They say “the only time you should ever look back is to see how far you have come.” I say, we should take a look back at where God brought us from not to reflect on the distance we have traveled rather the DESTINY change we have received in Christ Jesus. This shall be a reflection that will restore the power of our ministry of reconciliation and one that will encourage us to develop a life structured by an unwavering gratitude for the priceless blood that was shed on our behalf.

Have you ever wondered about your positioning before Christ? How often do you actually think about or thank God for the place He brought you from? For a lot of us Christians, our lives are consumed by our focus on where we are in Christ today to the point of FORGETTING where we came from resulting in our negligence of our responsibility to be reminders to the world of the eternal fire they are dancing in. Personally, I am currently not witnessing the powerful ministry of reconciliation Christ had when He was on earth. As I have learned, one of the reasons for this issue is our lack of an in-depth understanding and remembrance of the pitch-black darkness Christ called us out from.

Let us dig in the scripture to gain clarity on who we were in God’s eyes before Christ redeemed us.

“Once you had no identity as a people; now you are God’s people. Once you received no mercy; now you have received God’s mercy.” – 1 Peter 2:10 (NLT)

Some translations say:

“Once you were NOT a people.”

First time I read this, I was fascinated beyond words. Why? Because, like many out there, one I always thought Christ died to turn my ‘bad life’ into a good, enjoyable one. Two, I assumed He saved me from where I was destined to go (hell) until I meditated on this truth. The truth that made me realise, I was already a citizen of the kingdom (hell) I was destined to inherit. I knew no such thing as life for life is only found in Christ.

In time past, we were indeed not a people for we were dead in sin; we could have only been identified as zombies. We were beyond all help or hope. We were children of the prince of the power of the air. (Ephesians 2:1-2) We were sentenced prisoners who lived honouring the serpent who wed us to sin. We were enemies of God and friends of the world.

As dead people, we had no identity. According to 1 Peter 2:10, we had failed to qualify to be called people. In God’s eyes, people are defined as being those who are home to His Sanctifying Spirit. The sobering truth is that…

Before Christ, we were nothing more than a walking, talking, breathing corpse!

The only difference between those physically dead and us was that we could walk and breath unlike them. We had died the worst death by being spiritually separated from God.

What has been done for us is a BIG deal. We cannot allow ourselves to grow comfortable and familiar with the reality of our resurrection from among the dead. Living in remembrance of this truth prevents us from growing insensitive towards the countless souls that are perishing every second of every day. Only then will we begin to view the people OF the world for who they truly are, zombies. And in having a clear understanding of their position, we can minister to them with authentic passion backed up by prayers on their behalf.

Finally, trashing and discounting our past will only rob us off our testimony of our resurrection to the dead. Always remember,

An unapologetic standing in our identity in Christ can only be birthed from a place of understanding the reality of who we were outside of Him.

God Loves You, Always & Forever!