In this video from the Defined Bible study, actor Kirk Cameron talks about how God is the only one who truly knows who we are because He created us. And because He’s created us, He defines our identity.
Why does identity matter? It matters because Jesus’ life and ministry showed that knowing our God-given identity is a priority for each of us. Inspired by the Kendrick brothers’ new movie OVERCOMER, comes Defined, an exciting new resource about discovering your God-given identity and embracing the wonder of who you were created to be.
Learn more about the Defined: How God Has Defined You Bible study by Alex and Stephen Kendrick.
The entire video is above, and the complete transcript is below.
Imagine for me, as an actor, I work in the world of make believe where perception is not reality. People perceive that I’m Mike Seaver or they perceive that I’m the guy on Fireproof or whatever it is that we put out there for people. But often it’s not reality.
I remember in fact when I first came to faith in Christ one of the big ideas that really impacted me was that nobody really knew who I was. They knew my name. They understood what I did. But I thought, you know, if you cut off my arm, am I still the same person? If I’m no longer on this TV show, am I still the same guy? If I’m not an actor anymore, what does that do to my identity?
And for a lot of us it can be devastating. But when I came to understand the gospel the thought occurred to me that I’m now entering into relationship with One who sees what I do when nobody else is watching, One who understands my past and sees my future, One who really knows my strengths and my weaknesses like nobody else, and yet He loves me. And He sent His Son to provide a way for me to have power to overcome my sin, my inner-demons – whatever you want to call it – and wash me clean and give me a new beginning. Make me a new creature.
That was just revolutionary to me. Somebody who saw my every flaw, my every bad decision, my hypocrisy, my idolatry, every bad thing, and says, “You know what? That doesn’t surprise Me. I know who you are very well. I made you.” And that if I come to Christ by faith, in humility and repentance, that He would make me a brand new creature. I would not only be new, but that I would be fully forgiven. God would make sure that I am deeply loved by my Father in heaven.
I am totally accepted as I am, but loved so much that He won’t leave me as I am. He’s going to make me more like Jesus through a transformation process. I will be fully pleasing to God even though my record shows that I’ve done a lot of things that have been displeasing to God. But in Christ, His righteousness is my righteousness. And I’m pleasing to the God that I’ve offended. And I’m complete. I have everything I need to honor and obey God and be a blessing to others. Because His spiritual resources are overflowing and He gives generously to those who ask Him. If I need wisdom, if I need strength, if I need a sense of comfort and compassion, whatever it is that I need, God’s going to equip me with all of those things and I will produce the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, and all of the rest.
So, now today, I can wake up in the morning and I can answer the big questions. I know where I came from, I know who I am, and I know where I’m going. And when you can answer those questions you have a sense of your identity, you have a sense of your purpose, and you have a sense of your destiny.
Whether I continue to be well-known by people or whether I fade into obscurity in the public square, whether I’m wealthy or whether I’m poor, those things really don’t define my identity. My Creator defines my identity.
As we learned in the [Overcomer] movie, He gets to define who we are. I know that I am a child of God first, I have been saved by grace, I was made on purpose for a purpose, and my destiny is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.