As a little boy growing up, I often struggled with an identity crisis.  You see, there would be times when I would be playing by myself in my bedroom and my mom would sometimes call me to come to her for something she needed me for.  She would call out my name, “Tommy, come here!”  I would go to her but very adamantly and with a serious tone, remind her, “My name is not Tommy! It’s Batman!” Of course, she would smile and from then on call me Batman.  So, later on in the day, she would need me for something again but this time she remembered and would call out for Batman instead of Tommy.  But little did she know, I had retired my bat wings and moved on from Gotham City and was now faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, and I was now able to leap tall buildings in a single bound!  “I’m not Batman mom”, rolling my eyes, “I’m Superman!” Of course, she would smile again and call me Superman.  Apparently according to my mom, this went on quite a bit.  The next time she called me as Superman, I corrected her again for her obvious mistake.  “Don’t you know, I’m not Superman, I’m Spiderman!”  My mom laughs whenever she still tells this story.  She never knew what to call me.  

You know sometimes even today, I bounce back and forth with who I really am.  No, I don’t go around calling myself Batman but somedays, I call myself a child of God when there are other days, I forget my identity and call myself a failure, a sinner who really blew it.  One time I was trying to worship God at church and I couldn’t feel connected.  Everyone else seemed to be but I couldn’t get into it.  I started to think about all my past sins and failures and the thought occurred to me that maybe the Lord was mad at me.  Maybe because of my broken marriage, my past failures, the promises I failed to keep, the Lord was holding himself back from me.  Maybe I had forfeited His love for me.  And so I took on this identity, one of a messed up villain.   I was not good enough to be a superhero, at least not in God’s eyes.  But one day the Lord called me by a name that I had forgotten about.  He called me “Justified, come here!”  And He didn’t just call me “Justified”, He showed me my name in my birth certificate found in Romans.  In chapter five He explained what my name actually means.  He told me that my name means peace with God.  I’m no longer a villain, but I’m part of the dynamic duo, I’m with Him, and He is with me.  “But God you don’t understand”, I told him.  “I’m Suffering…”  He insisted and called me again by my real name, “Justified, rejoice, don’t get discouraged, there is hope, your real self is being developed by my Spirit inside you.  You are not your circumstances.”  Again I insisted on being called something else, “But God, I’m a sinner, I have made bad decisions, failed big time.  Aren’t you forgetting, my name is DIVORCED.”  He stopped me, wrapped His arms around me and whispered in my ear, “Justified, I gave you my love before you could ever give me yours.  I committed myself to you before you could ever commit to me.  Why do you think there is anything you could do or have failed to do that I have not already died for?” His words penetrated my whole being and suddenly I felt like that day on my spiritual birthday.  I was only eight but birthed by faith alone and not by works into my new family.  My earthly father led me by the hand to Jesus that day, and Jesus led me by the hand to my Heavenly Father who took me in his arms and for the first time, He named me.  Who am I?  It’s written on my birth certificate in Romans five.  My name is JUSTIFIED.  I’m an orphan no longer but a son forever and nothing has nor ever will separate me from the love that is in Christ Jesus my Lord.

Romans 5:1

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Romans 5:8

But God demonstrates his love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.