If God is your Father, the Son is your Savior, and the Spirit is your indwelling Helper, you have hope no matter what you’re facing.
The words bounded off the page and hit me between the eyes, then landed in my heart with an attention-getting and profound thump. Does anybody else beside me need some hope these days? It seemed Paul Tripp knew exactly what I—and maybe you—needed to read today. Has that ever happened to you before? I suspect our dear Father in His grace just might have something to do with that. I read on in New Morning Mercies, my daily devotional by Paul Tripp. I must admit, though, I wasn’t exactly prepared for what I read next. It didn’t start out very hopeful.
“Who in the world do you think you are? I’m serious. Who do you think you are? You and I are always assigning to ourselves some kind of identity. And the things that you and I do are shaped by the identity that we have given ourselves. So it’s important to acknowledge that God has not just forgiven you (and that is a wonderful thing), but he has also given you a brand-new identity. If you’re God’s child, you are now a son or daughter of the King of kings and the Lord of lords. You are in the family of the Savior who is our friend and brother. You are the temple where the Spirit of God now lives. Yes, that really is true—you’ve been given a radically new identity.
“The problem, sadly, is that many of us live in a constant, or at least a rather regular state of identity amnesia. We forget who we are, and when we do, we begin to give way to doubt, fear, and timidity. Identity amnesia makes you feel poor when in fact you are rich. It makes you feel foolish when in fact you are in a personal relationship with the One who is wisdom. It makes you feel unable when in fact you have been blessed with strength. It makes you feel alone when in fact, since the Spirit lives inside of you, it’s impossible for you to be alone. You feel unloved when in fact, as a child of the heavenly Father, you have been graced with eternal love. You feel like you don’t measure up when in fact the Savior measured up on your behalf. Identity amnesia sucks the life out of your Christianity in the right here, right now moment in which all of us live.”
This is just what Erik and Greg had been preaching about a couple of Sunday mornings ago. We do too often forget who we are and we write, or worse, let someone else write, some kind of ugly name in glaring four inch letters on the back of the orange vests we wear. We allow those names to define us and dictate how we live. They are names of our shame. They are names that make us forget who we are. We lose hope.
But Jesus wants us to stop hiding in fear and to refuse to be defined by our shame. He asks us to tear off those vests and, in the most unexplainable, undeserved and extravagant exchange ever conceived, allow Him to graciously place on us His own glorious robes of righteousness. Can you just imagine? Jesus takes away all our sin, guilt, shame, and brokenness, things that have held us captive, and He carries it to the cross. He took it on Himself and bore the punishment we deserved—and then offers us His very own righteousness. What a costly transaction for Jesus!
In my very active imagination, I’d like to think these new robes He clothes us in will also have a name delicately and beautifully hand-stitched in gold script. What will yours say on the back?
Paul Tripp concludes his thoughts for the day.
“If you’ve forgotten who you are in Christ, what are you left with? You’re left with Christless Christianity, which is little more than a system of theology and rules. And you know that if all you needed was theology and rules, Jesus wouldn’t have had to come. All God would have needed to do was drop the Bible down on you and walk away. But he didn’t walk away; he invaded your life as Father, Savior, and Helper. By grace, he made you a part of his family. By grace, he made you the place where he lives. And he did all this so that you not only would receive his forgiveness, but so that you would have everything you need for life and godliness.
“So if you’re his child, ward off the fear that knocks on your door by remembering who God is and who you’ve become as his chosen child. And don’t just celebrate his grace; let it reshape the way you live today and the tomorrows that follow.”
So what does the back of your new robe say? Mine says “Grateful, chosen, cherished child of the King!” I know. That’s a lot of words. It’s my imagination, okay?
And I laugh thinking about what will happen when the bullies of this world or those in my head start to call me names and remind me of my fears, my past, my shame, and my failures. With great confidence I will cry, “Leave me alone! My Father’s bigger than your father!”
I don’t have to run. I don’t have to hide. I am never alone. I have a true identity given to me by my God.
Now that gives me hope.
In quarantine or not.
—Eileen Hill
