Defined by God, not material history

It can seem as though our identity is permanently defined by a material past, based on heredity, family status, education, health, regrettable decisions, etc. And yet, the Apostle Paul tells us that if we are “in Christ,” we are “a new creature” (II Corinthians 5:17).

Some Bible commentaries put forth the idea that to be “in Christ” is to be “united” with Christ. Christ Jesus, whose real, spiritual selfhood was the Christ, spent his ministry proving that God’s spiritual, eternal nature and power are ever present to save man from sin, disease, and death. When we unite with Christ, Truth, we look to God, Spirit, instead of the belief in a material past for our understanding of reality. As we do, we discover a new, truer sense of our identity as defined by God, not by our human history.

Mary Baker Eddy, the discoverer of Christian Science, writes in “Retrospection and Introspection,” “It is well to know, dear reader, that our material, mortal history is but the record of dreams, not of man’s real existence, and the dream has no place in the Science of being” (p. 21), and later, “The human history needs to be revised, and the material record expunged” (p. 22).

Is it really possible to expunge, or turn away from, the belief in an identity based in material history?

Before I started studying Christian Science as a young adult, I didn’t think it was. But with my study of the teachings of Christian Science came a realization that understanding our true identity comes with a deeper understanding of God. This begins with obeying what Christ Jesus referred to as the “first of all the commandments”: “Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength” (Mark 12:29, 30).

To understand that God is one God is to understand that He is infinite. He is the only. He is all good; all power; all presence; all intelligence. And therefore all that God, divine Principle, creates – man and the whole universe – is created good, complete, and perfect.

Turning away from a materially based sense of self clears the way for us to behold ourselves and others as God’s image and likeness. This freedom gives us a fresh new start!

We are endowed with the inalienable right to realize the Science of our being – our own true, spiritual nature and that of others – which naturally turns us away from, or expunges, a distorted, false sense of man as sinful or imperfect. This doesn’t mean we overlook wrongdoing, but it gives us a foundation for correction and reformation.

It is the Christ, the spiritual idea of divine Love, that consistently leads us to turn away from a materially based human history regarding our identity and toward the fact of our true spiritual identity and existence. Receptivity to Christ brings tangible blessings.

A good example of this Christ action can be found in Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son (see Luke 15:11-32). In the story, a brash young man demands that his father give him his inheritance. He leaves home, but because of his undisciplined and reckless behavior, he soon finds himself with no money and so hungry that he is tempted to eat what was normally fed only to swine.

It is at this most humiliating moment that he comes “to himself” – comes to the realization of his identity as his father’s son. But he is filled with remorse for his sinful past, so with deep repentance, he decides he no longer has the right to claim his status as the son of a wealthy estate owner. He resolves to return home not as his father’s son, but as a humble servant. However, he is immediately received as a son by his father, whose response reflects unconditional love.

The Christ comes to every humble, penitent heart and reveals our true, spiritual identity – allowing us to come to ourselves, to conform to who we truly are. We see that spiritually we are embraced with open arms, every moment, by God – as citizens of our Father’s kingdom, where a materially based history does not define us.

And as we realize that our true identity is governed by the law of God, our experience reflects more of the universal harmony and peace of the kingdom of heaven – “all things are become new” (II Corinthians 5:17).

Adapted from an article published in the August 2016 issue of The Christian Science Journal.