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When the prodigal son came to himself in the far country — having spent everything, working a pig farm, starving — he did not discover his identity in what he had lost. He said: "I will arise and go to my father." The identity he returned to was not his own wealth or status. It was his position as son. His father ran to meet him before he could complete his prepared speech. The robe, the ring, the sandals, the feast — the father was restoring not just circumstances but identity. The son was not defined by what he had wasted. He was defined by whose son he was.
Get These Verses Daily — Free“For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.”
The Greek krupto — 'hid' — means stored safely, concealed for protection. Identity loss feels like the disappearance of self. This verse says the actual self is stored somewhere that circumstances cannot reach — with Christ, in God. The visible identity markers can be stripped. The hidden life cannot.
“Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.”
The Greek klethomen — 'called' — is aorist passive: done to you, not by you. The identity of son or daughter of God was given as a decisive act of love, not earned by performance. It cannot be undone by the loss of every other identity marker.
“For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb.”
The Hebrew soak — 'covered' — means to weave together, to knit. God personally constructed the person who is now experiencing identity loss. The self that was woven by God existed before any role, title, or relationship gave it external definition.
“But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.”
Three verbs — created, formed, redeemed — and then two claims: a name spoken, a possessive declared. 'Thou art mine' is an identity statement made by the one who made you. No circumstance that stripped away your external identity has undone this claim.
“And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.”
The father ran before the son had finished his prepared speech. He was restoring identity — robe, ring, sandals — before the son had demonstrated any recovery. The identity as son was not earned back. It was given back, because it had never actually been lost in the father's heart.
Colossians 3:3 contains one of the most unusual identity statements in the New Testament: "For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God." The Greek krupto — 'hid' — means concealed, stored safely, put away for protection. Your life is not defined by what is visible or accessible to circumstances. It is stored in the safest possible location: with Christ, in God. Identity loss is the experience of the visible identity markers being stripped away. This verse says the actual identity is not in those markers.
1 John 3:1 frames the fundamental identity claim: "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God." The Greek klethomen — 'called' — is aorist passive: something done to you, not by you, and done once as a decisive act. The identity of 'son of God' was given, not earned. It cannot be lost through the circumstances that stripped away every other identity marker.
Commentary is from a charismatic Protestant perspective, drawing on KJV text and public-domain sources including Spurgeon, Andrew Murray, and Matthew Henry.
Psalm 139:13–14 grounds identity in creation rather than performance: "For thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made." The Hebrew soak — 'covered' — means to weave together, to knit. God was personally involved in the construction of the specific person who is now experiencing identity loss. The self that was woven together by God does not disappear when the titles and roles disappear. It was made before any of those things existed.
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