I want to invite you into a moment. A moment to tune out the distractions and busyness of life and just receive something from the Lord. Take a deep breath in through your nose and out through your mouth. Now do that again. Isn’t that relaxing?
Paul, in his letter to the church in Galatia, said:
“So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” (Galatians 3:26-29, NIV)
This passage has something important for us today. It has a message about our identity. We are not abandoned, forgotten, and insignificant. We are part of a family, truly known, and have significant purpose. According to this passage, every Christ-follower is in Christ. It then goes on to unpack what that means.
In Christ Jesus, you are a child of God. You are individually a son or daughter of the King, but also part of a diverse worldwide family. Through our baptism into Christ (the mode of our being brought in), you have been clothed with Christ. Your identity is Jesus. Through allegiance with Christ you are declared righteous and you are accepted. You are one in Christ Jesus. This means that there are no second-class citizens in God’s family. Your ethnicity, your social rank, your gender, your education, or your zip code have no bearing on your value as a child of God. You are Abraham’s seed and heir to the promise. What is the promise? We get the answer in Galatians 3:8: “All nations will be blessed through you.” You not only are a recipient of the promise through Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection, you are also a bearer of the promise. You are a bringer of blessing in the world.
Take another deep breath in and let it out. Now, declare these truths:
I am a child of God
I have been brought into the family through baptism
I am clothed with Christ
I am one with Christ
I am blessed to be a blessing