Who Does God Say I Am? Identity in the Bible
Made in his image, fearfully and wonderfully made, adopted as his child — the identity Scripture hands you before you achieve anything.
The Bible’s identity statements are gifts, not achievements: you are made in God’s image (Genesis 1:27), “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14), and — in Christ — a child of God (John 1:12), a new creature (2 Corinthians 5:17), and part of “a chosen generation, a royal priesthood” (1 Peter 2:9).
Image-bearer before anything else
Before you did anything — before anyone’s opinion of you existed — Genesis had already said the decisive thing: made in the image of God. That is the Bible’s floor under every human life, the reason it treats each person as sacred. Psalm 139 makes it intimate: knit together in the womb, every day written down before one of them arrived.
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.
The identity given in Christ
The New Testament piles up new titles for those who receive Jesus: children of God — with power, or right, to become so — new creatures for whom old things are passed away, heirs, saints, beloved. None is earned; all are conferred. Christian identity is a set of statements God makes about you, which faith learns — slowly — to agree with.
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
Named for a purpose
Peter gathers the titles into one crescendo — chosen generation, royal priesthood, holy nation, peculiar people — and immediately attaches the point: that ye should shew forth the praises of him who called you out of darkness. Biblical identity is never mere self-esteem; it is commissioning. You are told who you are so you’ll know what you’re for.
But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light;
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Quick answers
- What does “made in the image of God” mean?
- Genesis 1:27’s claim that humans uniquely reflect God — in reason, relationship, creativity, and moral responsibility — and represent him in the world. It grounds the sacredness of every human life (Genesis 9:6; James 3:9).
- How do I become a child of God?
- John 1:12: “as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” Receiving Christ by faith is the doorway to adoption (Galatians 4:4–7).
- What does the Bible say about self-worth?
- It grounds worth in God’s making and loving, not in performance: fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14), worth more than many sparrows to your Father (Matthew 10:29–31), and loved at the price of the cross (1 John 4:9–10).
