Jenner Identity

It’s all over the news and social media, so I know you know what I’m talking about. I have to admit, there is a part of me that is repulsed by what Bruce Jenner has done to himself but that is the self-righteous part of me that just loves to think that I am so much better. What I should ask myself is whether or not God is repulsed by Bruce. And I would have to answer that with a resounding, “No!”

Does God hate sin? Yes he does, but not because it’s committed by such horrible sinners, but because it works death in man. He hates what sin does to us. Sin is killing us. It twists our thoughts. It enslaves our minds and manifests its works in our flesh. That’s why God had to send His Son, not to condemn the world (including Bruce) but to save it from sin and death. (John 3:17; Romans 6:23)

So would God speak condemnation unto Bruce? I don’t believe so. (Consider how Jesus dealt with the woman caught in adultery – 1 John 8:1-11) I believe that Jesus would see through Bruce’s physical identity problem to the real issue; his spiritual identity. Bruce doesn’t understand who God created him to be. If he did, he wouldn’t need to change his physical appearance. If you truly know who God thinks you are, you’d realize that anything else is just settling for less.

All Bruce knows is that he has never truly felt like he was living out who he was meant to be. There is a good reason for that. He never was! So, now he thinks he has the answer and maybe he’ll fool himself into believing it is–for a while. But the answer isn’t about changing his appearance and it isn’t about following his feelings. The answer can only be found in seeking a relationship with the only One who can truly satisfy the inner longings of his heart, Jesus Christ.

Bruce doesn’t need a plastic surgeon. He needs the Great Physician. It isn’t a gender issue. It’s a sin issue. The Bible says that anything that is not of faith is sin. (Romans 14:23) So, that creates a pretty big problem, not only for Bruce, but all of us.

It would be so easy to fall into the temptation of comparing sin. “At least I’m not as bad as Bruce Jenner.” You could say that, but you’d be wrong. We are all sinners who have fallen short of the glory of God. We’ve all missed the mark. It doesn’t matter by how much we missed it. The point is that we missed it and because we missed it we all are in desperate need of a Savior.

We tend to think of God as this mean tyrant up in Heaven, ready to strike us dead at any moment, sending us to a hellish eternity for being such horrible sinners. But that just isn’t the case. God is a loving and merciful God. He’s not willing that any should perish. Don’t believe it? Read 2 Peter 3:9. He doesn’t want anyone to perish but they will because that is what sin does. It kills.

The wages of sin is death but life can only come from God. Man likes to think that his life is his own. But the bible clearly states that life, as well as love, joy, peace, truth, all come from God. In fact, 1 John 4:8 tells us that God IS love. His very nature is love. So, when you deny God you deny all these things as well. You can’t deny your cake and eat it too! Life, love, joy, peace and truth do not originate in man but all men benefit from them and without God none of them are possible. Actually nothing is possible apart from God. So it is quite foolish to think that you do not need God.

So, it’s more than obvious that we need God for life but, according to the Bible, we are dead in our trespasses. But it isn’t like God was caught off guard by man’s sin problem. (“Oh, great! Now what am I going to do?”) No, He had a plan from the beginning. He sent His son to become sin for us and die the death we so rightly deserved so that we could be set free from the law of sin and death. What a cruel God, right? No! He died for you because He loves you. He hates what sin has done to you. Now He wants to heal you of your sin disease give you a new life.

John 14:6 tells us that Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life and that no one can go unto the Father but by Him. He isn’t “a” way, “a” truth and “a” life. He is the only Way, the only Truth, and the only Life. There is another way that seems right unto man but, in the end, leads to death (Proverbs 14:12) but there is only way that leads to life and that is Jesus Christ.

Jesus died on the cross for your sin, was buried and rose again so you could have eternal life.(1 Corinthians 15:1-4) Now all you have to do is accept it. And so does Bruce. God doesn’t hate Bruce. God isn’t preparing an extra hot place in Hell for Bruce. He’s already prepared a place for him in Heaven but He’s not going to force him or you into taking it.

The truth is that our identity is ultimately tied to whether we are “in Adam” or “in Christ”.(Romans 5:12-19) If you are in Adam you are condemned already unto death.(John 3:18) Sin reigns over you (Romans 5:21) and your mind is blinded by darkness (2 Corinthians 4:4; Ephesians 4:17-19). If you are in Christ, you are justified (Romans 5:1), redeemed (Ephesians 1:7), and freed from the curse of sin that leads to death (Romans 8:2). You are a new creation. All things are made knew (2 Corinthians 5:17). You are made alive with Christ (Ephesians 2:5), through his sacrifice (Romans 5:9).

Our identity and Bruce’s has nothing to do with our gender but whether we are in Christ or not. It’s really that simple. Only when you deny yourself and seek after God will you ever hope to find out who you really are.(Matthew 16:24; 1 Corinthians 10:24) Hopefully Bruce will one day realize that true joy and peace cannot be found in the empty pursuit of self, nor through the acceptance of others, but by being accepted by the Father through faith in His Son (Matthew 6:33; Ephesians 1:6).

Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.
Psalm 16:11