The Gift of God: Our New Identity

The Bible has a habit of describing God. For example, in Isaiah 40, we learn that God “sits above the circle of the earth” (verse 22). He is the “everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable” (verse 28). This tells us that God is far above us. He has always been, is now, and always will be. He created everything. He is strong and nothing will change his strength. He knows all and sees all.

Those are some traits that describe God. What traits describe us? Isaiah has something to say about us in chapter 40 as well. We are a little dull, he says in verse 21. “Do you not know? Do you not hear? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?” He further explains this in verse 27. “Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, ‘My way is hidden from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God?’” We are clearly far below God. We’ve been given knowledge, but we ignore and forget it. We have no strength of mind or will.

God, of course, doesn’t leave us in that state. He sent his Son in order to get rid of those traits and give us a new identity. “He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint” (verses 29-31). God has changed our identity – he has made us more like him. We were weak and weary. But now, just as God is strong, we are strong.

We don’t know God’s plans for us, but we do know that he has changed us and is constantly preparing us. With our new identity, one of strength and power from God, we don’t have to be afraid of what is coming. We can step out with confidence, knowing we are saved and we are never alone.