You Have a New Identity!
I am so happy for you because you asked Jesus Christ into your heart as your Savior and Lord. You will now enjoy a relationship with the Living God of the Bible. As you walk with Him, you will grow as a believer and have the assurance that you will go to heaven with Him for eternity.
But before you move forward, you need to understand that when you repented (asked forgiveness) of your sins then your identity changed. Here's is what happened ...
Disobedience to God's commandments is called sin. The rightful punishment God requires for sin is death (being cut-off from God for eternity). But, He does not want you to die; He wants you to have eternal life with Him. So, God the Father gave His only Son, Jesus Christ, to pay for the penalty of your sins by dying in your place on the cross. As the saying goes, "I owed a debt I could not pay. Jesus paid my debt that He did not owe".
But, such a gracious and loving act on His part comes with consequences. See, we are are not freed from the penalty of sin just so we would return to our former lifestyles. The power of our former lives was broken by Christ. The Apostle Paul commented on this and wrote, 'Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!' (II Cor. 5:17). The consequences of Christ's payment for your sin is that you now belong to Him and now you have a new identity; the new has come!
Previously, you were enslaved to your sins and your self-focused way of living. But, now that you accepted Jesus' sacrifice on your behalf, you have become a servant of Jesus Christ. He bought you and paid for you. The Apostle Paul put it this way, 'I no longer live but Christ lives in me' (Gal. 2:20). The paradox is that only by being a servant of Christ will we find true freedom; freedom to be all God created us to be.
Your new life goal is to please your Lord, Jesus Christ. This requires us to throw-off the sin that so once entangled us. For now, we should devote the entirety of our heart, mind, soul, and strength to pleasing Jesus Christ. This will require that you lean a new way of thinking, acting, and reacting. Jesus will teach you how to walk as He walked, how to talk as He talked, and live as He lived.
Jesus is your Lord and you are His servant. Your life goal is to please Him. If I ever get the pleasure of meeting you in person, we will each give our names and then share something about ourselves. As a new believer in Jesus Christ, your first response will no longer be to give your name, and your job title. Instead, you can give your name and then declare confidently, 'I am a follower of Jesus Christ!'
So, what just happened? What happened is that you now belong to God. You are a new creation. Your old nature no longer lives, but Jesus Christ lives in you. Your new identity is this: 'I am a servant of Jesus Christ.' As you travel life's journey, I pray you will live in the fullness of your new identity.
