He Is – I Am: Living out of My Identity in Christ

By Laurie Langdon

Fundamental to my life is the fact that, no matter what I feel or how it appears to me, I am in Christ and he is in me. The conditions of life do not define who I am. Christ is who I am. I am in him, and I will never be moved from here, for it is my place, and will remain so in all environments, stations and conditions. He is my constitution. He is my station. He is the place I live in.

Because he is – I am!

My book is different compared to others for several reasons.

First, it is based on a life-long study and a tried-and-true life application of God’s Word, the single and most trustworthy and authoritative source of all truth.

Second, I have had the privilege of serving God both in a full-time capacity and as a typical, day-in-and-day-out, nitty-gritty “common” citizen of the world, and I believe this book will impact the reader spiritually, intellectually and pragmatically. It will help him or her encounter God in the midst of the “stuff” of life.

Third, I serve a real God. He is within every reality of my life. He makes sense where I live. Whether the season is adverse or calm, God is in it – to be there, to influence my decisions, to transform the way I view each situation and to influence each outcome. He is also beyond everything. His rule, authority and power astound me. He is the “bigness” in all of life. He is the limitless supply when I am overwhelmed with my limitations; the transformative power when I am unable to change; the delivering force when I am confined by my weakness; the resurrection and the life when I need to live!

Fourth, I am a real person. I am nothing apart from God’s grace, yet complete and free in it. Holy Spirit is current and relevant to each and every situation I may encounter. My life’s experience and ministry have been real. I have seen cancer, failure, joblessness, poverty, suicide, sickness, and drug addiction. I have spent time with those in prison, the bereaved, the hospitalized and the dying. I am acquainted with people from a wide variety of ethnic backgrounds and vocations and I know what it is to work hard for a living.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Feb 24, 2020
• ISBN: 9781973685999

Laurie Langdon

Born and raised in rural Newfoundland, Laurie moved to Ontario and entered college, where he met Edith. They were married in 1981, and today they have two lovely daughters who are now married to two wonderful men and are raising five incredible and brilliant individuals who call Edith and Laurie “Gramma” and “Poppa!” Laurie has served God in ministry in the southern Ontario area all his married life. He is an avid studier of God’s Word and loves to teach it. Laurie believes every person was created by God and for his glory, and in his presence, they discover the phenomenal persons they actually are and become equipped to live life as they have been designed to live. Whether it is in the context of a Sunday morning worship experience, a small group, a one-on-one visitation or counseling situation, a local newspaper article, a Facebook posting, an email campaign, a coffee shop, or over a neighbor’s fence, he is active and ministering whenever, wherever and however the need arises.

Book preview

A FOUNDATION

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation

has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

2 Corinthians 5:17

God has chosen to make known among the

Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery,

which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Colossians1:27

All of you who were baptized into Christ

have clothed yourselves with Christ.

Galatians 3:27

You, dear children, are from God and have

overcome them, because the one who is in you is

greater than the one who is in the world.

1 John 4:4

My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who

will believe in me through their message, that all of them

may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.

May they also be in us so that the world may believe that

you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave

me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you

in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then

the world will know that you sent me and have loved them

even as you have loved me. Father, I want those you have

given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the

glory you have given me because you loved me before the

creation of the world. Righteous Father, though the world

does not know you, I know you, and they know that you

have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will

continue to make you known in order that the love you have

for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.

John 17:20-26

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this

all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.

2 Corinthians 4:7

S tarting a new life, beginning a new venture or constructing a new home starts with a solid foundation. What I lay down at the beginning will largely determine the strength and longevity of what is to come. The quality of everything I build upon that foundation is tempered by the quality of the foundation itself.

So, let’s build a foundation.

Who am I?

I consist of two I-s.

The first I is that part of me that is known as the flesh, or natural man – the skin and bones of me, the soul of me, the part of me that is subject to abuse, decay, and so forth, the non-eternal part of me. This I expresses itself in phrases like I am sick, I am fat, I am skinny, I am tired, or I have an anger problem. Or it may classify itself with phrases like I am Canadian, Asian, European, Indian, American, and so forth, or I am a father, husband, son, wife, daughter, or I am a carpenter, realtor, mechanic, stay-at-home mom, accountant, and so forth.

This I is often expressed in phrases like I have failed, It’s tough sometimes, That’s the way I am, I try hard to be Christian, I wish I had more, could do more, be better, and so forth, or I need to love more, care more, spend more time …, and so forth. While they are legitimate expressions of what we understand to be the case, and by the way, have become apparently acceptable expressions in our religious culture, they are not expressions of who I truly am in Christ.

These phrases disclose only facts about me regarding what I am like, or rather, about what I am not like, how I feel or perceive myself, what I do, and so forth. in the context of my flesh They are facts, or details about me, the first I. They are statements about the non-eternal, non-redeemed part of me, the part of me outside Christ.

The second I, however, is a whole new person. It is the I that defines me, and who I am – in Christ. It is my identity in Christ.

My identity is who I am. It is the characteristics that I have that distinguish me from all others. It is who and what I am at my core. It is where I arise from at the beginning of my day, it is how and why I function throughout my day, and it is where I return to, and rest at the end of my day.

It is my spirit. Everything I am, everything I say, and everything I do emanates from there. It is why and how I live.

While my identity may be defined by the kinds of relationship I have with others, what I do as a vocation, how I interact socially, my hobbies, my temperament, and so forth, these do not really define me. They are merely platforms on which I express myself. They are where I function.

My identity is who I am exclusively, without and beyond these platforms.

At the core of who I really am is this: I have been created by God, who is my Heavenly Father, and I have been fashioned in his image. The essence of my true nature is that I was made like him. I carry his DNA.

God’s Word says, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! (2 Cor. 5:17)

By virtue of the fact that I have experienced a new birth in Jesus Christ, the image of my Father God in which I was created has been infused with the person of Holy Spirit. The result is that his likeness has been reactivated, and is alive and well inside me.

Power Language

There is a language of power, i.e. Heaven’s language, that grounds me in who I am in Christ, and moves me into seeing more fully, and participating further in God’s kingdom activity within my world, on earth, just as it is in Heaven.

A segment in God’s Word found in chapter two of 1 Corinthians refers to a message of wisdom among the mature … that God destined for our glory before time began (vv.6,7) regarding the things God has prepared for those who love him. (v.9) And deeper still into this passage is my heart’s cry, that is that we may understand what God has freely given us … words taught by the Spirit, (vv.12,13) and enabled by the fact that we have the mind of Christ." (v.16)

There is a place to which I have been called that takes me beyond the clatter and chatter of this world, and its concerns. It is a place in relationship with my Father God wherein I walk in true wisdom. It is my place of destiny, and it is a place of glory. It is a place where the fullness of what God has prepared for me is made manifest. It is my place – I belong there.

Through words taught by the spirit I understand who I am, where I belong, and what God has freely given me. These words are heaven’s language. To know this language, and to speak it on a daily basis can produce a way of life beyond imagination, and this way of life is mine to live in.

Open Eyes

To have the mind of Christ, as my advantage in all situations and circumstances, is my privilege.

The context of Ephesians 1:18-23 teaches me that by the spirit of wisdom and revelation I can live in a place with God wherein I know him, hear his voice, and discern what he is doing. As the eyes of my heart are enlightened, I know the hope to which he has called me, a hope that reveals not only what is to come in the future, but what now is, but that remains unseen unless it is disclosed to me by Holy Spirit. When this happens, I see God within the cultured and kind places, as well as the crude and cruel ones. When God opens my eyes, I see him everywhere.

It is also in this context that I am able to see the richness that is in me. I am literally the glorious inheritance of my Father. As a consequence, my worth is out of this world, and my wealth is beyond imagination. I am God’s glory.

It is also true that, as the eyes of my heart are opened, I will know the exceptionally great power that God intends for me live in. This power is that same power that raised Christ from the dead, and seated him at the right hand of my Father in the heavenly realms.

I Rule

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him, and for him. (Col. 1:15,16)

All my essential dominions, the real thrones, powers, rulers and authorities, were created in Christ, and for Christ. While my leaders and influences are there because I have made certain life choices, the spiritual system in which they operate is his territory. The systems in place function only within the role that God created. He rules over me, and whether I can discern this at all times or not, every entity of my life is literally and fully subject to the rule of God’s authority.

The facts are these: Christ is seated with the Father in the authoritative realms of my existence, all things have been placed under his feet, and he has been appointed to be head over all my concerns. He, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, actually occupies the rightful place of all authority. He has been set in place over me and my world – to order and manage all my