The prospect of my true identity being revealed in Christ on the last day means that I am not faced with the choice of either realizing and actualizing all the aspects of my self now or having them lie dormant forever. My identity can be messy, confusing, and even frustrating to me in the present in a way that does not signal an ultimate or final denial of who I am. By the grace of God I am what I am, and what I shall be has not yet been made known (1 Corinthians 15:10; 1 John 3:2). In a late modern culture that rhymes complete self-expression with authenticity and places a heavy burden on selves to become transparent and fully actualized, I know that as a Christian I need not be crushed by the obligation of having fully to express, or even fully to understand myself here and now. If I remain torn between different identities, if I remain frustrated by who I am until the moment of my death, I know that just like the carnivorous lion who will lie down with the lamb and yet be more lion than ever, there awaits for me a subversive fulfilment of the tangled knot of my desires, assumptions, blind spots; and predispositions that will surprise, delight, and fulfil me in ways I never dreamed possible. Unlike Stepan in Camus's The Just Assassins, Christians do not need to be terrorists of identity, forcing the full disclosure and realization of the self here and now. As Christians strive for wholeness and authenticity in these last days, they look to the future apocalyptic unveiling of identity when what is sown in dishonour will be raised in glory, letting nothing move them, because they know that their labor in the Lord is not in vain.
CHRISTOPHER WATKIN
(Source: BTC, p578)
It’s a great point that he makes that in the here and now, all the tensions that we have will not be fully resolved until we see Christ face to face. Now, thais doesn't mean we shouldn't strive to be in practice who we truly are in Christ. Rather we should do that from a position of rest, a position of trusting God to bring about His purpose, because He is the one moving us from one degree of glory to next.
The other thing is that what Watkin says here is not just about identify. I think it applies to other areas of our lives. For example on the whole question of success and greatness in life. We all want to be successful in life in different ways e.g. as parents, workers, ministry.
But in the here and now, we will never b perfect parents, perfect workers, or perfect ministers of the gospel. We will always strive to become what God is bringing up about in our lives. We need to remember that success or greatness is not in the here and now. Ultimate greatness will only be evident on that great day when we see Christ face to face.
This eschatological greatness should not make us lazy, but instead it means allowing God to perfect us, to bring us to who He wants us to be in Christ. And to do that in a way in which we are dependent on him, and resting in him, and labouring and living fruitfully in a way that glorifies him. Not doing things in our own flesh.
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