Justin J. Petrick

One of the greatest crisis a Christian goes through is an identity crisis. An identity crisis occurs when what we do does not align with what we believe. Thus, Satan knows if he can get a Christian confused with who they are in Christ, he can get them confused regarding their life in Christ. I mean lets face it, the first thing Satan attacked in Adam and Eve, and in Jesus, was their identity.

Genesis 3:5 (NIV): “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Matthew 4:3 (NIV): The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

When Satan confuses our identity in Christ, he gets us to question what Christ accomplished on the cross. When we question what Christ accomplished on the cross, we question our confidence in Christ, our empowerment, our worth; we question the very relationship we have with God the Father. We question His love for us.

When we look in the mirror, it is easy for us to limit what we see to our flesh or our sinful nature. When we look in the mirror, we tend to only focus on what we can see, which is our physical looks, our attitude, our emotions, feelings, thoughts, and especially, our behaviors. But what if we look past the flesh? Did you know God’s Word tells us not to pay attention to the flesh?

2 Corinthians 5:16 (NIV): So from now on we regard no one according to the flesh. Although we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.

When we focus on our flesh, we are trying to resurrect what God has condemned (judged and executed) in the body of Christ. We are trying to raise up our old, sinful, dead self to clean him up to try and make him worthy of a relationship with God. This is what happens when we try and correct sin in our life rather than living in our new creation, which is righteous, perfect, and blameless in Christ. If we had the ability to correct sin in our life, Christ wouldn’t have had to die on the cross. This is why it is important to understand who you really are in Christ, to really understand what you see when you look in the mirror.

To understand this, we need to understand God’s original plan:

Ephesians 2:15 (NIV): by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace,

Upon salvation, God literally created a new being out of Christ and you, making one! This is your new creation, aka your spirit!:

2 Corinthians 5:16-17 (NIV): Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer. (17)Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

We also see this is Colossians 3:10 (NIV): and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. Here, Colossians is saying we have to renew our mind to our image in Christ, our Creator. We have to renew our mind by remembering that we are a new creation in Christ!

So, recap: We are born in the flesh, not in the image of God. We see this is Genesis 5:3 when man is born in the image of Adam (I mean, how can we be born in the image of God when we are born in the sinful flesh?). Upon salvation, God breaths his breath of life into us, our spirit comes to life (we are born again), we become married to Christ (our new spirit and the Holy Spirit become one as we are the bride of Christ, or in other words one new humanity is created our of 2 -Eph 2:15) and we are a new creation in Christ.  This is who we are. This is our reality NOW, in the present.  We have got to get into the habit of looking in the mirror, seeing past the flesh to our new, perfect, blameless creation in Christ.

Romans 3:22 says righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ. We have got to believe right to life right. And when we have the ability to look in the mirror and see what God has beautifully created, our new creation in Christ, will we start to live as our new creation! This is where grace prevails over sin in our life. When you really believe your righteousness in Christ, you will start to life as Christ lived (1 John 4:17). When you look in the mirror, you have been created perfect, blameless, and beautifully!

Colossians 1:22 (NIV): But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—

So, when you look in the mirror, who do you see?  Do you see your dead, sinful flesh that has been crucified with Christ? Or do you see your new creation in Christ?