The Source of Our Identity

AiG Executive CEO Martyn Iles responds to one of the first questions many have when reading the Bible:

That is what I often used to wonder when I read the account of Genesis 2 and 3, where God forbade Adam and Eve from eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, or they would die (Genesis 2:17).

It was even more confusing when I realized Adam and Eve must have already known something about good and evil because they could make moral judgments. They knew that they were not to eat from this tree, for example. They knew how to keep God’s commands.

Also, in the Bible, wisdom is described as the ability to know right from wrong. Solomon famously asked God for wisdom above all things, “That I may discern between good and evil” (1 Kings 3:9).

Surely, we can’t accept that wisdom is bad? Knowing good and evil seems to be very useful and good!

Surely, we can’t accept that wisdom is bad? Knowing good and evil seems to be very useful and good!

But notice something important . . . Adam and Eve had gained their initial knowledge of good and evil by revelation from God. Also, Solomon asked for the same discernment directly from God. They were all seeking to be wise by their obedience to God’s revelation about right and wrong.

But Adam was disobedient to God’s revelation about right and wrong when he ate the fruit. He decided that he wanted to rely on his own judgment about what was right and wrong, not God’s judgment.

We were never supposed to rely on our own judgments about right and wrong. We were only supposed to become wise about right and wrong by looking to God and obeying him.

Wisdom comes from reliance on God and obedience to his commands.

When our first parents stepped out of that pattern, they fell.

Identity on Our Own Terms

When I look at this generation, I see people making it up for themselves. We decide what is “right for me”—or even “my truth.” We want the knowledge of good and evil on our terms. It’s like we are still craving that forbidden fruit in the garden.

One area where this is so prevalent is the identity issue. When I was researching this subject for my recent book Who Am I? Solving the Identity Puzzle, I found copious writings by secular and progressive people. They seem to be talking about it more than anyone else, and their ideas are incorporated into curricula, pop culture, media, and even politics.

They said that identity is “subjective and fluid.” That means it depends on how I feel, and it changes. They also said that “my sense of my identity defines who I am.” In other words, who I am is defined by how I feel.

This is a huge claim that is influencing this generation. It is the idea that a human being is ultimately whatever they feel they are. And it can be changed if those feelings change, from one day to the next. It doesn’t matter if it affects their so-called gender identity, sexuality, species, or many other things. Reality itself is less important than how I feel.

This is the ultimate example of “what’s right for me.” It removes God’s revelation completely and relies on personal judgment.

What a disaster it is turning out to be—the mutilated bodies of the gender movement, the broken lives and empty hedonism of the sexual revolution, and the seared consciences of people pursuing the sin that comes from their own hearts.

This is the bitter fruit of seeking wisdom from within, deciding what is right and wrong for ourselves.

Genesis Foundations for Our Identity

But what if we flip the script? What if we seek God’s revelation on the matter? What if we seek that which is objective and fixed rather than subjective and fluid?

Genesis is where we find so many of the firm foundations of God’s truth.

As in most cases, that takes us straight back to Genesis—the book of foundations. Genesis is where we find so many of the firm foundations of God’s truth.

The first thing we learn in Genesis 1:26 is that we are created by God. In other words, we do not get to create ourselves. The identity movement is a lie. There is objective, fixed reality that defines us.

Second, we learn that we were made to bear God’s image (Genesis 1:27). In other words, we were to image or reflect the glory of his character in creation. He is holy (morally perfect) and righteous (always doing good). These are the features of his image that defined us in creation (Colossians 3:10; Ephesians 4:24).

Third, we learn that we were made from the dust of the ground (Genesis 2:7). That is to say, we are not gods—we are created by God! We can’t create ourselves. And there are things we simply lack the power to do, like defining gender or changing the ultimate destiny of the planet with climate change. We learn that these things are in the hands of the Creator, not the created (Genesis 1:27, 8:22).

Fourth, we learn that we are made male or female (Genesis 1:27). There is a gender binary in humans, not a fluid spectrum. And while everyone is human, there are shades of emphasis in our constitution, in God’s creation design. For example, females are made with special gifts to help and mother (Genesis 2:20, 3:20), while men are made with special gifts to work and be responsible to protect (Genesis 2:15).

But the fifth lesson is a sad one. We learn that we are fallen in Adam, bearing his image and likeness (Genesis 5:1–3). That means our identity as humans contains something that was never meant to be there in creation. It contains sin, and it contains death (Romans 5:12). We are sinners, and we are damned.

That explains something of the tension that we experience as people living in God’s world. We see what people are made for when they seem to resemble their created glory—when they seek to do good, civilize, love their neighbors, and come up with all kinds of ways to do the right thing. We were made as image bearers of God! But we also see a human history filled with oppression, violence, strife, sadness, and every manner of evil thing. And our own lives fall so short. We realize that we are fallen in Adam.

Both of these things are true. We were made great, and we fell.

Our Identity in Christ

The rest of Scripture reveals the solution to us. Jesus is repeatedly described in the New Testament as the image of God (Colossians 1:15; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Hebrews 1:3). He is God’s glory in the “dust” of human flesh. He is what we need to become, but we have fallen short in Adam.

He not only has what we need, but he also has the victory over what we need to destroy. He has the victory over sin, and he has the victory over death. He conquered both of these foes for us.

In salvation, we are being transformed from Adam’s fallen image to Christ’s glorious image (1 Corinthians 15:49).

See how wise God is? He reveals to us that which makes sense of our human nature and condition. It is his wisdom we need, not the false wisdom of a world that seeks to decide what’s right in their own eyes.

Answers in Genesis is calling a generation back to God’s wisdom on these contemporary issues that are causing so much confusion. My recent book and a forthcoming identity exhibit at the Creation Museum are just the beginning!

Your prayers and financial support are crucial to enable the life-changing work of reaching millions of souls with God’s wisdom and the gospel message. Would you prayerfully consider a gift today to help us continue to make an eternal impact?

Thank you for joining us in this important ministry to reach, equip, and influence so many lives around the world for Christ!

—Martyn Iles

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,
Ken

This item was written with the assistance of AiG’s research team.