Reflections on Identity in Christ

Today i return to a subject on which i have commented previously. What is our true identity? Who are we? For those who have surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, ( Romans 10:9, 14:9)and been adopted into the family of God, ( Ephesians 1:5, John 1:12)our identity is who God says that we are in Jesus Christ. "Just as He ( God the Father) chose us in Him ( Jesus Christ)before the foundation of the world..." ( Ephesians 1:4a). To receive this identity requires faith. Ultimately we are what we believe. In 2 Thessalonians Paul, under the direction of the Holy Spirit ( 2 Peter 1:20-21, 2 Timothy 3:16) writes about people who do not believe the truth of God. "The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they may be saved, and for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness." ( 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12NKJV) This passage indicates that those who do not believe the truth will believe lies. Jesus makes clear in John 8:44 that the devil is the author of lies. "He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources (or character ESV), for he is a liar and the father of it. (NKJV) His lies are not only with regard to salvation as in 2 Thess 2 but about anything and everything. Recently i heard a person who has confessed Christ for decades speak about how worthless they felt. This is not God's perspective. He refers to us as "dear children," ( Ephesians5:1),"holy, royal priests, special people" (1 Peter 2:9 NKJV); "more than conquerors," (Romans 8:37); "vessels of mercy," (Romans 9:23), "sons and daughters of the Father," (2 Corinthians 6:18)"citizens of heaven," (Philippians 3:20) and many other things. But we must believe. Many have concern about their physical appearance. God has promised us bodies like the glorious body of Jesus. ( Phil 3:21) But what about this life? In Genesis 1 God says with regard to His creation six separate times that it was good. Only after the creation of man does He says that it was very good. (verse 31) I find it instructive that in the Old Testament we do have occasional physical descriptions of individual people. Elisha was bald, David had a ruddy complexion, Saul stood a head above all the people and half a dozen women, among them Sarah, Rebecca, and Rachel are described as beautiful. The only thing similar in the New Testament is Zaccheus in Luke 19 of whom we learn that he was short. This striking differences, that we have no physical description of Jesus or Peter or Paul, shows clearly how unimportant this is to God. I believe that because God created us, He likes the way we look, and we would be much happier not to place so much emphasis on this. 1 Timothy 4:8 gives clarity on God's perspective. "For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come." (NKJV) Who do we believe? God or the devil?