Without doubt throughout the second half of this century man has become increasingly preoccupied with himself. Self-centeredness used to be frowned upon as being an immature narcissistic trait but now it is lauded as the golden step to success, power and, even to godhood! Psychology is bulging at the seams with a vast array of postulates seeking to "heal" and "transform" denatured self-image and devalued self-esteem. Psychotherapies which teach how to overcome low self-esteem have attracted large numbers of people and large amounts of money. Self-philosophies have become so widespread that they have now developed into becoming the central focus of New Age Religion. The deification of Self has a huge global following and now may well be the largest religion in the world.
The church has also been powerfully impacted by the religion of self-identity and often has absorbed many theories of self directly from New Age psychologies without any discerning Biblical evaluation. The evangelisation of Christians and churches by New Age concepts has been very successful. Many in the church who see great dangers in this conversion of Christians to New Age selfism are trumpeting warnings of a coming apostasy with Christians being perilously discipled into becoming "..lovers of selves rather than lovers of God.." (2 Timothy 3:1,2). However, whilst these prophetic cautions need to be seriously heeded, often extreme compensating counter-reactions occur and these result in the total rejection of anything to do with "self-image" at all! This is equally as harmful.
The Bible is literally overflowing with doctrines about identity. Indeed the central focus of the gospel has to do with the very unique identity of Jesus being the son of man and the Son of God. Doctrines of sin are about man's fallen identity. Doctrines of salvation are about a new identity. Knowing God is about knowing God's identity. Learning how not to be ignorant of Satan's devices is to know the Devil's identity.
Actually the reason why Eve and Adam originally sinned was because of an identity conflict. This identity crisis was to be become the most destructive power ever to be unleashed throughout the whole of human history! Nothing compares to this evil power which through a few moments of conversation, spiritually murdered for all eternity, every single human being who would ever live! Awesomely, however, this diabolically destructive expression of the Power of Identity was to be eventually defeated by the Power of an Identity which subsequently has turned the world upside down! In our world there is nothing more powerful than Identity whether used for good or for evil.
To begin to understand the Power of Identity we need to scripturally review its darkside first. Hebrews 2:14introduces us to the unique power of Satan which is described as the power of death. Satan's power of death is first met with early in the Bible in Genesis 3 and it is in this chapter where we will find a description about the most unimaginably evil power ever to be released. The eternally destructive violence which is recorded here is beyond our ability to fully comprehend, yet we must grasp the glimpses we are given in these six short verses (Genesis 3:1-6). Here we have unveiled to us Satan's ultimate weapon of eternal genocide which would destroy every single living human being who would ever exist!
These verses are the most violent words ever written!!
In Genesis 3:5, Satan through a few subtle conversational words simply offers Eve a false identity! Satan entices Eve with a new identity, that of her becoming a god. She accepts, Adam accepts and everyone who would ever live is instantly spiritually murdered for eternity! Romans 5:12 tells us that eternal death passed upon all men through the entering into the world of the Genesis 3:6 acceptance of a false identity by Eve and Adam. Satan's power of death is the power to cause people to accept or desire a false identity and this is the power of eternal destruction, the darkside of the Power of Identity!! Satan has continued throughout human history to wage war against humanity by using his power of false identity. He also utilises his evil power of identity in special ways provoking humanity to wage war against itself. Every war is about identity! When we look at the wars of the last century we see the mass slaughter of millions of people because of identity. Hitler believed a false identity that the German race was Aryan and therefore totally superior to all other races. This false identity plunged the world into global destruction with millions perishing, along with six million Jews being holocausted because the Nazis believed the Jews were subhuman in their identity. One man with a belief in false identities turning the world into catastrophe. Such is the darkside of the Power of Identity.
Wars slaughter millions because of differences of racial, religious or political attributes of identity. The recent horror in Rwanda was the result of an identity conflict between the Hutus and the Tutsis resulting in a million people being murdered! The Middle East wars throughout the centuries are to do with religious and racial identities. Israel is a military nation with a nuclear arsenal because it is determined to preserve its long historical identity. The imprisonment, torture and murder of millions of Chinese during the reign of the cruel emperor Mao Zedong was over whether your identity was capitalist or proletarian. The wars in Croatia and Bosnia where mass graves indicate ethnic cleansing, are resultant of a hideous vicious war of identities. France explodes nuclear bombs which threaten to contaminate the largest ocean in the world, in order to protect its national identity.South Africa 's recent return from the edge of the abyss of a civil war over racial disidentity, still threatens to re-erupt at any time. The biggest source of unrest in my own nation is the conflict over our identities whether we be Caucasian, Maori, Polynesian or Asian. There are radicals in New Zealand who are prepared to embrace killing because of differences of identity. Nothing is more powerful for good or for evil than when you activate some part of the various components which constitute our identities. The Islamic Terrorist identity is a witches brew of religious, historical and psychopathic dynamics which together produce a cynical satanic identity of supernatural depravity and destruction.
In Matthew 4 Satan would seek to destroy the Messiah before his ministry even started by seeking to undermine his identity. "..If thou be the Son of God..", Satan utters, seeking to cynically verbalise his Power of Dis-identity. Satan would attack Jesus' true identity but would fail. His power of death had begun to meet its match! Nevertheless Christ would eventually in a few short years be murdered by crucifixion because of his identity. Matthew 26:63-66 is the ultimate reason for the Jews to kill Jesus, "..Are you the Christ the Son of God..". Jesus affirms his true identity and because He does, they then condemn him to death. Such is the darkside of the Power of Identity.
At the end of the age as at the beginning, Satan continues to use his evil power of identity. Revelation 13:2 reveals Satan giving his power and authority to a many headed monster demon principality. Satan's power is to be expressed by this hideous devil-being, by attacking the identity of God (v5,6) and the identity of the saints (v7). The sobering declaration of v7 is that the "beast" makes war with the saints and overcomes them! Therefore Christians really do need to know about Satan's power of dis-identity. The remainder of v7 reveals that the satanic power of the beast is targeted at three levels of identity, ie., kindreds, tongues, nations. "Kindreds" speak of the generational family lines impacting our identities. Much has been written about the powerful influence of the family upon the child's identity and self-image development. "Tongues" speaks of our racial identity, and, "nations" speaks of our nationalistic identity. These are three very powerful sources of our sense of identity and they reside very deeply at the centre of our hearts. This "beast" will as much as is possible seek to distort and pervert these identity building blocks, and through these false self-images seek to defeat us.
In v6 we see the "beast" launching through words an attack on the identity of God, "..he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name..". God's name(s) are the glorious descriptions of the attributes of His identity. Satan has always sought to distort the true image, the true identity of God. Without exception all the deceptions of the world religions and all the deceptions within the church itself, are deceptions which involve the dis-identity of God, Jesus Christ or the Holy Spirit. Such is the darkside of the Power of Identity. Muslims, Hindus and Jews think Jesus was a prophet not the Son of God. Mormons believe he is Satan's brother and that Adam is God, etc. Whatever way you look at it false identity is both powerfully deceiving and destructive. Billions of people are the casualties of Satan's power of death, the power of false identity.
If the satanic and sinful expressions of False Identity are truly immense in their power, then eternally more powerful are the expressions of True Identity! All major Biblical doctrines are foundationally interwoven with power concepts of identity. Salvation begins when we are made profoundly aware by the Holy Spirit that we exist with a "fallen" and "sinful" identity which totally hinders us from having a love relationship with Almighty God. We need a new identity which involves a transformation of progressively putting to death the old identity and being progressively renewed with the very essence of the identity of Christ. Our new identity is that we become an eternal son or daughter of Everlasting Father God!
The Apostle Paul would summarise this in Galatians 2:20 with, "..I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in Me..", and, in 2 Corinthians 5:17 , "..if any man be in Christ he is a new creature..". Galatians 4:6 says it best, "..because ye are sons (or daughters), God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father..". This is all identity language, powerful immense and transforming! This is the true self-image and the correctly valued self-esteem. It is wondrous to behold the beautiful affirmation of Jesus' identity by His Father in Matthew 3:17, "..This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased..". As we've already seen, a few verses later Satan would be attacking that very affirmation of His Identity.
We also see an application of the power of true identity which is foundational to the existence and continued sustaining of the church. Enter Matthew 16:13-19! Jesus proclaims that the revelation of Jesus' true identity as the Christ, the Son of the living God, is the "Rock" upon which the Church is to be built! The power of the identity of this "Cornerstone" of the eternal living Temple of God , cannot be prevailed against by all the Powers and Authorities of Hell! Such is the power of true Identity!
The unity of the knowledge of the Son of God (Ephesians 4:13 ), declares the apostle Paul, is the final goal before the Church reaches the glorious perfection of full maturity. The perfection of the knowledge of the Son of God is the fullest possible Biblical revelation of the identities of Jesus Christ. Pursuing an increasing revelation and understanding of the great mysteries of Christ's identity ie: His divinity, humanity and ministry, is to continually fulfil the primary reality of eternal life, ie: "..that I may know Him..". (Phillipians 3:10).
The power of His Name is the power of His true identity. His name(s) describe the powers of His identities. The demons knew the power of His true identity and fled! (Matthew 8:28,29; Mark1:23-27). Jesus promises all believers the power to heal sickness and the power to deliver those possessed with demons, when they use the power of His Name, the power of His identity. Jesus will affirm His identity with signs and wonders and miracles (Mark 16:17 -20). Such is the power of His Identity!
Over the 20+ years that I have been involved in the Counselling ministry, without question identity related problems predominate. Reality is actually a composite of eternal identities, that of God, Satan and Self. Wrongly perceive any one of these identities, destructive power is released and reality is distorted. From serious psychoses such as schizophrenia and anorexia, to homosexuality, to marital estrangement, whether great or small problems, identity-abuse is the underlying cause. God always seeks to heal the broken identity, through the power of His Love and the power of His Truth. The scriptures address very thoroughly the self-image of man. Hebrews 2:6 asks the question of man's true identity with "..What is man?..". The elaborate Biblical answers to this ancient question, begin with the next verse (Hebrews 2:7), by proclaiming that man firstly has a healthy low self-image, by being less than God and less than angels, but secondly he also has an exalted self-image, by being crowned by God himself, with honour and glory! ...But that's another story...
By Pastor Allan Anderson MDiv, Phd.
The church has also been powerfully impacted by the religion of self-identity and often has absorbed many theories of self directly from New Age psychologies without any discerning Biblical evaluation. The evangelisation of Christians and churches by New Age concepts has been very successful. Many in the church who see great dangers in this conversion of Christians to New Age selfism are trumpeting warnings of a coming apostasy with Christians being perilously discipled into becoming "..lovers of selves rather than lovers of God.." (2 Timothy 3:1,2). However, whilst these prophetic cautions need to be seriously heeded, often extreme compensating counter-reactions occur and these result in the total rejection of anything to do with "self-image" at all! This is equally as harmful.
The Bible is literally overflowing with doctrines about identity. Indeed the central focus of the gospel has to do with the very unique identity of Jesus being the son of man and the Son of God. Doctrines of sin are about man's fallen identity. Doctrines of salvation are about a new identity. Knowing God is about knowing God's identity. Learning how not to be ignorant of Satan's devices is to know the Devil's identity.
Actually the reason why Eve and Adam originally sinned was because of an identity conflict. This identity crisis was to be become the most destructive power ever to be unleashed throughout the whole of human history! Nothing compares to this evil power which through a few moments of conversation, spiritually murdered for all eternity, every single human being who would ever live! Awesomely, however, this diabolically destructive expression of the Power of Identity was to be eventually defeated by the Power of an Identity which subsequently has turned the world upside down! In our world there is nothing more powerful than Identity whether used for good or for evil.
To begin to understand the Power of Identity we need to scripturally review its darkside first. Hebrews 2:14introduces us to the unique power of Satan which is described as the power of death. Satan's power of death is first met with early in the Bible in Genesis 3 and it is in this chapter where we will find a description about the most unimaginably evil power ever to be released. The eternally destructive violence which is recorded here is beyond our ability to fully comprehend, yet we must grasp the glimpses we are given in these six short verses (Genesis 3:1-6). Here we have unveiled to us Satan's ultimate weapon of eternal genocide which would destroy every single living human being who would ever exist!
These verses are the most violent words ever written!!
In Genesis 3:5, Satan through a few subtle conversational words simply offers Eve a false identity! Satan entices Eve with a new identity, that of her becoming a god. She accepts, Adam accepts and everyone who would ever live is instantly spiritually murdered for eternity! Romans 5:12 tells us that eternal death passed upon all men through the entering into the world of the Genesis 3:6 acceptance of a false identity by Eve and Adam. Satan's power of death is the power to cause people to accept or desire a false identity and this is the power of eternal destruction, the darkside of the Power of Identity!! Satan has continued throughout human history to wage war against humanity by using his power of false identity. He also utilises his evil power of identity in special ways provoking humanity to wage war against itself. Every war is about identity! When we look at the wars of the last century we see the mass slaughter of millions of people because of identity. Hitler believed a false identity that the German race was Aryan and therefore totally superior to all other races. This false identity plunged the world into global destruction with millions perishing, along with six million Jews being holocausted because the Nazis believed the Jews were subhuman in their identity. One man with a belief in false identities turning the world into catastrophe. Such is the darkside of the Power of Identity.
Wars slaughter millions because of differences of racial, religious or political attributes of identity. The recent horror in Rwanda was the result of an identity conflict between the Hutus and the Tutsis resulting in a million people being murdered! The Middle East wars throughout the centuries are to do with religious and racial identities. Israel is a military nation with a nuclear arsenal because it is determined to preserve its long historical identity. The imprisonment, torture and murder of millions of Chinese during the reign of the cruel emperor Mao Zedong was over whether your identity was capitalist or proletarian. The wars in Croatia and Bosnia where mass graves indicate ethnic cleansing, are resultant of a hideous vicious war of identities. France explodes nuclear bombs which threaten to contaminate the largest ocean in the world, in order to protect its national identity.South Africa 's recent return from the edge of the abyss of a civil war over racial disidentity, still threatens to re-erupt at any time. The biggest source of unrest in my own nation is the conflict over our identities whether we be Caucasian, Maori, Polynesian or Asian. There are radicals in New Zealand who are prepared to embrace killing because of differences of identity. Nothing is more powerful for good or for evil than when you activate some part of the various components which constitute our identities. The Islamic Terrorist identity is a witches brew of religious, historical and psychopathic dynamics which together produce a cynical satanic identity of supernatural depravity and destruction.
In Matthew 4 Satan would seek to destroy the Messiah before his ministry even started by seeking to undermine his identity. "..If thou be the Son of God..", Satan utters, seeking to cynically verbalise his Power of Dis-identity. Satan would attack Jesus' true identity but would fail. His power of death had begun to meet its match! Nevertheless Christ would eventually in a few short years be murdered by crucifixion because of his identity. Matthew 26:63-66 is the ultimate reason for the Jews to kill Jesus, "..Are you the Christ the Son of God..". Jesus affirms his true identity and because He does, they then condemn him to death. Such is the darkside of the Power of Identity.
At the end of the age as at the beginning, Satan continues to use his evil power of identity. Revelation 13:2 reveals Satan giving his power and authority to a many headed monster demon principality. Satan's power is to be expressed by this hideous devil-being, by attacking the identity of God (v5,6) and the identity of the saints (v7). The sobering declaration of v7 is that the "beast" makes war with the saints and overcomes them! Therefore Christians really do need to know about Satan's power of dis-identity. The remainder of v7 reveals that the satanic power of the beast is targeted at three levels of identity, ie., kindreds, tongues, nations. "Kindreds" speak of the generational family lines impacting our identities. Much has been written about the powerful influence of the family upon the child's identity and self-image development. "Tongues" speaks of our racial identity, and, "nations" speaks of our nationalistic identity. These are three very powerful sources of our sense of identity and they reside very deeply at the centre of our hearts. This "beast" will as much as is possible seek to distort and pervert these identity building blocks, and through these false self-images seek to defeat us.
In v6 we see the "beast" launching through words an attack on the identity of God, "..he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name..". God's name(s) are the glorious descriptions of the attributes of His identity. Satan has always sought to distort the true image, the true identity of God. Without exception all the deceptions of the world religions and all the deceptions within the church itself, are deceptions which involve the dis-identity of God, Jesus Christ or the Holy Spirit. Such is the darkside of the Power of Identity. Muslims, Hindus and Jews think Jesus was a prophet not the Son of God. Mormons believe he is Satan's brother and that Adam is God, etc. Whatever way you look at it false identity is both powerfully deceiving and destructive. Billions of people are the casualties of Satan's power of death, the power of false identity.
If the satanic and sinful expressions of False Identity are truly immense in their power, then eternally more powerful are the expressions of True Identity! All major Biblical doctrines are foundationally interwoven with power concepts of identity. Salvation begins when we are made profoundly aware by the Holy Spirit that we exist with a "fallen" and "sinful" identity which totally hinders us from having a love relationship with Almighty God. We need a new identity which involves a transformation of progressively putting to death the old identity and being progressively renewed with the very essence of the identity of Christ. Our new identity is that we become an eternal son or daughter of Everlasting Father God!
The Apostle Paul would summarise this in Galatians 2:20 with, "..I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in Me..", and, in 2 Corinthians 5:17 , "..if any man be in Christ he is a new creature..". Galatians 4:6 says it best, "..because ye are sons (or daughters), God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father..". This is all identity language, powerful immense and transforming! This is the true self-image and the correctly valued self-esteem. It is wondrous to behold the beautiful affirmation of Jesus' identity by His Father in Matthew 3:17, "..This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased..". As we've already seen, a few verses later Satan would be attacking that very affirmation of His Identity.
We also see an application of the power of true identity which is foundational to the existence and continued sustaining of the church. Enter Matthew 16:13-19! Jesus proclaims that the revelation of Jesus' true identity as the Christ, the Son of the living God, is the "Rock" upon which the Church is to be built! The power of the identity of this "Cornerstone" of the eternal living Temple of God , cannot be prevailed against by all the Powers and Authorities of Hell! Such is the power of true Identity!
The unity of the knowledge of the Son of God (Ephesians 4:13 ), declares the apostle Paul, is the final goal before the Church reaches the glorious perfection of full maturity. The perfection of the knowledge of the Son of God is the fullest possible Biblical revelation of the identities of Jesus Christ. Pursuing an increasing revelation and understanding of the great mysteries of Christ's identity ie: His divinity, humanity and ministry, is to continually fulfil the primary reality of eternal life, ie: "..that I may know Him..". (Phillipians 3:10).
The power of His Name is the power of His true identity. His name(s) describe the powers of His identities. The demons knew the power of His true identity and fled! (Matthew 8:28,29; Mark1:23-27). Jesus promises all believers the power to heal sickness and the power to deliver those possessed with demons, when they use the power of His Name, the power of His identity. Jesus will affirm His identity with signs and wonders and miracles (Mark 16:17 -20). Such is the power of His Identity!
Over the 20+ years that I have been involved in the Counselling ministry, without question identity related problems predominate. Reality is actually a composite of eternal identities, that of God, Satan and Self. Wrongly perceive any one of these identities, destructive power is released and reality is distorted. From serious psychoses such as schizophrenia and anorexia, to homosexuality, to marital estrangement, whether great or small problems, identity-abuse is the underlying cause. God always seeks to heal the broken identity, through the power of His Love and the power of His Truth. The scriptures address very thoroughly the self-image of man. Hebrews 2:6 asks the question of man's true identity with "..What is man?..". The elaborate Biblical answers to this ancient question, begin with the next verse (Hebrews 2:7), by proclaiming that man firstly has a healthy low self-image, by being less than God and less than angels, but secondly he also has an exalted self-image, by being crowned by God himself, with honour and glory! ...But that's another story...
By Pastor Allan Anderson MDiv, Phd.