Knowing our identity in Christ is an essential aspect of being a christian and it plays a vital role in how we respond to difficult situations. This can be seen when we compare the story of Adam and Eve being tempted to the temptation Jesus experienced after his 40 days fasting. 

Adam and Eve's Temptation

In Genesis, the devil's selling point into tricking Eve to eating the fruit was that they will not die but it was because" God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” However in Genesis 1: 27 we saw that "God created human beings;he created them godlike,  Reflecting God’s nature."  In chapter 2:19 God also gave Adam the responsibility to name all that He had made in order to see what Adam would name them (something He would have not been able to do if he didn't have the wisdom and knowledge of God. "Whatever the Man called each living creature, that was its name." In order words, He named them all as God would have named them. 

From this we can see that Adam and Eve were deceived by the devil to doubt God and subsequently failed to trust that "He will not withhold any good thing from us". But most importantly, the key thing to be learnt here was the fact that they knew not their identity in Christ, because they were already like God in his nature and knowledge. Consequently, allowing the devil to deceive them into doubting God and their identity in God, they fell for the devil's lies which resulted in their spiritual death and being driven out of God's presence. 

Jesus' Temptation

In Matthew chapter 4 we saw that Jesus was tempted after his 40 days and 40 nights fast and as a result He was weak and very hungry. This was when the devil appeared to him to tempt him (at His most vulnerable point.) the Devil tempted Him by saying “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” secondly he said "If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down." And lastly, “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” 

Note that in the first two temptation, the devil started by saying "If you are the Son of God", thereby trying to get Jesus to prove himself , His identity that He truly is the Son of God. What most people may not realise is that this happened after the previous chapter Matthew 3 where the spirit of God descended onto Jesus in the form of a dove "And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” . In the same way, in Mark chapter 8:11 “Pharisees came forth, and began to question him, seeking of him a sign from heaven, tempting him.”

However, Jesus knowing who He was, His identity (being the Son of God) He resisted and Overcame these temptations. Jesus knew that His identity was not based on His works therefore, owned no one a sign in order to prove that He was who He said He was. Moreover, all that the devil tempted Him with were things He already Had (in the same way, with Adam and Eve also.) Particularly where the devil promised to give Jesus the whole world knowing fully well that “All power is given unto me (Jesus)  in heaven and on earth.” Matthew‬ ‭28:18‬

Lesson to be learnt 

The lesson to be learnt here is that when we know our identity in Christ we do not fall for the traps and lies of the devil. Who are you in Christ?

1. You are the Apple of His Eye
2. His most priced possession
3. Bought at a very high price (the blood of Jesus)
4. A chosen Generation
5. His Royal priesthood

Knowing your worth and identity will help you when the devil tries to trick and deceive you into thinking that you need to earn God’s love through your works, you’ve sinned and as a result God is mad at you and you’ve gone too far this time to get God’s forgiveness. The truth is we didn’t choose God, He chose us and “neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:39 NIV

Your identify and worth can only be found in Christ, the Word and that is the only way you can overcome temptation and resist the devil.  Knowing your identity and worth will enable you to take charge over situations in your lives because you know who your father is, the power that you carry.

Sometimes, we may feel tainted by our past and thus may deem ourselves unfit to be in the presence of God. But the flame of God's love is so pure and so perfect that it purifies our sins and our past indiscretions. His love heals from any pain or bad memories from our tainted past. God does not see our faults, He only sees through His pure, Holy and perfect love. And in His eyes, we are perfect.

The life of Apostle Paul epitomises God's unconditional love, as it shows that no one is beyond saving. Paul formally known as Saul was essentially a religious terrorist as he had been raised in a faith that did not allow him to compromise in his beliefs. In his mind he was serving and doing God's work whiles he was doing the opposite. And in doing so ended up viciously and ruthlessly prosecuting and killing innocent people. As stated in Acts 8:3 "But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison".

The most fascinating part of the story of Paul is that God chose to show his grace to him when he was at the apex of his extremism towards the early church. The account of Paul's first encounter with Jesus occurred on his way to Damascus as recorded in the book of Acts chapter 9. “Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest ² and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem”.  On the road when he was about to get to Damascus, Saul was caught up in a light from heaven which caused him to fall face down on the ground. He hears the words, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” He says, “Who are you Lord?” Jesus answers directly and clearly, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting”. He subsequently went on into the city and was later converted into a disciple of God and his name was changed from Saul to Paul.

Therefore, from this remarkable story of Paul we’ve seen that anyone can be transformed by the grace of God. He was literally transformed from a religious extremist into a chosen instrument who preached the name of Jesus to the Gentiles. Paul never had the chance to meet Jesus in person like his disciples did and he certainly didn’t have the opportunity to learn from Jesus like the Peters of this world and yet he went on to write many of the New Testament books. Most theologians agree that he wrote Romans, 1^st and 2^nd Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, 1^st and 2^nd Thessalonians, Philemon, Ephesians, Colossians, 1^st and 2^nd Timothy and Titus. This is what the saving grace of God can do.

The pharisees always wondered why Jesus would spend time and associate himself with "tax collectors and sinners", in other words people who the pharisees thought less of. And when they finally asked Jesus about it Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” (Luke 5:31-32)

God does not call people who are perfect or worthy in the eyes of society. Instead he calls those we see as weak, unfit, broken and then he transforms them. As seen in the book of Roman 8: 29-30 " 29 For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn[b] among many brothers and sisters. 30 And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory". the Bible says that after he called, he gave them the right standing with himself. Therefore, God didn't call people who were qualified but instead he qualified the people he chose.

The main difference between people isn’t the problems we face but it is how we interpret and respond to our problems.

“The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.”
‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭10:13‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Here’s an example:

A shoemaker wanted to open a shoe shop in a particular town. In order to find out if the people in the town would be interested in buying his shoes, he sent out 2 people to the town to find out.When they both went to the town, they realised that not a single person in that town wore shoes. They then returned and both reported back to the shoemaker.

The first persons's report was that it would impossible to sell shoes in that town due 
to the fact that not a single person there wore shoes which means that no one would be interested in buying his shoes. Therefore, it wouldn’t be beneficial to him to open a store in that town.

The second person who was sent to the same town came back so excited to give the shoemaker the good news. His report was that he needs to open a shoe shop in the town as soon as possible and having a shop in that town would be a huge advantage because the people in that town are in need of shoes as not a single person was seen wearing shoes.

From this story we can tell that they both saw the same thing which was the fact that the people in the town wore no shoes. However, the only difference was the interpretation that was given to the situation which was whether the fact that the people wore no shoes was a problem or a possibility.

My question to you is that as you face up to life do you see problems or possibilities?

Most of the time when we face problems, we become overwhelmed and let them completely take over our mind. In doing so, we make the problem seem bigger than the God we serve and we forget that we serve a God who can do the impossible (in other words we lose faith in God). However the Bible has made it clear that it is our faith that moves God to take control and in Matthew 17:20 we are told that “if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Be moved’ and it will be moved. Nothing will be impossible for you.” Mountains signifies problems, obstacles and anything in our lives which are out of our control. Therefore 
by having even the slightest faith, we should be able to command the problems to move out of our lives and truly and indeed they shall be moved. Also,we are told by God In John 16:33 that “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” If we take hold of this word no matter what problem we face , we will not be overwhelmed by it and as a result; we’ll be able to see past the problem and rather see the possibilities.

Being a born again doesn’t mean we won’t face problems but it means that God will help us and be with us every step of the way. Being a born again also means that we need to change the the interpretation we give to things and we can start by starting to see problems as possibilities because problems can only have an impact on our lives if we let it. Therefore when we face problems, although it may be hard and easier said than done, we should try and look at the possibilities in the problems by putting our complete faith in God knowing that “Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all (Psalms 34:19 KJV)” and also that “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose Romans 8:28 KJV”. 

So when we face problems, to make it easier to see the possibilities and to get through the problems rather having sleepless nights and thinking about the problems all the time; we should turn it all over to Our creator knowing that He will come to our rescue. In order to do this we need to continually read the word of God to build and stair up our faith. By doing this, each time we face problems we'll remember case studies or situations that people such as Job, Joseph, David and many others faced and how God turned their problems into possibilities. The Holy Spirit uses the word of God to comfort us and to lift up a standard against our problems or anything that comes up against us. 

Life brings problems HOWEVER in those same problems lies possibilities. We can either choose to focus on the problem or the possibilities but our choices are determined by the level of faith we have in God.Every impossibility is an opportunity for God to demonstrate His glory and power, therefore let go and let God.  

God has a strong purpose for allowing us to go through every situation. Therefore, when we are not afraid to trust Him completely, He blesses us in an unusual way. In ways which people around us can't understand and frankly speaking even we ourselves are not  able to comprehend. This is when God is truly working in our lives because His understanding is unreachable. Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Prov. 3:5-6

The story of Job is one of the most peculiar pieces of biblical literature not only because it explores some of the most earnest questions we ask about our lives and God's presence in it but also demonstrates the mystifying nature of God. Job is a wealthy man living with his large family, extensive flocks and had many servants. The Bible says, " This man was blameless and upright, he feared God and shunned evil". One day, Satan appeared before God in heaven and God bragged about Job's righteousness and how there's no man like him on earth. But Satan argued that Job feared God only because God had "always put a wall of protection around him and his home and his property". Satan then challenged God that, if given permission to test and take away everything which God has blessed him with, Job will turn and curse God. God then allowed Satan to torment Job to test this bold claim, but he forbade Satan to from taking Job’s life in the process. When we read further in the Bible, we find out that  Satan put Job through a series of events that tested his faith in God in the most mind blowing way even beyond the capacity of his own understanding. And throughout the process, he lost his children, wife, flocks and all his wealth. Job lost everything us humans would associate with or use measure up how blessed someone is by God. His friends questioned his goodness and his character and raised concerns about whether he is indeed “blameless and upright” which is ironic because unknowing to Job and his friends, both God and Satan did in fact view him as “blameless and upright” hence why his afflictions was a result of a contest between them. Even though job questioned God about why he was going through so much trouble, he never faltered in his faith in God. Amid his pain, he worshipped, praised and prayed and declared how mighty and powerful God is. 

The Bible says in Job 1:21-22 “Naked I came from my mother’s womb and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away, may the name of the Lord be praised. ²² In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing”. So even when he lost everything, he never lost his greatest asset- he was still not afraid to trust God completely(Faith).

The story of Job shows us that we should never let an impossible situation demotivate us but instead to let it motivate us to trust more, to believe more, to learn more and to grow more, James 1:3 "For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow". Today’s impossibilities can become tomorrow’s miracles. There’s power in prayer and faith so instead of worrying about how difficult everything seems, we should just talk to God about it through prayer. Faith is willing to risk failure to live a righteous life and believe that God has great plans for our lives even when we don’t understand what that plan is. Real faith puts its trust in God completely and does not demand a guarantee of a miracle because God’s timing is always perfect and at his appointed time, you’ll see the glory of his plan in your life.

The story of Job also shows that God rewards us greatly when we trust and have faith in him as Job 42:10 says “the Lord restored his fortune. In fact, the Lord gave him twice as much as before.”

1 Corinthians 10:13 “The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure”. Always remember that’s God’s plan will not always make sense but when we worry less and pray more, everything works out for good because by doing this, we set our eyes on God thereby making God bigger than the problems we have.  Always remember that God will restore us just like he did for Job no matter what we go through and "yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later". Romans 8:18