Since the beginning of time, humanity has been searching for its true identity, which it thought it had lost in the garden. Through a whisper and a seed of doubt, Adam and Eve bought the lie they could DO to BECOME! When in reality, they already belonged. From the time God spoke everything into existence, and Adam named all of creation, we begin to see the power of the spoken Word and the importance of a name. Abram became Abraham, Sarai became Sarah, Jacob became Israel, Simon became Peter, and Saul became Paul, to name a few. The purpose of a new name was to awaken one to its original design and authentic identity.
In the world of sports, our false narrative is that our name, image, and likeness can be found in our athletic prowess, accomplishments, and achievements. In the early 80s, Dr. J, Magic, and Bird were the first to profit from their name, image, and likeness. Then it was Air Jordan who took it to new heights; With national slogans like “Just Do It” and “Be Like Mike,” he changed the landscape of self-promotion. Fast forward to today, and we see that there is still nothing new under the sun; with humanity still trying to BECOME someone when they already are SOMEBODY. Not much has changed since the garden, with many still searching for their true identity while trying to find value and worth in their performance.
The Good News is that God considered all He had made from the first days of creation and called it very good. The lie of having to DO was taken away, so we had the freedom to BE. Our Name, Image, and Likeness can be discovered from this reality. Our value and worth no longer depend on our performance but solely on our identity that was bestowed on us by the Name above all Names who declared us as His sons and daughters, saints, heirs, friends, and His beloved: “to Be Loved,” to name a few.
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