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Identity in Christ 4


I am the vine, you are the branches; the one who remains in Me, and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.    John 15:5

Knowing and Loving Who You Are in Christ

We have explored and revealed that we are fully accepted in Christ and we’ve been working through the reality that we are secure in Him.

As we wrap up this Truth of our security and safety in Christ we look at the fact that, as a wholehearted believer and follower of Jesus Christ, we are a citizen of heaven (Philippians 3:20). This is not just that we are assured of eternity with God but we presently belong to the citizenry of heaven. We have all the security of protection as a citizen here and now as we walk by faith in Christ.

The struggle comes when we look around and see the struggles, frustrations and temptations of the world and our flesh and then choose to be a citizen of this fallen world (the old natural man or woman of the flesh) rather than choosing by grace through faith, to be a citizen of heaven (the new man or woman in The Spirit). While we must live in this world and flesh at this time, we have all we need in Christ, His Word and Spirit to walk out this citizenship in heaven…here and now (John 17:11, 14-15).

Will you choose by faith and in His grace the decisions in line with His Truth and will that reflect heavenly citizenship or will you continue to choose the emotions, the fleshly desires and the trappings of this world? You can daily and moment-by-moment choose to walk as a citizen of heaven in loving obedience to God because you’ve been given all of this in Christ!

Do you know Him and are you walking as a citizen of heaven today?

Over the past few weeks we’ve been looking at our identity in Christ as being fully accepted by God in Him in numerous ways as well as being completely secure in Him. It truly is incredible and very assuring and comfortable when we walk in faith.

Continuing to add to our identity we now begin to look at our value in Christ…that we are extremely significant in God’s eyes through Christ and all that He is doing and desires to do in and through us!

We begin with one we’ve talked about numerous times in other contexts but none more important than our significance in Christ. We are God’s workmanship in Christ (Ephesians 2:10).

Of course this verse is preceded by what God has done for us by His free gift of grace in Christ’s sacrifice and not by our own works of the flesh (Ephesians 2:8-9). We must understand this or it becomes more about our prideful works done, thinking this is what save us (which can never happen) rather than who and what we are by Christ’s death, burial and resurrection to make us a new masterpiece (the Greek word is “poemia” where we get our word poem from and is translated as “a work done by a craftsman,” in this case literally by the God, The Master Craftsman), creating each of us as His specific masterpiece!

How does that make you feel? Valued, accepted, secure, significant? It should encourage you in all of these as God does not make any junk! We may mess it up ourselves but even then He remembers us as the workmanship of His hands and is always lovingly waiting for us to return to Him.

We can also rest assured that if we will walk with Him and seek Him above all else that He will show us what He has created us for and recreated us in Christ as His masterpiece to do those things He purposed for us to do for His Kingdom and Glory!

Even when you struggle…remember that You are His Masterpiece in Christ!

Do you know Christ as Savior and Lord? Do you know you are God’s masterpiece in Christ? Are you living accordingly?

What a powerful reminder that we are Your workmanship, Lord God, recreated in Christ for Your good will and purposes (Philippians 2:12-13). May we walk in them and submit to You in obedience for You to accomplish all that You desire and all for Your Glory.

I am/We are significant in God’s eyes so may we be assured of this by faith and not live our lives based on the way the world and the enemy would deceive us to believe.

I pray that The Holy Spirit reminds you constantly, and that you will hear, that  am a branch in The Vine of Christ (John 15:1, 5). Instead of trying to prove our worth by producing fruit for You, let us abide in Christ, The Vine, and allow Your Spirit to bring fruit in and through me that I can bear it and others can partake and come to know Jesus as Savior and Lord.  

Love and Lordship…Food for Thought – May we lose our desire to produce any fruit of our own but simply bear all the fruit that He desires for us, and knows we can handle, for His Kingdom and Glory. Thank You for valuing each of us so much that You would graft us into Christ by His sacrifice so that we can be branches of Your love, bearing Your fruit to help others know Jesus. Do you know Him? Are you abiding in Him and bearing His fruit… or are you trying to produce fruit for Him?

Love and Lordship…Action Items

  1. Read the Scriptures in this article and ask The Holy Spirit to teach you.
  2. Journal what you’ve learned about your identity in Christ in this post. 
  3. Give some thought and write out what it means for you to be a citizen of Heaven.
  4. Discuss with a fellow Christian what it means to abide in Christ and bear fruit for God’s Kingdom rather than trying to produce fruit.

Let me know if you have any questions or concerns and we’ll walk through them together in The Lord and His Spirit.

Contact us at loveandlordship@gmail.com to find out more about how you can know God the Father, Christ His Son and The Holy Spirit.