What is identity? Webster’s says: the distinguishing character or personality of an individual – the source of who we are.
Identity is a major part of our society. We strive for it, but we really don’t have a clue of what it is or where to find it.
What worldly things do we look for identity in?
What we wear - What we drive – Who we associate with –Where we live. How successful our business is –
Our kids are giving up their purity on a daily basis, getting high, and breaking the law all for identity and acceptance.
What the mirror says- (MY STRUGGLE)
Even as Christians, our identity has become about
WHERE WE GO TO CHURCH, or
WHAT DENOMINATION WE ARE
WHAT POLITICAL PARTY WE BELONG TO.
WE ARE IDENTIFIED AS RELIGIOUS PEOPLE INSTEAD OF BEING OF CHRIST
I. WHO THE WORLD THINKS WE ARE
TV evangelists – fanatics – closed minded – un accepting
We are supposed to talk about how we hate the sin, but even more importantly, we are supposed to be talking about how we love the person.
II. WHO WE BELIEVE WE ARE
Many people have been led into believing that once you are saved, that’s it…!
Once you accept Jesus Christ as your personal savior, there’s nothing left to do but just sit back and wait for Jesus to return.
When troubles come OUCH
We think we are right and everyone else should be like us.
CHURCH EXAMPLE – NO WONDER
“all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away (Isa 64:6)…”
The reason we cannot find our identity on this earth is because we are not of this world.
1 Peter 2:11
Dear brothers and sisters, you are foreigners and aliens here. So I warn you to keep away from evil desires because they fight against your very souls
We are not to find our identity in this world. Our true identity comes from the one who created us.
Bill Warren says: Finding the purpose in an Invention
You cant know why an invention exists without asking the one who created it...
For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels--everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him.
Colossians 1:16
What comes with being identified with Christ? Let’s go to His word…
Point -YOU ARE LOVED – The reason for all things He does
John 3:16
"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
Psalm 32:10 (Wont let you down)
Many sorrows come to the wicked, but unfailing love surrounds those who trust the LORD.
1 Chronicles 16:34 (Always)
Give thanks to GOD he is good and his love never quits.
Matt 10:21-22 (Rich young ruler – even when He knows you’ll walk) 21Jesus felt genuine love for this man as he looked at him. "You lack only one thing," he told him. "Go and sell all you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." 22At this, the man’s face fell, and he went sadly away because he had many possessions.
Q) How have you been loving?
Point - YOU HAVE BEEN SAVED
Job 26:2 (we are weak and defenseless, but He had saved us)
"How you have helped the powerless! How you have saved a person who has no strength!
Mark 16:16 (Its for everyone to choose)
Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned.
Have you ever watched the news and seen someone who has been saved from a fire or an accident? How do they act?
They are extremely grateful!
You have been saved for eternity.
Whether you feel it or not, you have been saved! ACT LIKE IT!
Psalm 107:2 (Act like your saved)
Has the LORD redeemed you? Then speak out! Tell others he has saved you from your enemies.
You should be thanking God everyday for loving you and saving you! (SONG)
Point: You are apart of the body. YOU ARE NOT ALONE
Romans 12:5
so it is with Christ’s body. We are all parts of his one body, and each of us has different work to do. And since we are all one body in Christ, we belong to each other, and each of us needs all the others.
WE NEED EACHOTHER! Alone we are left to the wolves spiritually. WE need each other
For:
Accountability
Encouragement
Reaching out – NO MORE SLEEPING LIMB SYNDROME!
• I am a member of Christ’s body.
27Now all of you together are Christ’s body, and each one of you is a separate and necessary part of it. 1 Corinthians 12:27. (WE NEED YOU!)
WE need to start becoming a body, instead of a bunch of spread out body parts trying to do it own our own.
Point: You are a disciple and a servant.
Salvation is a call to discipleship! Follow what He says!
When Christ gave the Great Commission to go it was not a suggestion. It said when you go
Deuteronomy 10:12
So now Israel, what do you think GOD expects from you? Just this: Live in his presence in holy reverence, follow the road he sets out for you, love him, serve GOD, your God, with everything you have in you,
9But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are a kingdom of priests, God’s holy nation, his very own possession. This is so you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. 1 PETER 2:9
James 2:20
Fool! When will you ever learn that faith that does not result in good deeds is useless?
YOU HAVE TO ACT – THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A NON DISCIPLE CHRISTIAN
Point: You have identity in Him for eternity. You were made for to last forever
The things and the identity in this world we have now will merely fade away. But our lives and identity we have in Him will last forever.
11God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart. Ecc 3:11a NLT
Hebrews 10:34 (Sometimes it’s all you have to hold on to)
You suffered along with those who were thrown into jail. When all you owned was taken from you, you accepted it with joy. You knew you had better things waiting for you in eternity
17And this world is fading away, along with everything it craves. But if you do the will of God, you will live forever.
THIS LIFE IS PREPARATION FOR THE NEXT. WHEN YOU LIVE LIFE IN VIEW OF ETERNITY, YOUR VALUES CHANGE.
WE HAVE TO GET OUR ARMS AROUND THIS.
EVERYTHING IN THIS LIFE WILL FADE AWAY BUT YOU WERE MADE TO LAST FOREVER
GODS AMAZING LOVE OVERWHELMS ME! Does IT AMAZE YOU THAT HE WANTS YOU TO BE WITH HIM FOREVER! LETS PRAISE
Last point: You are a force to be reckoned with
Jesus was not a wimp! He was powerful.
28When Jesus arrived on the other side of the lake in the land of the Gadarenes,[c] two men who were possessed by demons met him. They lived in a cemetery and were so dangerous that no one could go through that area. 29They began screaming at him, "Why are you bothering us, Son of God? You have no right to torture us before God’s appointed time!" 30A large herd of pigs was feeding in the distance, 31so the demons begged, "If you cast us out, send us into that herd of pigs."
32"All right, go!" Jesus commanded them. So the demons came out of the men and entered the pigs, and the whole herd plunged down the steep hillside into the lake and drowned in the water. Matt 8
GOD IS ALL POWERFUL, JESUS WHO HIMSELF IS GOD WAS POWERFUL, AND THE HOLY SPIRIT WHO IS GOD LIVES IN YOU!
YOU DON”T HAVE TO BE A PASTOR TO BE A SPIRITUAL FORCE - Its in all of us..
JESUS DOESN’T STAND AT THE END OF THE LINE OF BIBLE COLLEGE GRADUATIONS PASSING OUT CALLS…
1This letter is from Paul, an apostle. I was not appointed by any group or by human authority. My call is from Jesus Christ himself and from God the Father, who raised Jesus from the dead. GAL 1:1
In the identity of Christ, you are a force! WILL YOU USE IT?
Close:
There is so much more to who you are.
Finding who you are in Christ is crucial and a must.
You need to find who you are in Him and live from that place as the foundation for your life.
