Identity

I'm pretty sure I've heard many people dealing with cancer or other diseases saying things like, "Cancer doesn't define me" or "Cancer isn't who I am".  I understand where those people are coming from.  They don't want to be thought of purely in terms of the disease that's inside of them.

I met with my best bud, Tim, yesterday.  He commented on how everything is different now.  No matter how much I'd like to go back to the way things were, cancer left an indelible mark once it entered my body.  Cancer doesn't define who I am, but cancer is irrefutably part of my identity.  In the weeks, months, and (Lord-willing) years to come, I will either be a cancer patient or a cancer survivor.

I think of how this parallels our spiritual identities.  From birth, sin was part of our identity; we were born with a sin nature and born at odds with a holy God.  As Christians, we have been redeemed, and we'd like to reject sin as being part of our identity.  And yet, even after being bought by the precious blood of Christ, sin still has a part in defining us.  It's different, for sure.  No longer is sin part of who we are in that we are enslaved and shackled to it.  No, instead sin takes a backseat, but still plays a role in our identity; we are sinners saved by grace.  We were orphans with no relationship to the Father because of our sin, but we can now joyfully call ourselves adopted children because of Christ's work on the cross.

Sin, like cancer, does not fully define who we are, but it is forever part of our identity.  May God be glorified as the One who saves sinners, as the One who adopts the spiritual orphans, and as the One who can heal those with cancer.