Know God’s True Identity Through the Spirit’s Revelation

God desires to awaken us and draw us into His incredible journey of walking through life with Him and to know His true identity through the Holy Spirit’s revelation.

A Journey

God desires to awaken us and draw us into His incredible journey of walking through life with Him. This is to include an ever-deepening relationship with Him as the best Father ever and requires replacing incorrect beliefs regarding His identity with His Biblical truths. We learn to be embraced in His love. Jer 31:3 speaks to each of us by stating, “… I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you (with lovingkindness, I have drawn you” (NKJ).

Social Forces That Shape Our Relationship with God

For both Christians and non-Christians, many forces have been impacting our perspectives of and relationships with God. Much of this occurred long before we cognitively sought to know Him. Even today, pervasive inputs constantly seek to frame our beliefs. Significant among these are cultures, media, education, relationships, and religion. Ethnicities, neighborhoods, families, friends, churches, and authority figures attempt to weave their beliefs and behaviors into our understanding of the very nature of God. Did these present God in the image Christ reveals? Did they exercise their personal authority as loving and caring or as tyrants, waiting to catch us in sin and error? Were religious affiliations based on rules, performance, and either domineering or weak leaders, or did they teach personal relationship, love, and growth through willing surrender and positive accountability to the nurturing lordship of our Heavenly Father?

Cultural Impacts

Secular and religious cultures impact our views of God’s character in hundreds of ways as they seek to implant their perspectives. Consider the following alternative perspectives of God. How have these impacted you? Ask God to reveal additional areas important to your relationship with Him.

• He’s distant and uninvolved. He’s nurturing, loving and patient.
• He’s either never existed or is dead. He’s alive and is the source of life and purpose.
• He’s judgmental, harsh, operates through fear, and is just waiting to punish you. He’s joyous, loves you unconditionally, and walks patiently with you as your teacher and mentor.
• He doesn’t want to be disturbed. He says, Come to Me, all the time about every aspect of life.
• Jesus was out of His mind. He’s a prophet but not God. He is the Son of God, and One with the Father and the Spirit.
• God speaks only through pastors and teachers, and you are not encouraged to confirm their teachings through Bible study. Your Pastor teaches Biblical truths and exhorts you to study God’s Word for revelation and confirmation.

Relationships

This category is really loaded. Past and present relationships significantly impact our abilities to trust and walk with God. For some of us, even using the term “Father” in reference to God closes all doors to our hearts. For others, the influence of our fathers opens our hearts to the wonder of being embraced by God. Dating and marriage relationships may have warmed the hearts and abilities of some of us to trust and share transparently. For others these have been destructive, left deep wounds, and closed-down any thoughts of believing we can trust God. Authority figures, including parents, teachers, police, pastors, and coaches have impacted how we are prone to view and relate to God. Our neighborhood relationships (neighbors, social and ethnic groups, gang memberships) have played significant roles. Each has had lasting impacts on our willingness to relate with our Heavenly Father. Please consider the following as you ask God to reveal their specific impacts on your understanding of His character and ability to trust Him.

• Family: parents, siblings, foster parents, grandparents.
• Authority Figures: school officials, law enforcement, gang affiliations, coaches, institution authorities, and leaders at church and work.
• Social and Community: your family’s ethnic identity, community’s social/economic identity, athletics, academics, cliques, clubs/gangs, prison, recovery groups,
• Intimate Relationships: dating, marriage, partners, friends, isolation

God’s Revelation of Himself

God reveals Himself primarily through His creation, the Old and New Testaments, and most incredibly, the Life of Jesus Christ.

Creation

Romans 1:20 states that “For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.” What do you know about the attributes of God as He reveals Himself through creation?

The Bible

Exodus 20:2, 3: “I am the Lord Your God, who brought you out of Egypt … You shall have no other gods before me.”

Jeremiah 1:5: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you …”

The Bible is God’s source of all the truth He has chosen to reveal. If we view it as written by mankind and therefore subject to our discretionary interpretations, we then have nothing solid to build our lives on or to share with others. Every “truth” is based on the drifting whims of times, tribes, and cultures. However, the Bible teaches All Scripture is given by inspiration of God (2 Tim 3:16). Each of us faces the choice of accepting or rejecting this truth and therefore the Bible as God’s truth. Some chose to reject either all or portions of the Bible at their discretion. They place themselves above God’s Word and have limited or no understanding of who He is. Some attempt to “believe” this Scripture because a credible authority says it is true and tells them they must. This is head knowledge, which is a start, but it does not bring the life of God’s revelation.

Wonderfully, some ask for and receive the revelation of God’s Spirit, and the truth of this Scripture takes up life within them. They engage in a life of transformation, accomplished by the Spirit. This includes an ever-deepening knowledge of the character and love of God. Before moving ahead, please ask God to confirm where you are regarding your belief in the inerrancy of His Word. Settle this with Him in your spirit.

As you read Scripture through the Spirit’s revelation, you will find God’s character comes to light on every page. Yes, you may buy books to do this for you and that is helpful. Making a lifetime out of knowing Him personally through scripture and walking in the Spirit eclipses every other approach. A few of His characteristics revealed in Scripture are that He is:

• Eternal
• All Things Are created by Him
• Holy
• Righteous
• He is a Spirit
• Unconditionally Loving
• All Powerful and All Knowing
• Unchanging

The Identity of Christ

John 3: 16: “For God so loved the world that, he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

Christ reveals the Father. Through John 14: 9 Jesus said “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip?” Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, “Show us the Father?” In the four Gospels, we see God’s identity through the life of Christ – how He walked, talked, prayed, and interacted with individuals and life. His actions convey not only His and His Father’s identity but also the ways Christ desires to express Himself in and through us. We are not to permit secular cultural or church constraints on Christ’s character to replace Scripture. Many correctly focus on Christ’s love, humility, patience and mercy, but do so in a manner that strips both Christ and His followers of the loving confidence, power, and desire for accountable living that He evidenced to all. Ask the Spirit to lead you through the Gospels and reveal Jesus’ character. Focus on His interactions with leaders, His disciples, and those present during His trials and crucifixion. For specific characteristics and a thorough list of Scripture for your consideration, join us in Whose Life Are You Living, Chapters 6 and 20.

Application

Consider the following and ask the Spirit to guide you.

What have you learned concerning your relationship with God as Father? How has your environment impacted your view of the character of God and how He desires to walk lovingly with you.

• In comparison to what Scripture reveals, which elements of your environment have helped, and which have restrained your relationship with Him?
• How is God leading you to explore the characteristics of Christ in the Gospels?
• Is anything blocking your ability to trust God’s character?
• What are the next steps God’s Spirit is calling you to take with Him for you to further embrace God and the incredible relationship He offers?

Author’s Bio: Curt Martin is an author, speaker, seminar leader, and organization consultant. God has filled him with the passion to see every individual and organization become the unique and incredible masterpiece God designed. Little touches Him more than helping awaken all God placed within you, so you thrive in His freedom, purpose, and power as you learn to walk in God’s Spirit. Only those who commit to this journey experience the fullness of living God’s victorious life. Articles include excerpts from his award winning book, “Whose Life Are You Living.”