by Lori Altebaumer

Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command these stones to become bread.” Matthew 4:3

The Customs and Border Protection officer looked at the passport in her hand, then looked up at me. She stared, then looked back at the passport. This cycle repeated itself for an uncomfortable amount of time. I had never considered what happens when your passport is denied. I was afraid I might be about to find out.

To be honest, I did have sympathy for her. She was doing her job, and at that moment I might not look quite the same as the person in the photo she now held in her hand. It had been a non-stop ten days touring Israel, and most of those days had been under the miserable influence of a sinus infection. Now it was four in the morning, and I’d been up for almost a solid twenty-four hours. I most certainly did not look like the well-rested and appropriately groomed person who had posed for that passport photo.

But never had my identity been subject to this much scrutiny.

No one understands having one’s identity questioned better than Jesus.

It was the first thing Satan came for when Jesus began His ministry on earth. After forty days and nights without food, Jesus was hungry. Satan used this in his attempt to thwart Jesus’ mission. He wasn’t just appealing to the hunger of His flesh. He was tempting Jesus’ pride with the words if you are the Son of God.

THE LOSING GAME

Satan asked “if you are” because he didn’t know. He knew exactly who Jesus was. He wanted to see if Jesus would give up His rightful identity to satisfy his hungry, weak, and weary flesh—or worse, to react out of pride. Satan had succumbed to his own pride when he wanted to be God, and mistakenly thought he could sway Jesus to act in pride and do the same. How thankful we must all be that he was wrong.

Unfortunately, Satan’s defeat in his game of “If-then” with Jesus didn’t convince him to quit playing. He just chose a different opponent—us.

And to our great detriment, we play along. 

If I was a better Christian, then I wouldn’t still have those thoughts.

If I was a better parent, then my child wouldn’t be turning from God or in trouble at school.

If I was a better spouse, then we wouldn’t fight so much, the house would be clean, the yard well-groomed, and the bank account full.

If I can do enough good works, I’ll be forgiven and worthy of heaven.

When our thought starts with an if, we need to stop and discover where this is really coming from—because God’s questions for us don’t include the word if when it comes to our identity. 

When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, God statements for us are “you are.”

THE WINNING TRUTH…

You are a child of God and heir with Christ (see Romans 8:16-17).

You are being transformed into the image of God (see 2 Corinthians 5:18).

You are more than conquerors (see Romans 8:37).

You are redeemed (see Luke 1:68).

And the list goes on. All our if-then statements have already been answered by God in His Word. 

Like Jesus, our ifs come at us when we are hungry, exhausted, stressed, anxious, depressed, or uncertain. When we reclaim our true identity, we can count on Satan to try to change it through his lies and deceptions. We must take every question we have about who we are and who we are meant to be to the One who created us.

I once heard it said that in the marketing world, there are only two people who get to name something—the one who made it and the one who bought it.

No matter how worn out, bedraggled, and frazzled we look, when we arrive at Heaven’s Gate, St. Peter will not be there questioning our identity like the Customs officer questioned mine.