” . . . nothing we buy can take away our loneliness, fill our emptiness, or heal our brokenness.”- Fred Rogers
“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us.”- Ephesians 1:7-8
Before beginning Chapter 9 (“Bought”) of Satisfied, Jeff Manion reinforces the significance and power of our identity in Christ:
“Your new identity through God’s adoption means that your most definite reality is not who abandoned, betrayed, or deserted you, however painful and scarring those events were . . . . Your most defining moment is not determined by who threw you out but who took you in (emphasis mine).”
Our identity in Christ, Pastor Manion states, is our starting point in calculating our abundance, for “thinking clearly about who we are, what we have, and what we want.” The author adds that this identity is an incredible starting point for living the contented life. St. Paul then continues to ground the Ephesian Christians in their identity by using a term from the marketplace: redemption.
In the first century Ephesus was the world capitol of the slave trade. Just as a slave’s freedom could be bought or redeemed, Jesus’ death on the cross has freed us from slavery to worldly “solutions”. As Pastor Manion concludes: “Our redemption flows from a God who is grace-rich.”
Today’s question: How does your identity in Christ impact your desert, land between journey on a daily basis? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “Whose are you?”