Identity and Identification

2 Cor. 5:14-15

For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.

Who we really are matters - a lot.

Yesterday's post looked at our identity in Christ. Because of our position in Him, we can gladly serve even those who treat us like servants.

But another key element in service is our identification with Christ. Paul writes here that the love of Christ controls him and his team because of a doctrinal conclusion they have made: Christ died for all, and therefore we died. He did those so that we live not for ourselves but for Him.

Identification is a key doctrine for Paul. In Rom. 5:12-21 and much of Romans 6, he lays out the theological truths underlying identification. Basically, when we are unsaved we are "in Adam", identified with Adam in sin and the realm of death. But when we are saved we are "in Christ", identified with Christ in the realm of life.

But Paul's teaching to the Corinthians takes it a step further. This doctrinal truth - our identification with Christ's death as our own - means that the we live to Him. Because of this conclusion, Paul says, we are controlled by the love of Christ. He put it a different way in Gal. 2:20: "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."

Why is this significant to living a life of servanthood? Simply this: you can't injure a dead man. When we consider ourselves dead and our new lives as belonging to Him, the love of Christ can truly control us in ways that are supernatural.

Historically, times when there are plagues or massive outbreaks of disease or pestilence have frequently (though not always) been times of growth for Christianity. Why? Because often Christians have been the only ones willing to take the risks of serving. Did they die? Sure, a lot of them did - but they died giving eternal life and temporal help to others. And in some cases, because of their care for one another, they survived in greater numbers and had more who could help the unbelievers around them. What made them do something so unnatural? Like Paul, they considered themselves dead in Christ and living for Him. As a result, His love controlled them.

As we seek to be people of supernatural service, let's get a grasp on both our identity in Christ and our identification with Christ. Such a doctrinal foundation will give us a love that serves - whatever the risk.