Good morning. Thank you for that scripture
reading, especially in verse 10 of Isaiah. It says, fear not,
for I am with you. Be not dismayed, I am your God. I will strengthen you. Ye, I
will help you. Ye, I will uphold you. With the
right hand of my righteousness. That's very encouraging, especially
when one is about to get up here and preach the gospel. It's very
encouraging and because sometimes we fear getting up here, right? It's intimidating sometimes,
but may God be glorified with everything that we say and everything
that we think about when we get up here. Let us go to the Lord
in prayer because we both need help. We need earrings, we need
ears to hear the gospel, and we also need words to preach
the gospel as well. So we both need help at this
point. Father God, we come before you,
thankful Father that you're so merciful to us. You're full of
grace, full of love, full of mercy towards us. And you have
provided the Lord Jesus Christ as a mediator, as a savior. And as our whole father, thank
you for providing him. Thank you for providing a place
where we could come and hear the gospel preached, hear your
word preached. Thank you for our pastor father.
Pray for him as he's in Tennessee preaching the gospel as as far
as long as also Caleb is preaching this morning, I believe we pray
for them. We pray for all preachers that
preach the gospel. And we also pray for myself,
Father, that your spirit might be with us and that your name
may be glorified, that you might receive all honor and glory in
everything we say, Father, because you are the one that's worthy
for all glory and honor. No one else is. So we pray for
this. We pray for all the preachers.
We pray for ourselves. And we thank you, Father, that
we live in a country that we have the liberty to gather together
without any persecution, Father, as other countries suffer. Thank you once again, and we
thank you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. We come to you looking this morning
at Uh, our identity in Christ, our identity in Christ. I appreciate
Jeff bringing the message this morning. It was a blessing to
me. And I pray that it was for you
as well. We're going to be looking at
our identity in Christ. We're going to have various passages that
we're going to be looking at. Uh, my first passage and probably
the key passage that we're going to be looking at a second Corinthians
517. 2 Corinthians 5.17. As an introduction, I have a
little story that I'm going to read. This is an illustration
of why our identity is important, why considering our identity
is very important. In a quiet island village tucked
between lush mountains and a shining sea lived a girl named Leilani. She was shy, plain in appearance,
and often overlooked by others. Her father, Kalua, a modest farmer,
loved her dearly, but even he admitted to friends, she's no
beauty, but she'll make a good wife. I'd be lucky to get one
cow for her. In this village, when a man wished
to marry a woman, he will offer cows to her father, a symbol
of her value and the groom's sincerity. One cow was common
for a plain girl, two or three cows for a woman of charm and
skill. The most ever offered was four
for the village beauty. One day, a wealthy and well-traveled
man named Manu returned to the island. He has seen the world,
lands of gold, towers of glass, and women adorned in finery. Yet he came back to the village
saying, I wish to marry a woman from my homeland, a woman of
heart. To everyone's shock, Manu announced
that he wished to marry Leilani. Kalua, who was her father, blinked
in surprise. Leinani, are you sure? Yes, Manu said, and I'll offer
you seven cows. The entire village went still.
Seven? Kalua sputtered. But no man has
ever offered more than four. I offer seven. Manu said calmly,
because she is worth no less. Some laughed behind closed doors.
He's a fool, they whispered. Seven cows for that girl? But
the cows were delivered, their marriage agreed, and Manu took
Leilani to live with him in the home built near the cliffs overlooking
the sea. Years passed. When the villagers
saw Leilani again, They barely recognized her. She walked with
grace and confidence, her eyes bright, her smile warm. She wore
simple clothes, but carried herself like a queen. What happened to
her, they asked. She is beautiful. Someone said,
she always was. She just never looked, but he
did. And then they realized the truth.
Manu haven't paid the seven cows for the woman she was. He paid
for the woman she will become when someone saw her true worth. Well, our true worth, obviously,
we are sinners in need of grace. However, the story's point was
that she became beautiful and she became this lady that acted
like a queen because she realized how her husband, the identity
that her husband gave her, right? She paid seven cows. Before she
was behaving as she saw herself as a one cow girl, if that. But her identity changed. her
identity changed so we're gonna be looking here now at our identity
in Christ our new identity in Christ not the identity that
we were born with but the identity that Christ has given us in 2nd
Corinthians 517 we we this is a familiar passage a familiar
verse. I'm sure that as we read it you Will remember hearing
it. It's a popular verse 2nd Corinthians
517 says therefore If any man being Christ He is a new creature
all things are passed away behold all things become new right we're
going to be looking at this passage we're going to see that we Christ
has made us a new creature we are born in him that's why he's
called we we are born again we need to be born again we're going
to see look at what those old things are Are we also going
to be looking to see what those new what has become new? Right. What has become new? So in Christ,
first of all, we not improved or upgraded. Right. The flesh is not upgraded. We
still have this flesh and the flesh is as sinful as it was
born. I was I was born. It hasn't improved.
But so we're not upgraded, we are made new. In Christ Jesus,
we are made new. The old identity is marked by
sin and by shame. But that old identity ought to
be gone, right? Think about the transformation
that happens when a caterpillar turns into a butterfly, right?
It's the same being, but it's radically different, radically
different. the caterpillar turns into a
butterfly. Now, of course, if the butterfly
still identifies themselves as a caterpillar, that butterfly
is not gonna fly. It's not gonna believe that it
can fly because it identifies itself as still as a caterpillar,
right? So we're gonna be reading now,
we're gonna go to chapter two of Ephesians chapter two, and
we're gonna look at several verses there. And there we're gonna
learn what God has done for us always in Christ, always in Christ. Ephesians chapter two, it says
in verse one, and you, he, not ourselves, but he quicken, quicken
means made alive. He has made us alive. who were
dead in trespasses and sins. We were dead in trespasses and
sin, but he has quickened us. He has made us alive. And whatever
he makes us is what we are now. Not in the future, but now as
we are regenerated, we have been quickened. It doesn't say he's
going to quit in you, but he is making us alive. This alive is the contrast of
the death that Adam brought us in when he sinned. We all died
in him. So we we were not alive. Adam was not alive after his
sin. We were not alive when we were born. But when God looked
upon us and he had grace, of course, he He predestined us
before the foundations of the earth. Right. God, the father
chooses us. Jesus Christ says, I am going
to provide salvation for them. I will regenerate them. And then
the Holy Spirit does the regenerating work in our lives. But we are
made alive. Verse two says we're in times
past. Underline that times past, because
that is one of the things that has passed away, that all has
passed away in time past. You walk according to the course
of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air,
that prince of course is Satan, the spirit that now works in
the children of disobedience, that is the spirit that works
in everyone else, everyone that has not been generated, the prince
of the power of the air, he rules their lives. If you cannot remember
a time where you walked differently or you walk according to this
prince then we need to go to Christ so we can see the difference
but we used to work we in time past is very important time past
because that's no longer the fact that's not now that's in
time past right that's those are the things that has passed
away in verse three among whom also we all had our conversation
that word conversations is in other words manner of life will
be a better translation modernly that's what it means now so in
whom you also all had our manner of life in times past again on
the line times past this is not present time for the believer
this isn't time pass what do we do in time pass in the loss
of our flesh fulfilling that the size of the flesh and on
the vine and were Again, past tense, we're by nature children
of wrath. That's what we were, even as
others. So this is another group of things
that has passed away. This has passed away. This is
no longer our identity. But God, but God who is rich
in mercy, This this bug God is similar to the bug God that Jeff
mentioned earlier in Chapter one, right? He had mercy. So but God. Was rich in mercy. For his great love within us,
he loved us. That was the beginning motivating.
Motivated God to to do all these things for us, he loved us, and
then he's rich in mercy and he intervened, right? This is us
before, this is the past, but he did something. Even when we
were dead in our sins, again, in the past, we were dead in
our sins, we are no longer dead in our sins. We cannot identify
ourselves as dead in sins because we are no longer dead in sins.
He has quickened us together with Christ by grace he has been
saved. So if we identify ourselves As
dead in our sins we are negating or we are rejecting or we are
denying or we are ignoring that God has quickened us together
with Christ. He has quickened us together with Christ. He raised
us up together again in the past tense. He did this already. He raised us up together. and
made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus it did
this when he raised Jesus Christ we were in him right so that
in ages past in ages to come he might show the exceeding riches
of his grace in his kindness towards us through Jesus Christ. And of course, we know the rest
of the verse very popular by Grace You've Been Saved. Right.
And we go down to verse 10 and says that we were we are his
workmanship, creating Christ Jesus to do good works, which
God has foreordained or ordained that we shall walk in them. These
ordained that we should walk in them as part of that. Things
are new of our verse. Behold, all things are new. These
are new things that God has bestowed upon us. So. We it's important
for us to identify correctly and see ourselves how how God
sees us. Because how God sees us is who
we are. We are the ones that are born
again, right? We are the ones that see wrong.
He doesn't see wrong. We see we still see our sin.
We see we see our evil nature but that evil nature that flesh
that was crucified that was crucified on the cross that was done away
with. We see it but our new nature
is what God sees our new nature is our new life and that's this
is the person who's gonna continue that has eternal life so we are
dead to sin in Romans 6 11 we're gonna see that we are dead to
sin Romans 6 11 let's let us go there in Romans 6 11 we see it says likewise reckon you also yourselves to
be dead indeed to sin but alive to God through Jesus Christ our
Lord. This alive is the opposite of
dead right. This alive is what Adam was before
the fall was alive before he took up the tree and I actually
it will become even better as we are resurrected in Christ. We are in a much better position
that Adam was. Adam had not experienced grace.
He did not see the grace of God. And Adam could sin at that point.
We are not going to be able to sin in our new body. So we are
better off. But we are now alive to God. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord,
always is always through the Lord Jesus Christ. Father, God
does not do anything, does not deal with us. anything outside
the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord Jesus Christ is the means
and he is the one that accomplishes all these things. So while we
speak about the identity in Christ what we're looking at is looking
to Christ. We're looking to what he has
done. We're looking at his work. We're looking for his accomplishment. And of course verse 12 is the
consequence of the fruit of when we reckon ourselves dead to indeed
to sin verse 12 says let not sin therefore reign in your mortal
body that you should obey is the last day off now notice what's
the basis of this commandment or in verse 12 the basis is verse
11 verse the base is we have to reckon ourselves dead indeed
to sin the way that we let us let not sin reign over our mortal
bodies The means of that, the way we do it is reckoning ourselves
dead indeed to sin. So how we see ourselves, it has
fruits, has consequences. And also Romans six and same
chapter, but in verse six and seven. see success knowing this
that our old man is crucified with him this old man is our
sinful nature this old man is the one that's been with us probably
a very long time the longest right and this old man is crucified
with him already that the body of sin might be destroyed not
identified with right destroyed that's that's opposite that's
very different than us identifying with him, but he has been destroyed,
that hereafter we should not serve sin. Again, that's a result
of us looking at ourselves that way. It's a thing of the mind.
It's a thing of the belief. believe what we believe about
ourselves, especially our identity, Christ has consequences, has
fruits. It's worked out, it manifests
itself in that behavior that we should not self-sin. And we also children of God,
we see ourselves as children of God. In John 1.12 says, but
as many, John 1.12, very familiar passage, But as many as received
him to them, he gave the power to become sons of God. This is
a power that God gives us, right? The power of faith, right? God
gives us that faith. And then we have become sons
of God, even to them that believe in his name. In the Old Testament,
in the Old Covenant, almost every time that talks about sons of
God, it's talking about angels. most of the time right. Sons
of God angels is talking about angels most of the time. Maybe
Adam is called sons of God because he was created directly by God.
Now here in the new covenant we become sons of God because
we are directly created by Jesus right. We are given new life.
Our new life is in Christ Jesus and we're given to be directly
sons of God right. We don't inherit or we don't
we don't we not No one is the grandchild of God. We directly
are made by God. And of course, this is a blessing. So we see ourselves as the children
of God. So. Through that faith that God
gives us, we are adopted in God's family. OK, in Romans 815, we
go to the Romans 815, just a few pages after it says, For you
have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear but
you have received the spirit of adoption. This spirit of bondage
is similar to what Jeff was talking about in Acts 15 that you that
the Jews were trying to put the new believers in that bondage. Right. So we don't we don't have
the spirit of bondage again to fear but we have received the
spirit of adoption Whereas we cry, Abba, Father, this new spirit
of adoptions is the one that allows us to call God our father,
Abba, Father. The spirit itself bears witness
with our spirit that we're children of God. This is only, no one
person could give you that assurance
but here it says the spirit itself does the spirit talks to you
and and reveals to you Christ and unless you know that you're
children of God if you trust in Christ alone for your salvation
and his work and also his person and you don't trust in yourself
but you trust Christ what he has done then you're you're joint
heirs right it says verse 17 and if children then heirs Heirs
of God. These heirs of God of course
we be we receive. There's nothing we earn here.
You you cannot earn identity. You don't work for identity.
You get an identity. God gives you an identity through
the Lord Jesus Christ. We are joint heirs with Christ
so that we suffer for him. We suffer with him that we may
also be glorified together. Right. We suffer with joint heirs
and we do suffer for Christ and this suffering is not talking
about the suffering as a result of our sin. This is a suffering
for the gospel suffering for following him right. So here
we find that we are received as we are adopted as children
and now we also are forgiven and we are free. We are forgiven
we are free we're going to see that in Ephesians 1 7. Let's
go back to Ephesians. We're going to see these are
the things that God has done for us. This is our identity
and what God has done for us. None of these things we get by
anything of our merit. None of it is all by grace. And
we look to this as well. God has given us in verse one
seven. It says in whom we have redemption. We have redemption in whom in
whom is referring to the Lord Jesus Christ. and whom we have
redemption through his blood. Notice this how we get forgiveness
here is through his blood the forgiveness of sins according
to the riches of his grace I'd like to point out the forgiveness
is through his blood and is according to the riches of his grace our
forgiveness does not come with how sincere we come to him to
ask for forgiveness when we sin, right? It's not through our effort,
it's not through how many tears we shed or how repentant we feel,
right? Because we never feel us repent
that we should. It's not our forgiveness, it's
in the blood of Christ. It's in the riches of his grace. It's never in how guilty we feel
because we never feel as guilty as we should, right? So our forgiveness,
our redemption is through his blood, his blood, his sacrifice. And it's according to the riches
of his grace. His riches of his grace is immeasurable,
right? It's immeasurable. So our forgiveness
doesn't come in our sincerity or how bad we feel when we sin
our forgiveness comes in Christ what he has done already in in
the cross what the blood that he shed that's the basis of our
forgiveness in verse 8 chapter 8 of Romans we're going to go
back to Romans now Romans 8 and Romans 8 and that very very
famous verse verse 8 1 there is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are Christ Jesus there is now therefore no condemnation
to them which are Christ Jesus the oldest manuscripts and there
and they start in the in verse 2 this this injunction here who
walk not after the flesh but after the spirit that belongs
down in verse four at the end of verse four that all these
manuscripts do not have that there they ended at Jesus so
it's not a conditional this is not conditional on how you walk. There is therefore now no condemnation
and then which are in Christ Jesus period. If you are in the
Lord Jesus Christ there is no condemnation period. It does
not have to do with your walk. It's because you are in Christ
Jesus. And that's why there's no condemnation. So in Galatians
5.1, I'm sorry that I'm going all over, but we are seeing all
these verses teaching the same thing, or teaching different
aspects of our salvation, what we have received in Christ. In
Galatians 5.1, It says, stand fast therefore
in the liberty where the Christ has made us free and be not entangled
again with the yoke of bondage. We heard the first message dealt
with this. The first message was dealing
with this yoke of bondage that the Jews were trying to add to
the new Christians. This tactic has not ended. Of
course, it's even probably more prominent now, right? The religious
try to add the yoke of the law, of following Moses' law, especially
the Ten Commandments and all this. And they try to add that,
tack it along to our salvation. And that, but I hear this Holy
Spirit through Paul tells them, the Galatians, and tells us to
stand therefore in the liberty where Christ has made us free.
He has made us free from this. He's made us free from following
Moses law and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
Again at the first message there are a lot about this and in Colossians 3 if we go to Colossians
3 Colossians 3 We're gonna see
again, things that are, these are all related to states of
mind and thinking and believing, because that is the basis of
anything that we do. We behave based on what we believe. And in Colossians 3, in the first
three verses, especially, it says, if you then be risen with
Christ, When he says if you then be risen with Christ is saying
since it means since you were risen with Christ the if it's
not like we use if now nowadays is since you have been risen
with Christ because we were reason when Christ was risen we were
risen not our flesh but our new man was risen together with him
it says seek those things that are above that's what we need
to be doing seeking those things who are above where Christ sits
in the right hand of God set your affection or your mind set
your mind or your affections both of them on things above
not on things of the earth on things above what is above Christ
Jesus sitting on the right hand of the father right he's reigning
as king he's reigning as king right we see his work what he
has done for us we set our affections our minds on this for you are
dead and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Your flesh is dead. Do not identify
with your flesh. Do not identify with your dead
person. Your life, your life, this is
the one that you ought to identify yourself with, is hidden with
Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life,
He is our life. He's not part of life. He doesn't
point you to life. Christ is our life. He's our
life shall appear. You shall also appear with him
in glory. You're going to appear with him in glory together with
Christ, of course. And again, notice how all these
are things we are to believe. And these are going to allow
us are going to make it easier to verse five, mortified therefore
was Your members, which are upon the earth, fornication, uncleanness,
or inordinate affection that does unnatural affection, evil,
concocted sins, that we say is evil. There's evil desire, is
what that means, and covetousness, which is adultery. How is it
that we're going to modify all this? by what the first three
verses said, by putting our eyes on Christ, by looking to the
things above, that's how this is done. For which things are
the sake of the wrath, God comes to the children of disobedience,
right? So all these things are, All these commandments to do
these things are always, always, always started with what we believe,
how we should be looking to Christ. That is the means how these things
happen. If we are to believe that we're
going to grow in grace by following the commandments, following the
law, That's not the way, scripture never says that in the New Testament.
Always says look into Christ, look into Christ is the ways,
is the means how we do this, how we put to death these things.
And these things, of course in verse six, say that these are
characteristics of children of disobedience, in which you also
walk in some time, when you live in them, that's the past, right? Those are those things that we
read in the first, in our key verse, that these are things
in the past, in the first and second Corinthians. So it says
also, eight, now put off these things, anger, wrath, malice,
blasphemy, filthy communication from your youth, and continues
giving you instructions, right? But these instructions, and not
to be taken out of context and just concentrate on those. Here,
it did not tell you to put your mind and your affection on doing
these things. No, it tells you put your mind
and your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
And that's how, that's how it easier to do those things that
God tells us to do regarding behavior. In first Peter if you
go to first Peter we'll look at purpose and calling how God
our purpose and calling first Peter chapter 2 first Peter chapter
2 verses 9 through 16 9 through 16. But you are chosen generation
a royal priesthood a holy nation peculiar people that you should show forth the
praises of him who's called you out of darkness into marvelous
life. So this is the Spirit of God
through Peter letting us know that we are chosen generation.
This is our identity in Christ, a royal priesthood, a holy nation.
Yes. a peculiar people that you should
show forth the praises of him who call you out of darkness. This is out of darkness. We were
called into his marvelous light. That's what we are now. The marvelous
light which in time past. Again, they say always hear a
division of what we are now in Christ and what we were in the
past. That's that's the things of the
past, right? We are a new creature now, so
in the time past we were not a people, but now a people of
God. We are the people of God which
had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy. That's how
we became children of God. That's how we became the people
of God because we obtained mercy. We didn't gain this by anything
we do. We don't obtain mercy by a decision
we make. We just obtain mercy because
God has mercy upon us and he predestined us, he chose us before
the foundations of the earth. And always, the rest of the instructions
here, the rest of this chapter, all instructions are how we're
to behave, but there's always, it starts with your chosen generation,
royal priesthood, holy nation. So you notice how these instructions
always start with, we have to look at our identity in Christ
first. That's what the scriptures point out first. That's the basis.
That's how we are to be able to have any success in following
these instructions because the rest of the verse is full of
instructions. I'm not gonna go over that now.
It would take too much time, but the point is that it's all
based on how you see yourself. That's what he starts put that
your chosen generation royal priest of Holy Nation. In other
words what God has done for you. What identity he gave you in
Christ. That's the basis of your behavior. Matthew 5 14 very talks about
us being the light. Right. We had the light of the
world a city to sit on a hill that cannot be hidden. We also
ambassadors for Christ. We see this in in second Corinthians
520 second Corinthians 520. I'm going to go to second Corinthians
520 and this I remind you this are all all of these things are
what God has done for us. Why had where has God put us
in Christ what identity he has given us in Christ. And we are
to relate to that. We are to see ourselves in that. We are to identify ourselves
in the identity that God gives us in Christ. Therefore, if any
man be in Christ, no, that's our, I mean, verse here, verse
20, verse 17. I own the line, there's 17, that's
why. Now when now then we are ambassadors for Christ, we represent
Christ here in the world. We are ambassadors for him. Right.
As though God did beseech you by us. We pray you in Christ's
stead to be reconciled to God. So that's what we do. That's
being ambassador. We beseech you by us. We beseech you as we witness
and as we preach Christ, as we preach the gospel, We beseech
them to be reconciled to God. We ask them to do it, right,
to be reconciled to God. We ambassadors of God. So we are Christ's representative
in this world in our words, our lives, our words, and actions
reflect upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Because everyone probably knows
at work that you are a Christian, right, that you've confessed
Christ. So they're looking, they're looking, they're looking for
any little, thing that you might do. They're looking to accuse
you. Right. So but we ambassadors of Christ
Jesus. So I'm going to assume basically
our conclusion here is that your identity is not something to
achieve. You're not you don't have to achieve it. Christ has
done it for you. Christ has given you an identity.
It's not something you. It's not something you receive,
I mean, it's not something you achieve, it's something that
you receive in Christ, okay? We are a new creation, we are
beloved by God, we are beloved children, we're completely forgiven,
completely forgiven in Christ. We're citizens of heaven, we
have a purpose, we have a calling, and we're ambassadors for the
kingdom of God. So we need to pray that he will
allow us to have the faith because it is by faith that God gives
us to believe. identity in Christ. It's not
something we achieve, but we have to believe that God has
given us this identity. And we have to see ourselves
as as who he sees us, because God does not put like flower
or colored glasses to see something that's not there. He sees things
how they are. We are the ones that don't see
things how they are. Right. God sees things how they
are. We need to see things how God
sees them, because how God sees them is how they are. And that's
how we need to see ourselves. Father God, thank you, Father,
for your wonderful grace, your wonderful mercy that you have
chosen us before the foundations of the world, Father. We thank
you for that identity that we have in Christ that you have
given us, Father. Help us remind us remind us who
we are in Christ Jesus that we may glorify you and every any
which way we can father give us the grace give us mercy and
remind us always to look to Christ remind us always to look to things
above in the heaven at least look to Christ where we see it
in the beloved in Jesus name we pray. Amen.