Do we not know who we are?  You mean, with all the seminars and classes and books and websites on “discovering your identity” we could have a problem with it?  Is it possible that you could get all the right answers and know the right stuff and yet have an identity crisis?  What if you agree with such an esteemed authority as “the shovel” (we all know that the shovel is a highly regarded tool! :) ... would you not be exempt from this crisis?  Let me tell you something. If someone could listen to Jesus himself and still have a problem with it, then I have no illusions about those who adhere to what I say! 

There is no magic in the construct of any language.  The source of the power is found in the Spirit of God who gives life to the words!  “which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. (1 Corinthians 2:13)”  And if you think this is referring to some kind of strange, unknown language here then you have missed the boat!  Or if you have the idea that the "spiritual with spiritual" is supporting the concept of cross-referencing scripture with other scripture, then you have adopted the mindset of the Pharisees!  I know ... I'm treading on “holy ground” ... you must forgive me.  :)

The deceiver still whispers his lie. It always sounds different, but it has not changed. He knows who he is talking to ... do you? And when we fall for his deception, this is the reason why. Did you miss that? Oh, we give credit to Satan in such a way that he would have to be everywhere at the same time in order to do it all. But he is not. Nor does he need to give personal attention to the things we credit him for. As long as the initial lie is believed he can take a vacation from you; he is not that interested in how you answer the rest of the question. Who, for Christ's sake, are you?

How is it that we have read the account of Satan's tempting offer to Jesus and still do not get it? Listen! This is not a story about someone else. This is our story! Don't you understand our relation to Christ? His message of freedom by having passed from death into new life makes us sharers in his life. Did you think the reference to believers being made sons of God was only figurative?

I know the little games theologians have played to make distinctions between us and him, such as:

• Son with a big “S” vs. a little “s” (I purposely used the lower case)
• "a" son vs. "the only begotten" Son
• miraculous birth vs. natural birth

My point is that while we go out of our way to expose info that is more than obvious to any natural mind; God has gone out of His way to declare that we have been made the very thing the natural mind considers blasphemously impossible!  Why do you think God would have persisted with that sort of revelation to those who wrote the letters about the good news?  Just take a quick read through the account of John.  If you take what Jesus said to be truth, then he made it very clear that the things that are true about Jesus are also true about those who have received him.  I dare you to read Paul's writings and not see it; he was a crazy man for the truth! One of his favorite expressions was to say that believers are "in Christ".

This is not blasphemy.  There is no suggestion that God has created any new deities, but He HAS made us SHARERS of HIS divine nature (yeah, Peter believed it, too! 2 Peter 1:4).   Don't you get it?  An entirely new thing happened when God invaded human history and became a man!  He joined the creation forevermore with the creator!   Then he killed the old creation when he died and rose as the head of the new creation.  We truly are new creations, and Christ is the substance, the core, the life of our new identity!

And the deceiver has whispered in your ear. It is the same thing he said to Jesus. “If you are the son of God then let's see some proof!”