As a pastor in Israel for over twenty years, I’ve seen many lose their way — not because they didn’t love God, but because they never truly understood where their identity lies. Too often, people define themselves by their heritage, work, calling, or title, yet these are only temporary reflections. Our worth isn’t found in what we do or where we come from, but in who we are in the One who created us.
“[Yeshua] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.” — Colossians 1:15
Everything begins with Him — Yeshua the Messiah — the visible image of the invisible God. Our purpose, our design, our very being flows from His nature. When God said in Genesis 1:26, “Let Us make man in Our image,” He was speaking from within that eternal fellowship — Father, Son, and Spirit. Humanity was formed to bear that image, to reflect His love, holiness, and dominion upon the earth.
Our original identity wasn’t earned — it was bestowed. It came when the breath of God filled Adam’s lungs and His likeness was imprinted upon the human soul. But when sin entered the world, that image was fractured. Ever since, mankind has been searching for meaning and worth apart from the One whose image we carry.
Only in the Messiah is that image restored. He came not merely to forgive us, but to remake us — to restore the divine likeness that sin distorted.
If we want to discover who we truly are, we must first behold who He is, for He is the true Image — the perfect reflection of the Father. As Paul declared, “we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory” (2 Corinthians 3:18). In beholding Him, our identity is revealed, and in reflecting Him, we are continually transformed into His likeness.
Let us no longer define ourselves by what we do, where we come from, or what others say about us, but by what He says — by His Word, His love, and His glory. When we behold Him, we discover ourselves; when we reflect Him, we become whole. Only from this place — from our union with the Messiah — can we truly understand who we are and walk in the fullness of our divine calling.