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The unveiling of our true identity and destiny – Part 6

By Austen C. Ukachi
18 March 2018   |   3:00 am
Jesus came to give us an understanding of what our true identity is. The Bible is the story of changed lives of men and women whose identities were transformed by God and whose testimonies and names are now recorded in God’s Hall of Fame. God made them from being a people without hope to a…

Ukachi

Jesus came to give us an understanding of what our true identity is. The Bible is the story of changed lives of men and women whose identities were transformed by God and whose testimonies and names are now recorded in God’s Hall of Fame.

God made them from being a people without hope to a people of hope, from being a people of insignificance to a place of recognition, from being in the backwater of life to a place of prominence. 

Jesus did not come to save perfect human beings, but to make sinners into saints, to bring imperfect human beings into the position of son-ship in Christ Jesus.

The writer of the book of Hebrews Chapter summarised the experiences of those who discovered what their true identities and destinies are, “How much more do I need to say? It would take too long to recount the stories of the faith of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and all the prophets.  

By faith these people overthrew kingdoms, ruled with justice, and received what God had promised them. They shut the mouths of lions, quenched the flames of fire, and escaped death by the edge of the sword. Their weakness was turned to strength. They became strong in battle and put whole armies to flight.  Women received their loved ones back again from death.”

But others were tortured, refusing to turn from God in order to be set free. They placed their hope in a better life after the resurrection…  “Some died by stoning, some were sawed in half, [a] and others were killed with the sword.

Some went about wearing skins of sheep and goats, destitute and oppressed and mistreated. They were too good for this world, wandering over deserts and mountains, hiding in caves and holes in the ground.” (Hebrews 11:32-38)

Transformed Lives and Testimonies 

Examples of transformed lives include Abraham. God changed the identity of Abraham from being a worshipper of idols to a worshipper and follower of the Almighty God; from a father without children to a father of nations.

He changed the identity of Jacob from a ‘supplanter’ to a ‘Prince with God.’

He transformed Gideon from being a coward who was hiding from the Midianites to a courageous liberator of Israel.

He transformed Jephthah from a social reject and street man to a liberator and leader of a nation, (Judges 11).

He made King Saul, a naive young man to be a commander of God’s inheritance, (1 Sam.10:1).

God elevated David from being a shepherd boy, forgotten in the wilderness to a ruler and king in Israel, (2 Sam.7:8).

He made Elisha a one-time farmer to discover that he was called to be a prophet, a servant and messenger of God.

He made Daniel to rise from slavery to being a Prime Minister in Babylon.

He elevated Esther from being a Jewish orphan and slave girl to being a Queen in the palace of king Ahasuerus in Shushan. 

Peter was transformed from a mere fisherman to an apostle and head of the disciples.

Blind Bartimaeus was transformed from being a blind beggar consigned to a street corner to a follower of Jesus, (Mk.10:46-52).

Paul’s identity was changed from a “former blasphemer, persecutor and insolent man” to a “preacher, an apostle and a teacher of the Gentiles.”

The list of transformed lives is endless. Even now, God is still in the business of transformation; making people to discover what God has chosen them to be from the foundation of the world. CONTACT:pastoracukachi@gmail.com

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