If you listen to much Christian music and pay attention to the themes, you will have noticed lately, how many songs have risen to the top of the charts that carry the theme ofiIdentityor who we are in Christ.  Hillsong’s Who You Say I Am, Jason Gray’s Remind Me who I Am, Bethel’s No Longer Slaves, etc. are just a few that focus on who the Father has made us to be in Christ.

If you reflect on Christian music through the years, certain themes rise to the surface at different times.  I believe the Holy Spirit directs much of the Christian music that is born in each decade or generation and that music undergirds foundations that need to be laid in believers for his upcoming purposes and events in the world.  Right now, identityis on the front burner. It’s not that it hasn’t always been important.  God has always gone to extreme lengths throughout history to affirm who we are in Jesus as his new creations.  But in this current culture of fading family identity, compromised truths in the church, shifting definitions of gender and marriage, and a heightened war against Christianity, it is especially critical that we know who we are…not as it is defined by self, culture, or government…but by God who operates from eternal truths and values.

David wrote, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be” (Ps.139:13-16).

This Psalm reveals God’s involvement and sovereignty in the lives of individuals.  From the point of conception, God’s hand is upon each person. He creates that individual’s inmost being (his or her temperament, gifts, abilities, etc.) as well as some physical characteristics. Then, he says that every day has been ordained for us and written in his book.  I believe that God ordains opportunities for us which are the good worksprepared in advance for us in Ephesians 2:10. When the opportunity arises, we can still say “yes” or “no” to the moment, but God ordained the opportunity.

Concerning our identity, God has set an identity within us that coincides with the purposes he has ordained for our lives. Biblically, it is not me, culture, government, or science that determines who I should be, but rather God. Knowing who God has made me to be, anchors me in who I am and the call he has placed on my life.  We need to actively be speaking identity over our children, ourselves, and one another in a world where nothing seems certain or absolute any more.

In our Free Indeed ministry, we emphasize identity a great deal and even ask our participants to read out loud a declaration of their identity in Christ at least once a day for 60 days to renew their mind in God’s truth about them.  It is one of the most transformative activations we do in our eight-week series.

Because of the cultural (demonic) assault on our identity in this generation, beginning next week, I want to spend several blogs discussing who we are in Christ, the amazing value he has given each of us, and why it is so important to know that.  I hope you will join me for this important series.

My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes beheld my unformed substance. In your book were writtenall the days that were formed for me, when none of them as yet existed. Psalm 13:15-16

Do you think much about your destiny in Christ? In the scripture above, David tells us that God ordained the days of our lives before we were born and, most likely, before the foundations of the earth were ever laid. The apostle Paul declares that we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus, to do good works that have been prepared ahead of time for us to perform (Eph.2:10). Those thoughts spell out the concept of destiny – a future already laid out for you by your Father.

Graham Cooke says this about our destiny. “We have two relationships with God: who we are in the present, and who He says we are in the future. Jesus occupies the space between those two identities as He stands in the gap, interceding for us before the throne (Heb.7:25). We are so much more beautiful than we know, and more powerful than we realize. Often when we are solely preoccupied with the present, we can lose sight of where we are going and who we are becoming. We get caught up with negatives, burdened by our sense of lack…We need people to remind us of our true identity. We need our companions to speak into our future destiny. Someone needs to see the treasure and not just the earthen vessel” (Graham Cooke, Coming Into Alignment, p.20-21).

Having a sense of our destiny, the plans that God has for our life, keeps us going in dark times or in times that simply seem meaningless. David knew his destiny after Samuel poured oil on his head and told him that someday he would rule over Israel. He needed the assurance that God had a destiny for him during the years that David and his men were living in caves in the desert while being pursued by Saul. One of the profound blessings of a prophetic word over your life is a sense of destiny that gives the present meaning and direction. Those believers who don’t accept the ministry of prophetic words miss out on the blessing.

Remember the words of Jeremiah to Israel when everything looked hopeless. “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jer.29:11). Through his prophet, God declared that Israel still had a destiny that He had ordained. The reason it is so important to know that we have a God-ordained destiny is that we can also know that he watches over that destiny to make it a reality.

When we talk about “destiny” we are not talking about a Calvinistic predestination that will occur no matter what we do. Our destiny, like the other promises of God, is contingent on our cooperation. God prepares good works for us in advance (Eph.2:10). When we get to that place in our journey, we still have to make a decision whether to step into our destiny or avoid it. It’s like taking a trip that has been marked out by God. He tells us that he has laid out an amazing and beautiful journey for us and all we need to do is to follow his road signs. Everyday we will come to a fork in the road. There we will find a sign that says, “God’s way.”

There will also be other signs that might say, “My way” or “The World’s Way” or “The Way of the Flesh.” We then must choose which road to take. God has pre-destined a beautiful, fruitful, exciting journey and has marked it for us. However, with our free will, we may choose a different road and miss that part of our destiny. The good news is that we can also choose to return to God’s way and re-enter our destiny. Knowing that God has laid out a unique road for each of us should motivate us to stay on the road marked “God’s Way. ” That way must be found by the leading of the Spirit. As long as we engage with the Father in fulfilling our destiny, he will watch over it and us to see that it is accomplished.

God will surprise us at times with our destiny. Moses was 80 years old when God surprised him by speaking from a burning bush. Some of us are very young and are still trying to get a sense of our destiny or the things God has called us to do. Prayer, a prophetic word, open doors of opportunity, and an awareness of our spiritual gifts are often clues to our future because we are gifted to accomplish his unique purposes for us. Some of us are older and wonder if God has anything else for us. Remember that God has established a destiny for us every day or our lives.

When you are in your teens or your twenties you think about how many years you have lived because as you get older, more doors of opportunity are opened to you – a driver’s license, the ability to vote, etc. Once you crack the sixty-mark you start thinking about how many more years of quality life you have left. I have had a number of prophetic words spoken over me that are consistent but have not yet manifested in my life. One day I was wondering if they would ever manifest because the years are rapidly slipping by. God simply spoke to me and told me not to think about my age because he determines my age, not a calendar. He is watching over my destiny and will bring it all to pass as long as I continue to run the race.

If you don’t think about your destiny in Christ, you should. Walking in that destiny is the key to fulfillment and fruitfulness. It is a key to security, knowing that you are doing what God made you to do and that every event in your life has purpose as it propels you or prepares you for the rest of your destiny. Maybe you were even destined to read this blog today! Be blessed in Him.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? (Rom.8:28-31)

As we continue moving through Romans 8, Paul continues to reveal God’s purposes in our lives. God is a loving father and loving fathers have hopes and dreams for their children. They also have wisdom that will direct their children to green pastures and still waters if the children will listen. As we move though this entire chapter we are reminded over and over of how much God wants the best for us and how much he works in our lives to bring us into his best. The problem is that we often resist his best and stubbornly continue to go our own way. The devil also wants to derail the Father’s plans for our lives. Because of that, God often finds himself salvaging something good out of a smoking pile of debris.

If you watch much of HGTV or similar channels there are always shows tracking the adventures and misadventures of people who have chosen to remodel old homes. The problem is that the contractors are continually finding issues where do-it-yourselfers, incompetent builders, or corner-cutting contractors have done things that are not up to code or are just jig-sawed together in dangerous ways. The remodelers then have to tear out what has been done poorly and repair the structural damage incurred to do it right at much added time, expense and effort.  God has to do that in our lives from time to time because of our own bungling or someone else’s but he is committed to making all things work together for good. If we cooperate the project goes much better. His effort, beginning with the cross, is spent on those he has called and those who love him.

After saying that, Paul roles out some big theological terms and concepts – foreknowledge and predestination. In simple terms (the only kind I can understand), God knows what our choices will be before we ever make them (foreknowledge) and then works with our choices to make us more like Jesus which is God’s ultimate plan for every believer. The predestination part of the equation is simply ordaining opportunities for us for to perform good works, express faith, and become more like our King. Knowing what someone will do is not predestination in the sense of making the choice for him or her or giving them no real choice. When we go to our favorite Mexican food restaurant in Midland, I already know what my wife will choose from the menu. I could call ahead and have the order waiting for her and I would not be forcing her to eat the Cheese Chile Relleno with everything on it, although I predestined the opportunity for her to choose that item. She could refuse what I arranged and choose something else but since I know her so well, I know she will choose the relleno.

If you are in Christ, then God in his foreknowledge knew that your heart would turn to Jesus and so he called you. God tilled the soil of your heart before anyone planted the Word there but then he put someone in your path to share the gospel with you while the Spirit opened your understanding. You said, “Yes, ” to the invitation. Having been called, you responded, not as God forced you to but as God knew you would. Once you responded he justified you. He declared you sinless in the courts of heaven and, having done that, he glorified you. In the mind of God and the eyes of heaven you are already a glorious son or daughter of the king adding more glory as you serve him and embrace opportunities to do more in the name of Jesus.

This whole chapter chronicles the efforts of God to draw you to himself, save you, make you like Jesus, glorify you, establish an eternal destiny for you and get you home in one piece. And yet, many believers still doubt God’s commitment to them and feel weak and helpless when they find themselves in the crosshairs of the devil. Of all people, we should live with an optimism and a confidence in our purpose and our future. Once again Paul is building up to his thematic declaration, “If God is for us who can be against us?” Many kings and nations have determined to stand against the purposes of God but even those with vast armies at their disposal have been unable to stall his will. Ask Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar, Herod, Caesar, and a host of others who commanded the greatest armies in the world. Each fell before the purposes of God and we can be sure that those who stand against the purposes of God in our own lives will fall as well if we persist in faith.

I watched Seattle come back against Green Bay this past Sunday after being sixteen points down at the half. By all odds, they should have lost but came back late in the fourth quarter to tie and then won on their first drive in overtime. If you were a Seattle fan the game was amazing, exciting, and memorable. I have to admit that God often waits until late in the fourth quarter to deliver us from our enemies but deliver he does if we continue to remember who he is and who we are in him. Even in death we win. As Paul said, “To be out of this body is to be with Christ” (2 Cor.5:8). Take courage in every circumstance for God is with you and he is certainly for you. Your victory has been predestined.