14/06/2026
BELIEVER'S IDENTITY
By Pastor Bheki Mnyandu
Sunday Service | 14 June 2026 | 09h00
Part 1
Praise the Lord. Hallelujah.
There you eat, you shall die. Who said it? It is God.
Every time God says something to you, He is giving you your identity.
Now every time God speaks, the devil also speaks.
God said:
«"In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." (Genesis 2:17)»
Then the serpent said:
«"Ye shall not surely die." (Genesis 3:4)»
God said, "You shall surely die."
The devil said, "You shall not surely die."
Life is a choice. Every day you choose whose report you are going to believe. Are you going to believe God, or are you going to believe the devil?
Every time the devil speaks, he speaks the opposite of what God has said.
When God says you are more than a conqueror, the devil says you are defeated.
When God says you are healed, the devil says, "If you are healed, why are you still feeling the pain?"
The devil does not want you to know who you are.
Adam listened to the serpent instead of listening to God. Sin entered the world and death entered the world through disobedience.
Now look at the same pattern with Jesus.
God said:
«"This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." (Matthew 3:17)»
Then immediately the devil came and said:
«"If thou be the Son of God..." (Matthew 4:3)»
Can you see the pattern?
God said, "This is My Son."
The devil said, "If You are the Son of God."
The strategy never changed.
The devil attacked Adam's identity, and he attacked Jesus' identity.
The same devil is still attacking the identity of believers today.
Now notice something very important.
Jesus never argued with the devil about His identity.
He did not say, "Let me prove that I am the Son of God."
He already knew who He was.
Instead Jesus said:
«"It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."»
The devil was attacking His identity, but Jesus did not respond to the attack on His identity.
Why?
Because His identity was already settled.
Jesus knew who He was.
When you know who you are, you do not spend your time defending yourself.
You stand on what God has said.
The devil attacks identity because identity affects everything.
Identity affects how you think.
Identity affects how you speak.
Identity affects how you act.
That is why in our Christian walk, identity is very important.
There are things that cannot happen when you know who you are.
There are battles you cannot win if you do not know who you are.
Remember the seven sons of Sceva.
The evil spirit said:
«"Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?"»
You must know who you are.
When you are born again, your identity changes.
Many people do not understand what it means to be born again.
Being born again is not first an outward change.
It is an inward work.
«"If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature."»
You become a new creation from within.
You receive a new identity.
You receive a new nature.
You receive a new authority.
You are no longer the same person you used to be.
Jesus asked His disciples:
«"Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?"»
Some said John the Baptist.
Some said Elijah.
Some said one of the prophets.
Then Jesus asked:
«"But whom say ye that I am?"»
Simon Peter answered:
«"Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God."»
This was revelation.
For the first time, Peter saw Jesus not merely as the son of Mary.
Not merely as the son of Joseph.
Not merely as another man walking in Israel.
He saw Jesus as the Christ.
Jesus answered:
«"Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven."»
Somebody say, "Revelation."
This is Simon Bar-Jonah.
This is his natural identity.
Then revelation comes.
The moment he receives revelation of who Jesus is, Jesus reveals who Peter is.
Jesus said:
«"Thou art Peter."»
All along he had been Simon Bar-Jonah.
But now Jesus gives him a new identity.
Jesus said:
«"Upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."»
Upon this revelation, I will build My church.
The gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Beloved, know your identity in Christ.
You carry something powerful.
You carry something heaven recognizes.
You carry something the devil is afraid of.
The problem is that many believers spend their lives looking at what other people carry while forgetting what God has placed inside them.
The devil wants you to live in ignorance.
He wants you to see yourself as weak.
He wants you to see yourself as deficient.
He wants you to see yourself as unqualified.
The greatest battle many believers face is an identity crisis.
Once you know who you are in Christ, your speech changes.
Your thinking changes.
Your confidence changes.
Your life changes.
Luke chapter 9 tells us that Jesus was going to Jerusalem.
Some people did not receive Him because His face was set toward Jerusalem.
When the disciples saw this, they said:
«"Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did?"»
They wanted to call down fire from heaven.
They remembered Elijah.
They remembered the miracles of Elijah.
But Jesus rebuked them.
He turned and said:
«"Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of."»
The Spirit that is in you is not the spirit of Elijah.
It is the Spirit of Christ.
Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Beloved, we do not pray for our enemies to die.
We do not wish evil upon people.
That is not the spirit of Christ.
Jesus said:
«"For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them."»
The Son of Man did not come to destroy.
He came to save.
He came to give life.
He came that men might have life and have it more abundantly.
If you do not know your identity, it will affect the way you speak.
The disciples spoke the way they did because they did not yet understand who they were.
Identity affects speech.
Identity affects behavior.
Identity affects actions.
Know who you are in Christ.
Know where you come from.
You are born of God.
You originate from God.
You belong to God.
And when you know who you are, your speech will change.
Glory to Jesus.
Hallelujah.