Weaverlations

Identity Theft: Finding Our True Identity in Christ

Melmore United Methodist Church

June 19, 2016, Fathers' Day

by Duane Weaver

SERMON INTRODUCTION

Many of you already know me, as I grew up in this church, but really, “Who Am I?”  I think at some point in our lives, everyone has asked or will ask that question.  It is inherent along with wanting to know why we exist, what is our purpose, why are we here?  Our view on how we came to be shapes most everything we come to believe in about ourselves and about the world in which we live.  This we call your worldview.  If you believe in a creator, you more than likely believe you are His creation (Psalm 139) and that you are part of His creation.  How do you know this?  You have come to believe this through faith in God’s Holy Word.  You more than likely view everything in this world through the lens of the Scriptures.  If this describes you, then one can say you have a Biblical world view, but if you say “well, I may believe in God, but I don’t know how much He had to do with my creation or the world, for all that matter.”  I am just a product of procreation and live in a world that just came to be. This line of thinking is what we call a secular worldview.   Unfortunately, this view is becoming more pervasive as our culture becomes more postmodern in its thinking.  Postmodernism distrusts or even rejects the idea of absolute truth.  All truth is relative to each individual’s experiences or perspective.  So there exist many truths for which we derive the term “pluralism.”  The trouble with pluralism is there is no consistency and it becomes difficult to relate to one another.  So communities are formed of people who are likeminded on a particular set of beliefs.  However, what happens when communities with contrary beliefs collide?  ……You have the world in which we live.  This is why God the Father came to earth in the flesh as His Son Jesus, the Christ.  When Pilate asked Jesus if He was the King of the Jews, do you remember His reply?  He said “You are right in saying I am a king.  In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth.  Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”  John 18:37

God’s Word warns us in Romans 12:2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.  The Apostle Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 14:33 our God is not a God of confusion but of peace.  And in his letter to the Ephesians he writes, “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people.” Ephesians 1:18 (NIV)

IDENTITY THEFT

Knowing our identity is important.  It is important to us individually.  We have an innate desire to belong. We use titles, names or labels to identify to which  group, organization or a family we belong to.  It is important to community.  Our identity helps us function efficiently and appropriately in our interactions with others.  (Which restroom to use, who’s the boss, etc) Our identity is important to God, the one who created us.  Now God certainly knows who we are, but it is important for Him for us to know who we are in relation to Him.  Do we belong to Him?  Are we one of His children?  Knowing this will help us respond to Him appropriately and accordingly.

So, if knowing our identity is important to us, important to others and important to God, who do you think would be most interested in distorting or stealing our identity to create havoc, confusion, and division?  I would say it would be the “Father of Lies,” the “Great Deceiver,”  “The Destroyer,” or as Jesus called him, “The Ruler of this World.” 

CREATED IN HIS IMAGE

 “So God created them in His own image, in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them.” Gen. 1:27  And God gave them purpose, to be fruitful and to multiply and enjoy the world He created.  In short, the Westminster Statement of Faith summarizes that “man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.”  But then sin entered the world, and the fall from perfectionism began.  God’s word tells us in Romans 3:23, because of Adams sin, “ all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”  Humankind fell from the glory God’s original creation and to this day, try as we might, we all miss the mark and fall short.   But John 1:12-13 tells us, “Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”   While every person regardless of gender, race or religion, is created by God in His image, not all, according to Scripture, have been given the right to become His child, only those who believe in His Name.

 

What does it mean “we were created in His image?”  Isn’t God invisible?  By image, the text means God gave us the same attributes He has 1) a will to decide on our own 2) intellect to grow in knowledge and understanding so that we might apply it to righteous living.  This is called wisdom and 3) emotion to govern our decisions with a sense of right and wrong; good and evil.

What does it mean to receive Him?  To receive Christ is to not only believe He existed but to believe He is who He said He was….the Son of God, that He was equal with God and to receive His message; the Good News; the Gospel; that while we were yet sinners, God loved us.  He loved us so much He gave His one and only Son to die for our sin for Romans 6:23 tells us that the wages of our sin or the consequence is death.  So Christ willingly went to the cross to pay our debt.

WHO AM I?

So to begin with, I am not perfect.  I fall short of God’s glory and always will.  I need to be made right with God, but my righteousness is only made possible by the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ…..the perfect substitute, perfect in that He was without sin, but bled and died on a cross so that my sins would be forgiven….that I could be made right.  By accepting this free gift, God the Father now looks upon me with the righteousness of His Son and I know have the assurance, the confidence that I will live eternally with my Father in Heaven.  In gratitude, I have chosen to follow Christ’s example and to live as He demonstrated, knowing I will often fall short and mess up, but know too, forgiveness is offered for all that I repent of. 

So, we all know, I am not perfect and last I checked I am still a male –created in the image of God, adopted into His family.  I am a child of God, a Christ follower.  How about you friend, have you ever accepted the free gift of being saved from your sins by faith.  Ephesians 2:8-10 says, “for by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourself, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.  For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”

Later in the same letter, Paul exhorts us to be imitators of Christ Jesus and goes on to describe what a husband would look like, what a wife would look like, what a father and mother would look like and finally what their children would look like – if all were followers of Christ.  Let’s take a quick look that in Ephesians 5 and 6.

Husbands.  God’s word tells us you are to love your wife as you love your own body.  You might think, well I hate my body, but the meaning is this; husbands are to be selfless, putting the needs of their wives before their own.  They are to recognize and appreciate their wives just as a valuable treasure, someone to be cherished.  Men, you are to love your wives as Christ loves or cherishes the church.  And wives, do you know what will help your husbands cherish you?  Give them what they want more than anything else…..no, I am not talking about that….RESPECT.  What a man needs and wants, more than anything is respect from his wife.  In return, he will cherish you and the more he cherishes you the more you will come to respect him.

Fathers.  You know I have often heard it said that a child will most often look upon their Father in Heaven as they have seen or experienced their Father on earth.  God’s word exhorts fathers “not to provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” Eph. 6:4   Notice here, God’s word does not prohibit but encourages parents to discipline the children, for a parent who fails to discipline, fails to love their children.  The goal for proper discipline is correction, and is administered with love while punishment is administered oftentimes out of anger and that is exactly what it provokes in a child.  And mothers, the best thing you can do for your children outside of nurturing them, is to show love and respect to their father.

Finally, children, young and old…..you are to “honor your father and mother (which is the first commandment with a promise), so that it may be well with you and that you may live long on the earth.”Eph. 6:2-3.  How do you do that?  It tells us in verse one, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord for this is right.”  Keep their trust.  Earn their respect.  Provide support and love for them in their old age.

This is what a family looks like from a Biblical worldview.  And you know what is the glue that holds it all together?  The church, for we are held accountable by are brothers and sisters in the Lord, our church family.  Not in a legalistic or judgmental way, but in love. 

CONCLUSION

 John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full”  Jesus is speaking in the context of a shepherd guarding His sheep.  He goes on to say that His sheep know his voice, and He calls them by name and they follow Him.  They know the direction they are to go because they trust the one they follow.  The sheep know who they are by the one they follow.  Who are you following….the one who knows you and calls you by name or the thief who only comes to steal you away so that he might kill and destroy you?  What I am asking you is what is your worldview?

My challenge to you today is found in the Scripture I read to you earlier found in Romans 12:2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

My prayer for you will continue to be that of Paul’s prayer to the Ephesians.  I pray that the eyes of your heart will be opened.  That you will be enlightened so you may know and understand what God has called you to and that you will experience the riches of his glorious inheritance.