Through Adam's disobedience, we "were made sinners" (Romans 5:19). God did not create us as sinners. Yet that is what we became in Adam. This truth is hard for us to admit. Face it - we have a hard time admitting we've sinned. We sanitize our choices to make them seem not so bad. "I messed up," we say. Or "I made a mistake." Rarely do we say, "I sinned."

While Jesus was on earth, he gravitated toward sinners. This confounded the religious leaders. They wondered why he hung out with the dregs of society. They didn't understand his mission.

As Paul wrote, "Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners" (1 Timothy 1:15). Jesus hung out with sinners because they were his mission.

Jesus saves sinners, and every time he does, he gives each one a new identity. The day you were saved, you got a brand-new identity. It happened through new birth. You were born into Adam's family as a sinner. You were born again into Jesus's family as a child of God.

As a child of God, you can echo John's words:

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves just as he is pure (1 John 3:1-3).

Crossing over from death to life means crossing over to a brand-new identity.