Captain Marvel: Discovering Your Identity

Marvel Studio’s Captain Marvel tells the story of Carol Danvers, a United States Airforce pilot that gets abducted by an alien race known as the Kree. Of course, Carol doesn’t know any of this. She doesn’t even know her own name. While test-piloting an experimental plane with a newly designed lightspeed engine, Carol and he co-pilot come under attack by Kree invaders. Carol survives a violent crash-landing, but when the experimental engine explodes, Carol absorbs massive amounts of energy before falling unconscious. Realizing her potential, the Kree take Carol back to their planet, remove all memory of her life one earth, and train her as one of their own.

For six years (and the majority of the movie), Carol believes that she is a Kree warrior called Vers—the only letters on her dog-tags that remained readable after her crash. As Vers, Carol fights an intergalactic battle against the shape-shifting Skrulls that eventually leaves her stranded on a backwards planet know only as C-53. Of course, the locals call it Earth.

After teaming up with Nick Fury and reuniting with her best friend Maria, Vers begins to uncover the truth about herself. “I keep having these... memories,” Vers tells Fury, “I see flashes. I think I have a life here. But I can't tell if it's real.”

Later, Vers confronts the Skrull commander Talos, saying, “You don’t know me! I don’t even know me!” Just then, Maria speaks up, saying, “I know you. You are Carol Danvers… My best friend, who supported me as a mother and a pilot when no one else did. You were smart, and funny, and a huge pain in the @&%. And you were the most powerful person I knew, way before you could shoot fire through your fists!”

With the help of her friends, Carol Danvers finally discovers who she really is. At the movie’s outset, one her fellow Kree warriors tells Carol, “I want you to be the best version of yourself.” He gets his wish—though, perhaps, not in quite the way he imagined—as Carol becomes one of the universe’s most powerful heroes.

Perhaps Carol isn’t the only one wrestling with an identity crisis. Do you know who you are? Who you’re supposed to be? The Bible talks a lot about your identity—specifically, your identity in Christ. One reason we get so discouraged and frustrated in the Christian life is that we forget who we are and, like Carol, we believe lies about ourselves. But here’s what the Bible says about your identity in Christ:

• You are God’s own special possession. (1 Peter 2:9)
• You are chosen by the God who created the universe. (Ephesians 1:3-4)
• You are loved beyond compare. (1 John 4:19)
• You are worth dying for. (1 John 4:10)
• You are forgiven. (1 John 1:9)
• You are God’s child. (1 John 3:1)
• You are secured for all eternity. (John 10:28-29)
• You are set free. (Galatians 5:1)
• You are God’s masterpiece. (Ephesians 2:10)

Let this list sink in for just a minute. Don’t skim over it. Read over this list and take it in. This is YOU. If you’re in Christ, this is who you are. This is your permanent identity. It can never be removed, messed up, forsaken, taken away, or changed. This your identity in Christ. Through faith in Christ, like Captain Marvel, you become the best version of yourself.