When You Forget Your Identity, You Lose Power.

We’ve all heard the ever famous story—Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. But have we really understood the weight of what was lost?

The moment humanity forgot who they were, they lost everything.

Let’s rewind to the very beginning.

“Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’”

— Genesis 1:26 NKJV

Those words aren’t poetic filler. They’re a declaration. A charge. An identity.

We were created to be like God—not God, but like Him. In image. In authority. In dominion. God didn’t create humanity to be passive wanderers; He created us to reign over the earth. Dominion wasn’t a reward; it was part of our design.

But Genesis 2 gives us something deeper:

“And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.”

— Genesis 2:7 NKJV

Notice the shift in verbs? In Genesis 1, man is created. In Genesis 2, he is formed and breathed into.

The Hebrew supports this dual-layered truth. “Create” (bara) is an act only God can do—it implies divine originality. “Form” (yatsar), however, is more intimate, hands-on, as a potter shapes clay. That’s not a coincidence.

Man was created outwardly, formed inwardly, and finally—God’s own breath animated him. Spirit met dust, and man became a living soul.

This is where identity was born.

So what happened?

Eve, then Adam, fell—not because of a violent act or physical temptation—but because of a question.

“Did God really say…?”

— Genesis 3:1

It wasn’t just disobedience. It was doubt. A seed of forgetfulness. Satan knew he couldn’t strip them of their identity, but he could cause them to forget it. And once they forgot who they were, everything crumbled.

One mistake. One moment of misplaced trust. One loss of clarity—and it cost them everything.

Isn’t that still his tactic today?

He doesn’t have new tricks—he just reuses the old ones. He still whispers doubt. Still questions God’s Word. Still tries to distort what God has declared over us.

Because Satan hates humanity. Not because of who we are in ourselves, but because of who we reflect. We bear the image of the One he defied and lost to. To destroy us is, in his eyes, to hurt God.

But God had a plan all along. Amen!

“And I will put enmity

Between you and the woman,

And between your seed and her Seed;

He shall bruise your head,

And you shall bruise His heel.”

— Genesis 3:15 NKJV

Before the dust of the fall had settled, God announced redemption. A seed would come—One who would crush the serpent’s head. That seed is Jesus.

When Satan thought he had won, God whispered a promise that shook hell’s gates.

Centuries later, Jesus—the second Adam—would stand where the first one fell. He wouldn’t forget His identity. He wouldn’t give in to twisted words. He remained faithful, even to the cross.

And because He did, now we can say:

“We are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.”

— 2 Corinthians 5:21

We no longer live in the shadow of Adam’s fall but in the light of Christ’s victory.

So here’s the challenge: Remember who you are.

Don’t let culture, failure, or fear redefine you. You were created by God, formed by His hands, and breathed into by His Spirit. That’s your DNA.

When you forget your identity, you forfeit your power.

But when you remember whose image you bear, hell trembles.