wrestle with our identity, whether we’re a star athlete, a student, in another profession or retired altogether. We each have specific dreams and aspirations of accomplishing something we hope will, in some way, complete us. But after achieving whatever those accomplishments are, we will find that we are still wanting more.
In 2 Corinthians 5:17, the apostle Paul gives us a clue as to who we really are: We are a new creation. The Bible talks elsewhere about believers being a new creation in verses like Romans 6:3-4, Ephesians 4:22-24 and Colossians 3:9-10. When we reach out to Jesus and seek the forgiveness only He can offer, we are made new. What does it mean to be a new creation? Our old self passes away and the new self takes hold.
When we sin, all we are really doing is having an identity crisis. We are forgetting who we are by holding on to that which used to identify us. When we allow the world or the things of old to be our identity, we are left wondering and confused, because we are attaching our identity to something temporal rather than everlasting.
With what or whom are you identifying today?
— Brian Hommel, Arizona Diamondbacks chaplain
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