IDENTITY DEFINES DESTINY

“Yet you made them only a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honor” – Psalm 8:5 (TLB)

God would have us established in the truth that IDENTITY DEFINES DESTINY: “Yet you made them only a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honor” (Psa.8:5). The New King James Version says: “For You have made him a little lower than the angels, and You have crowned him with glory and honor.” However, the word translated “angels” in Hebrew is “Elohim”, meaning God! This aligns with the Identity that God bestowed on Man at creation. Right from Genesis, God reveals the ordained Identity that should define our destiny! He crowned His works with the creation of human beings, made in His very image (Gen 1:27). This means that we have within us a spark of divinity – a divine Identity!

Identity answers the question: “Who am I?” or “Who has God called me to be?” Destiny answers the question: “What has God called me to do?” Occupation or Vocation is what we do for a living. This does not define us. There is so much more to each of us than what we do for a living or the position we occupy. It is Identity that defines our destination! Expectedly, the human heart never retreats from the search for true identity and destiny. Unlike unbelievers however, we who believe in Christ, have at our disposal the guiding testimony of the Scriptures. It is within these sacred scripts and teachings that we begin to unveil who we are, what we are called to do and where we destined.

The psalmist reflects on God’s loving, creative acts with wonder: “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?” (Ps 8:3-4). With our identity rooted in this understanding of a God who lovingly fashioned us to bear the divine Image, there is within us a sense of remarkable dignity. The truth that our identity determines our destinies is unveiled severally unveiled in Scriptures. Once Moses realised who he was, his life took a whole new direction (Heb.11:27). He grew from being a shepherd on the run to a deliverer of those enslaved in Egypt. Scriptures contain many stories of God’s call in the lives of ordinary people who did extraordinary things in His name.

The prophets were farmers, herdsmen, and teachers who became God’s mouthpiece of justice and mercy. Esther was a Jewish woman married off to a Persian ruler, and positioned to save her people from slaughter. Mary was a young maiden whose consent to God’s plan led to the Messiah’s birth. Paul was a faithful Jew who discovered in Jesus the courage to die to self and live for Christ. Our own stories are still being written, but our identity is established and our destiny is secure – in Christ! In Him we find identity, meaning and value. We can rest assured that, dignified in Christ and connected to our loving God, we will manifest our identity and be able to confidently answer the questions: “Who am I? What is my destiny?”

God often adjusts people’s identities to reset their destinies. He changed Abram's name: “No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations" (Gen. 17:5). He also changed Sarai's name to Sarah (Gen. 17:15). Isaac, the son of promise was the product of God’s words. Gideon was so terrified of the Midianites that he hid inside a winepress, believing that they would take what little he had if they saw him threshing wheat (Jud. 6:1–11). But, the angel of the Lord appeared to him, saying: “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor” (Jud. 6:12). When he finally saw himself the way God saw him, he went on to deliver the Israelites (Jud. 7:1–25).

Beloved, what God calls you matters most! He is your Source and the Author and Finisher of your Faith. Your Identity in Him defines your destiny!