“After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.’” Matt 3:16-17
“Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God…” Matt 4:5-6
It’s strange, isn’t it? God affirms Jesus’ identity and immediately after Satan tries to get Jesus to doubt his identity in the wilderness. It’s such a contrast of realities. You have a word, a promise. Then the wilderness. God made his love for Jesus known. Then Satan tries to twist it, “you’re the Son? God loves you? Prove it to me.”
In scripture there is a pattern: revelation before tribulation. A person often receives a crazy revelation or promise and then experiences a strange wilderness. This wilderness seems to fly in the face of all that was previously promised or revealed. Abraham and his barren wife go twenty years waiting for a son. The Israelites experienced freedom from slavery and miraculous demonstrations of God’s power before entering into the wilderness. David starts off with intense military victories and living in the palace then suddenly he is on the run for his life, living just to survive. Joseph has dreams and a promise from God of a bright future before he is sent into slavery and prison.
But these circumstances did not change the reality that was to come. God repeats the above verse (Matt 3:17) to Jesus at the transfiguration right before he endures the cross. “Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, ‘You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!’ In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him” (Matt 27:39-41).
People will always want us to prove our identity. It’s so tempting to see who we are as based on our circumstances at that moment in time or based on how others treat us. But it’s not true. Satan isn’t stupid. He doesn’t tell you a blunt lie. He knows that if the lie is obvious you will more readily recognize it as such. No, he takes a truth and twists it. He used scripture to tempt Jesus, he was taking a truth and twisting it to seem more believable. Don’t buy it. Circumstances do not determine who we are nor do the opinion’s of others. God does. Even if reality flies in the face of the promise or revelation you’ve been given - that’s the norm. Be encouraged that there is still hope for that very reason.
Do you want to know who you are? Get to know God more. The more clearly you see God the more clearly you will see yourself. You cannot see yourself clearly if there is no light to see. It’s the glory of His face that shines on us and transforms us. The closer you get to God the more you will see who you are. If He is the Father, what does that make you? His child. If He is the lover, what does that make you? His beloved. If He is Lord, what does that make you? His bond-servant. And the closer you get to God, the more like yourself, your true self, you become. This has been my experience. The closer I get to God, the more I become who He made me to be, who He has called me to be. In terms of character and personality, I become a better version of myself than I could ever be without Him.
