It was 2008, and we were into our third year of planting Center City Church. It was a Sunday morning, and one of my children came running up to me after church to tell me that my car alarm was going off. I remember walking out the front door of the movie theater where we met for services, hearing the alarm go off, and then noticing a car squealing out of the parking lot.

 

My car had been broken into, and my pocketbook was stolen.  I had left my pocketbook in the car; between the diaper bag, the Sunday bulletins, visitor cards (all the things you need for a mobile church), and the car seat carrier with my youngest, Annie inside, I didn’t have an extra arm. My credit cards, cash, bank card, and all the usual stuff were in my pocketbook.

 

But none of that would prove to be as crucial as my photo identification – my driver’s license. I was at the DMV the next morning, of course, driven by my mom since I didn’t have a physical current license.

 

 

Things were done differently back then. Not having a current license while trying to obtain a replacement was complicated, especially when I hadn’t updated my license since moving into the state. I know, I know, I should have updated it when I moved😊But now, not only would I have to prove who I was, but I also had to prove I live in the state.

 

I came to realize two things real quick: 1) without identification, you can’t prove who you are and, 2)  without identification, you don’t have access to things you did before.

 

When Adam and Eve sinned, they were banished from the garden. They no longer had access to the things they once did. They went from walking in perfection with God to hiding from Him in shame. From that point on, humanity lived under the curse of shame, fear, and separation. Since the beginning of time, the enemy has been after your identity. Satan didn’t just tempt Eve with fruit; he tempted her to doubt God and His character, Did God really say?

 

 

A common tactic of the enemy is to pose a question, and if we don’t rebuke the thought, that question leads us to doubt and unbelief. He can’t create, so his only power is that which we give him when we accept his lies and begin to build with fear and unbelief. This causes us to question the goodness of God and His character. The question Satan posed to Eve wasn’t the sin; that was the temptation. The sin came when she allowed the question to lead her to doubt and unbelief.

 

Satan only goes after the things that are a threat to Him. Look at your own life, your family, where are you being attacked? The answer to that question will reveal what threatens the enemy. Seeing what is a threat to Satan gives us valuable insight into how to pray.  Whenever the people of Israel were close to another victory, they would be attacked by an enemy nation – every time.

 

If you’re under attack, rest in this: you are very close to a victory.

 

That question that Satan taunted Eve with, Did God really say?  He’s still asking us that question. It sounds a lot like Do you really think you heard from God? When we believe the lie, we shrink back in fear and don’t step out in faith to share a prophetic word or downplay His voice in our own lives.

 

In Romans 5, Paul explains how sin entered the world through one, and as a result, death reigned. But then He says that if death reigned through Adam, then even more so, life reigns through Jesus Christ. The first Adam, death reigned. The last Adam, you reign.

 

“For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons and daughters of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons and daughters by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him” Romans 8:14-17

 

Redemption wasn’t just transactional; it was transformational. This redemption redefined our identity! In this passage, Paul contrasts two spirits: the spirit of slavery (the old life under sin and law) and the spirit of adoption (a new identity marked by love and security). We have gone from outsiders to beloved sons and daughters!

 

 

In Roman culture, adoption was a legal act that transferred inheritance and status. It was permanent and irreversible; the adopted son was given full rights, equal to or even above a biological child. It meant the old identity was gone and the old debts were erased. In Roman law, it was as if the child had been born again into a new family. A father could disown a biological child, but he couldn’t disown an adopted one. This is what we have been given through the spirit of adoption!

 

We have been legally and permanently transferred into a new family, and who we were before is gone; what we owed before has been erased; our entire status has been upgraded.

 

Do you know what your redemption did? It didn’t just remove guilt and shame; it restored inheritance. You now share an inheritance with Christ. That means His authority, eternal life, victory over sin, victory over Satan, and all the nations are yours. Jesus has already won; we sometimes forget this.

 

I’ve been receiving numerous annoying scam texts on my phone. It’s usually something like ‘Urgent: Your account has been compromised. Tap here to fix it.’  The enemy uses the same type of scam, and if we fall for His lies, just like that scam text, we end up handing over what already belonged to us. We are co-heirs with Jesus. That means we don’t work for victory; we live from victory. I don’t strive for His approval; I live out of the Father’s love.

 

Why have we been restored to co-heirs? To reign.

 

Romans 5:17 says we reign in life through Jesus Christ. Reigning doesn’t mean I don’t have problems; it means problems don’t rule me. But I am promised that every fiery trial purifies me into gold and multiplies my authority in the spirit. When you understand what Jesus has done for you, you walk with confidence, peace, and assurance. Let’s not settle for less than He paid for. Imagine how devastating it would be to look back over your life in your last moments with regret for living so far beneath your inheritance in Christ.

 

We have been given all the benefits of the Kingdom, and yet, tragically, some will never fully walk in it.

 

Romans 8 says that all creation is waiting for you. All creation is groaning for you to live in your true Kingdom identity. Why would creation want you to come into your whole identity? Because when sons and daughters of God step into everything Jesus paid for, the broken places are restored. Creation was put under a curse when Adam sinned; not just humanity, but the ground itself. Sin not only broke fellowship with God, but it also breaks the very world we live in.

 

 

When Paul says that creation is groaning, waiting for “…the revealing of the Sons of God” (Romans 8:19), it’s not a groan of despair; it’s one of anticipation. During childbirth labor, there is groaning, but the groan isn’t meaningless. Creation is waiting for something to be born. Creation is waiting for you to step into your authority and inheritance, to live out your restored identity as a son or daughter of the King.

 

When you reign in life, you restore the places around you.

 

On the contrary, when you don’t understand what you’ve been given or the purpose for which it was given, it’s like unmet potential; it’s never realized. You will never know what could have been. But when you understand that the purpose of your existence is to restore a broken creation, it confronts anything in you that has settled for less.

 

 

All of a sudden, we begin to see our very occupation as a conduit for His Kingdom. Through the lens of walking in Sonship, it will cause you to view your marriage, parenting, and relationships as sacred callings and divine opportunities.

 

And suddenly, your life takes on color, possibility, and purpose it didn’t have before. Finding real purpose, calling, and fulfillment in this life is unattainable – outside of walking in our true identity as sons & daughters of God. Some of us have walked in a measure of this, but my heart cries to walk in more. We need a holy agitation, a stirring for an identity upgrade.

 

From Genesis to Revelation, there’s one story: creation was cursed because of humanity’s fall, but creation is groaning for humanity’s redemption. Who’s ready to set the world free?