Identity Returned
Nick Chowdhury lost his identity in 1991. It was returned to him last week.
He was fishing on Vancouver Island and left his wallet on the rocks near the shore, not knowing that the tide was rising and would sweep it away. The problem, Chowdhury said, was, ”I had everything in there: my birth certificate, my status card, social insurance card — everything that was me was in that wallet.”
A couple of weeks ago, a 14-year-old, Jamie Lee, dropped something in the rocks along the shore, so he moved them around to find it. Instead, he found Nick’s wallet, 33 years after it had been lost and still with everything inside. Jamie’s dad helped him contact Chowdhury on Facebook. Nick says that’s when he got his identity back, after 33 years.
What identifies you?
You were created by God and for God, with eternal intrinsic value to belong to the Almighty. But your identity was lost. The moment you chose to sin, the rebellion of Adam was ratified and robbed you of your theological identity. But Jesus came to give it back to you.
I had no identity at 17. I had a name, though no address. I didn’t have a photo ID or a passport. Worse, I was cut off from my eternal purpose and had no spiritual life. But when Jesus revealed Himself to me, I became a child of God. My eternal purpose was restored and I had reason to live.
Our world is wrapped up in false identities. Identity politics has taken the west by storm. People want to align themselves with anything that they think matters, whether it’s a political party, a sexual orientation, or a sports team. But you were not created for any of those things. You were created by God and for God. The only identity that will matter in eternity is the identity you can only receive in Christ by attaching yourself to Jesus in faith. He died and rose again to restore to you an eternal purpose.
“To all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12-13 ESV).
“In Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith” (Galatians 3:26 NIV).