We’ve covered a lot of ground over the previous three blog posts regarding The 3 Circles. Obviously, we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. But the big question is, what have we learned?
Here’s a quick breakdown …
“When we accept what Jesus did for us on the cross, He gives us our identity
as a person. We can now have a relationship with God, which He desires
from us! And when we do that, we can live out our purpose in life.”
God’s heart is for His creation, His people, to have a heart that is free to live. He wants us to live free. Furthermore, God’s heart for us is to receive His grace, experience His presence, and release His Kingdom. And in so doing, He restores our identity, reconciles our relationship, and redeems our purpose.
Everything begins and ends with the grace of God because of what Jesus has done for us — which is giving us a new identity. After all, identity determines behavior.
As I start to receive God’s grace and He changes my identity, I can’t help but experience His presence and start a love relationship with God. We are fully known and fully loved. What God wants more than anything else is to have a relationship with you.
So He has restored my identity.
He has reconciled my relationship with him, and now he redeems my purpose. I now can be purposeful and do all that He wants to accomplish in my life and the lives of others.
Purpose in life starts with:
- Receiving the Grace of God; receiving our new identity.
- Experiencing His Presence; enjoying a relationship with God in His presence.
- Releasing His Kingdom; living out and doing our purpose.
View The 3 Circles by John Stickl of Valley Creek Church here.
So follow this: When I know…
Who I am (circle 1), I’ll know who God is (circle 2), and I will know what I’m created to do (circle 3).
My identity is restored, I’ll have a reconciled relationship with God and a redeeming purpose.
I’m a beloved son or daughter, I will run to my father and spend my life building His Kingdom.
I am forgiven, I will never be afraid of God, and I will live a life of incredible purpose.
But the opposite is also true: If I…
Resist His grace, I’ll avoid his presence and spend my life building my own kingdom.
Don’t know who I am, I won’t know who God is, and I won’t know what I’m created to do.
Don’t have a restored identity, I won’t have a reconciled relationship with God and a redeemed purpose.
Believe I’m a spiritual orphan, I’ll be afraid of God, and so I’ll spend my life trying to earn his love and forgiveness to pay for my own guilt and shame.
Live with shame and guilt (not understanding His grace), I will be afraid of God, and I will try to do my own thing.
Here’s the real problem:
Most of us start in Circle 3 and go backward. We try to DO all kinds of things for God to earn our way into his presence, pay for the shame and brokenness of our past, or to become significant. In this life with Jesus, we don’t DO to become. We become, and then we do. Who you are determines what you do!
We are drawn by grace, not driven by expectation. Identity leads to relationship, and relationship releases purpose. Order is everything. You can’t go backward — that’s the cycle of performance!
This is called life in The Father’s Heart.
You have to start with who you are and your identity if you want to find the fullness of the freedom of the life that God offers you. God’s grace restores our identity.
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Did we leave anything out? Are you as excited as we are about The 3 Circles? How do you think this extra knowledge will benefit your relationship? Please send us a quick email and help us keep this conversation going at Mike@MikeandSusanDawson.com.
