Thank God that you have accepted these truths: You are a child of God, you are blessed, and you are adopted. Paul is giving thanks for the faith of the church, but he wants us to know that there is more. 

The lie that Eve believed was that her identity could be achieved. Sin and destruction entered the earth through Adam and Eve believing the lie that they could become more than what they were through something that they did. Through Paul’s letter, we learn that our identity is either in Adam or in Christ--it is either achieved or received.

From the apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesian church, we learn that when we are in Christ, our identity is received, not achieved. To be “in Christ” is a spiritual location. In Ephesians 1:1-6, we learn more about who we are because of who God is and how he sees us. When we are “in Christ,” we can receive the following aspects of our identity:

Do you know who you are? How do you identify yourself? Paul sees himself as an apostle of Jesus. If we look at Genesis 1:26-28, we can learn about our true identity: God said, “Let us make mankind in our likeness.” We can learn four things about who we are:

Every benefit that Jesus gave to us is from the Abrahamic covenant. Our belief in Jesus passes the benefits of this Old Testament covenant that God made with Abraham to us. This is all a part of our inheritance: our children will be blessed, and we will receive financial blessing, lands and healing. 

Faith is the currency of heaven. The Bible says that without faith, it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). We should all seek to have the kind of faith that causes God to marvel. When God marvels, he does miracles. 

In this parable, Jesus is describing kingdom gatherings. For us today, a kingdom gathering would be a Sunday service. The host in this story is Jesus. Meanwhile, the servants are everyday people like you and I. We are those who help serve the gatherings every single week. 

In 1 Samuel, we see the fruits of David's faithfulness during the preparation process. David was not highly favored before this time in his life, even after being anointed. David grew in his relationship with God while he took care of the smaller things leading up to his big day defeating Goliath. Everything God gives us is on purpose. He gives us opportunities to lean into so we can engage Goliath with supernatural poise.