Jeremy L. Berg

The Christian life is filled with counterintuitive paradoxical truths.  One of my favorites is Jesus’ strange warning that “Whoever seeks to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it” (Luke 17:33).  On the surface this is ludicrous.  I mean the last time I lost $10 I was poorer and not richer; and when I lost that golf ball in the pond on the 9th hole the only thing I gained was a penalty stroke!

But a second look at Jesus’ kingdom wisdom should reveal that the main point isn’t really losses and gains — though that is involved.  He is really talking about making an exchange that will involve a specific kind of loss and a specific kind of gain. More specifically, Jesus is recommending that we exchange a self-oriented life for a God-oriented life.  Kingdom living demands we give up trying to be in charge and give control over to God.  I call this the “Kingdom Exchange Principle.”

Another metaphor would be a paradigm shift in our understanding of “orbit.”  For thousands of years human beings believed the earth was at the center of the universe and the sun and other planets orbited the earth (or “us”!).  Similarly, the sin-tainted human condition gravitates toward a self-centered view of reality that imagines others and even God orbiting around us.  Jesus brings a reality check that calls for an radical exchange in mindset (i.e., repentance) where we “lose” our place as the center of the universe, and by placing God at the center instead we “gain” or “preserve” a properly ordered life within the life-giving orbit of the Kingdom of God.

I believe an even more powerful application of Jesus’ “Kingdom-exchange principle” is what happens with our identity in Christ. Jesus would no doubt affirm as well that “Whoever seeks to keep his own identity will lose it, and whoever loses his own identity will really preserve it.”  As before the point is not that we completely lose our own unique identity when we become a Christian. Rather, the point is that we exchange a self-defined identity for a Christ-defined identity.

This is great news because human beings have a proven track record for choosing to ground our identity in some very strange and unhealthy things. Some find their identity in their accomplishments, wealth, positions, careers, popularity and beauty.  Others find their identity held hostage by their failures, weaknesses, insecurities, lack of wealth, power and privilege.  Either way we have seriously limited our God-given potential by anchoring our identity in fleeting, fickle and unfulfilling things.

Jesus invites us to “die to ourselves” so that we can truly live in the freedom that comes from having our identity defined by the Creator of the universe.  Our value and worth are rooted in the God who made us for his special purpose, died for us to liberate us from sin and reconcile us to himself, and called us to go share this good news with others.  At the heart of this good news, then, is a radical invitation to exchange our old identity for a new identity that is rooted in Christ himself.  If you’ve forgotten what this marvelous exchange entails, then let the following list compiled by Greg Boyd be a mind-blowing reminder of who you really are in Christ!

In Christ we are…

•    God’s beloved child (Jn 1:12:  Eph 1:5)•    Christ’s dear friend (Jn 15:5)

•    Declared perfectly righteous (“justified”) (Rom 5:1)

•    Free from condemnation (Rom 8:1; Col 2:14-16)

•    United with Christ, “one spirit” with Christ  (I Cor 6:17; Eph 5:31)

•    A member of Christ’s body (I Cor 6:15/ 12:27)

•    The Temple of God (I Cor 6:19)

•    Filled with the “fullness of God” (Eph 3:19)

•    A “holy one” [saint] (Eph 1:1)

•    Blessed with every spiritual blessing (Eph 1:3)

•    Holy and blameless (Eph 1:4)

•    Bought with an infinite price and forgiven (I Cor 6: 20; Eph 1:7; Col 1:14)

•    Bathed with wisdom and understanding (Eph 1:8)

•    The recipient of an eternal, infinitely rich,  inheritance (Eph 1:11, 18)

•    Possessed with the mind of Christ (I Cor 2:16)

•    Inseparable form God’s love (Rom 8:35-39)

•    One who will NEVER be abandoned (Mt 28:20)

•    The beautiful bride of Christ who “ravishes” the heart of God (Song of Songs, 4:1ff; 6:4ff).

•     One over whom the Lord rejoices, sings and claps his hands(Zeph 3:17)

•    One for whom the Lord throws a party (Zeph 3:17; Lk 15:7-10)

•    A recipient of God’s own peace (Jn 14:27)

•    Filled with the peace and joy of God (Rom 14:17)

•    One in whom Christ’s joy is fulfilled (Jn 15:11)

•    Given direct access to the Father by the Holy Spirit (Eph 2:18)

•    Seated with Christ in heavenly realms (Eph 2:6)

•    Seated “far above all rule and authority and power and dominion” with Christ (Eph 1:21).

•    Hid in Christ in heavenly realms (Col 3:1-5)

•    Crucified, Buried and Raised with Christ (Rom 6:1-11)

•    Made perfect forever (Heb 10:14)

•    Made complete in Christ (Col 2:10)

•    Indwelled  by a fearless Spirit (2 Tim 1:7)

•    One of God’s precious works of art (Eph 2:10)

•    Indwelt by a spirit of power, love and stability (2 Tim 1:7)

•    A citizen of heaven (Phil 3:20)

•    Predestined to look like Jesus and see him in his glory (Rom 8:29; I Jn 3:1-5)

•    One in whom God is working to bring good out of evil (Rom 8:28)

•    Salt of the earth (Mt 5:13)

•    A branch chosen to bear fruit (Jn 15:16)

•    A co-worker with God (I Cor 3:9)

•    An ambassador of Christ and  minister of reconciliation (2 Cor 5:17-20)

•    A priest of the most high God ( I Pet 2:5-9)

•    More than a conqueror in all things (Rom 8:37)

•    One who knows Satan is a disarmed laughing stock (Col 2:14-15).

•    One who knows the truth and is set free (Jn 8:32).

•    One who can do all things in Christ (Phil 4:13)