Jo Saxton

In Who do you think you are? Part 1 I wrote about why identity matters.  In Part 2 I want to share with you what happened to my sense of identity when I discovered my roots.

Uncovering your family tree can be a tedious and time consuming task. Those celebrities who take part in Who do you think you are? are very privileged. They benefit from a team of BBC researchers and archivists working on their story, and they have the time and resources required to jet set around the world following the paper trail. But as Christians we are also immensely privileged. Our family history is already documented for us in the Bible.  Our roots can be traced back thousands of years to one man – Abraham.  Maybe you’ve never thought that the story of Israel concerns you much, but it does. It concerns you intimately. Those of us who are what the apostle Paul would describe as ‘gentile believers’ have been adopted into the family of Israel through the faithfulness of Jesus. We have been grafted into the olive tree (Romans 11) and are now spiritual descendents of Abraham and heirs of the promises made to him (Galatians 3:7, 26-29).

Let that sink in for a moment. You are a descendant of Abraham. From Genesis to Revelation, the whole story of God’s covenant relationship with Israel concerns you; it’s your story. As this truth took hold of me, and as I began to see myself as a member of the family of Israel, the emptiness I had felt started to diminish.  I began to see that I was part of something bigger than my own circumstances. I saw my life inextricably linked to the lives of generation upon generation of God’s people.

Using the image of the olive tree (depicting Israel) Paul writes to the gentile believers in Rome;

“If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, do not boast over those branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you.”

Romans 11:17-18

In the darkness of my own circumstances, struggling with illness and isolation, I often felt disconnected, even from God. But I’ve come to see that this was because my relationship with Him was all about me! He had saved me through Jesus, He was my creator, He had plans for my future and (surely) He would heal me so I could “do” all the things that would give me my identity. But when He showed me my roots and the family I was a part of two things happened. I realised that each Christian, each member of the family, is not newly and individually planted.  We are joined to an olive tree that was planted thousands of years ago.  We connect to the root, and the root supplies nourishment and life. I also realised that I was part of a people whose primary calling and purpose was to worship God.

I finally saw that my identity was all about Him and I began to understand something of what it really means to “find your identity in God”. I am made in His image to be part of his family. And God took me further along this path of discovery and taught me more about my identity. Join me Part 3…

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