Isaiah 62:1-12 & At the Tree

I had a tree house. My dad helped me build it. Actually he mostly built it and I watched and suggested. Although after he built it I properly accessorized it such that it was no longer just a tree house; it became a fort, a command center, a hideout, a bunker, and an armory all in one. It was there I was no longer known as Josh King; I took on several aliases: Dutch (Stolen that from the Schwarzenegger hit “Predator”. If ever he should have won an Oscar…), Snake Eyes, and Rambo (not the new-old version, but the old-young version). I became a ninja / commando / superhero / assassin in that tree… um… I mean fort / secret base / armory thingy.

We long for another identity as a child, is it because we know something is wrong with the one we have? Though made in the image of God we are seriously marred by sin.

But in Christ we are made new.

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. – 1 Corinthians 6:9-11

At the tree house I imagined a new identity.

At the tree Jesus bore the sins of my real identity.

In Christ I have a new identity, it is real, and it is better than anything I ever imagined. Here I am known by names such as: Holy, Saint, Child, Redeemed, Loved, Chosen, and Righteous.