IN CHRIST: WE ARE SECURE
Fifth in series: “Identity Theft?”
Rev. Todd G. Leupold, Perth Bible Church, Sunday June 1, 2008 AM
INTRODUCTION:
For the past several weeks now, we have been exploring together - through Scripture – what it means to be human and what it means to be a human who is saved and sanctified by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. So far we have examined how identity is determined, what it means to be identified in Christ through His salvation and adoption, and how all who are in Christ are significant and accepted. This morning, we will conclude this series by addressing the question: “Can our identity in Christ change?’ “What parts of this identity can be counted on no matter what?” “How does the past, present and future define our identity?”
As Chuck Swindoll writes in Laugh Again, “What’s in the past? Only two things: great attainments and accomplishments that could either make us proud by reliving them or indifferent by resting on them . . . or failures and defeats that cannot help but arouse feelings of guilt and shame. Why in the world would anyone want to return to that quagmire?”
To take it one step further, when we focus on either our own accomplishments or failures in the past, present or hoped-for future, we are constantly re-defining ourselves and our identity. The world’s purported wisdom tries to convince us that an ever-changing identity should be a goal and is a sign of maturity. Scripture, however, the absolute wisdom of Almighty God tells us that this is a lie! According to Scripture, our perception of identity can be stolen but our true identity can only be determined by God, Our Creator. Further, for those who are in Christ, there are certain key aspects of our identity that can never be stolen or taken away from those who believe!
You see, once we are in Christ, we are God’s – His adopted child, His possession and people. Nobody and nothing can take this away for there is nobody and nothing mightier than God. It would be like me trying to steal a cuban cigar from Arnold Swarzenegger. Charlton Heston once famously said, “If they want me gun, they’ll have to take from my cold, dead hands.” Charlton Heston today is dead – and he’s no longer holding onto his gun. Jesus Christ, on the other hand, defied and defeated death! Wait as long as you want, His hands will never be cold or dead. And none will take from Him what or who is His!
Let us then sum up the key aspects of a believer’s identity in Christ that are as secure as He is eternal!!!
I.) MY SALVATION
Romans 6:23; 8:1,14-17; Ephesians 1:13-14; Colossians 1:13; 1 John 5:11-18
Rom 6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Rom 8:1 Therefore, no condemnation now exists for those in Christ Jesus,
Rom 8:14-17
All those led by God’s Spirit are God’s sons. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father!" The Spirit Himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God’s children, and if children, also heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ--seeing that we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.
Eph 1:13-14
In Him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation--in Him when you believed--were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. He is the down payment of our inheritance, for the redemption of the possession, to the praise of His glory.
Col 1:13
He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son He loves,
1Jn 5:11-18
And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. The one who has the Son has life. The one who doesn’t have the Son of God does not have life. I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life . . . We know that everyone who has been born of God does not sin, but the One who is born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him.
II.) KNOWING I AM UNCONDITIONALLY LOVED
Romans 5:5-8; 8:30-39; Ephesians 3:17; 1 John 4:9-10
Among his many truisms, Zig Ziglar observes that “the greatest single cause of a poor self-image is the absence of unconditional love.”
One who is in Christ, then, should never have cause for a poor self-image!
Rom 5:8
But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us!
Rom 8:35-39
Who can separate us from the love of Christ? Can affliction or anguish or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
As it is written: “Because of You we are being put to death all day long; we are counted as sheep to be slaughtered.”
No, in all these things we are more than victorious through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will have the power to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord!
Eph 3:17
and that the Messiah may dwell in your hearts through faith. I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God’s love, and to know the Messiah’s love that surpasses knowledge, so you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
1Jn 4:9-10
God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent His One and Only Son into the
world so that we might live through Him. Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
III.) MY PURPOSE
Exodus 9:16; Isaiah 42:6; Acts 26:16; Romans 8:28; Philippians 2:13
Exodus 9:16
However, I have let you live for this purpose: to show you My power and to make My name known in all the earth.
Isa 42:6
"I, the LORD, have called you for a righteous purpose, and I will hold you by your hand. I will keep you, and I make you a covenant for the people and a light to the nations,
Act 26:16
But get up and stand on your feet. For I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and a witness of things you have seen, and of things in which I will appear to you.
Romans 8:28
We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose.
Philippians 2:13
For it is God who is working in you, enabling you both to will and to act for His good purpose.
read/refer to “The Back Pew” cartoon by Jeff Larson
IV.) ENDURING STRENGTH, PERSEVERANCE & VICTORY
Matthew 5:48; 1 Corinthians 15:54-58; 1 Thessalonians 1:3; 1 Tim 1:12-13a;
1 John 2:14; 5:4-5
Mat 5:48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
(refer to picture of Oscar Pistorius)
There are plenty of people, things and circumstances that will attack us, hack us and seek to debilitate and cut us down. IN CHRIST, we are enabled to keep striving, keep working and continue to be victorious even in all of these circumstances!
1Co 15:54-58
Now when this corruptible is clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal is clothed with immortality, then the saying that is written will take place: “Death has been swallowed up in victory. O Death, where is your victory? O Death, where is your sting?”
Now the sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! Therefore, my dear brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord’s work, knowing that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
1Thessalonians 1:3
We recall, in the presence of our God and Father, your work of faith, labor of love, and endurance of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ,
1Timothy 1:12-13a
I give thanks to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, appointing me to the ministry-- one who was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an arrogant man.
1John 2:14
I have written to you, children, because you have come to know the Father. I have written to you, fathers, because you have come to know the One who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, God’s word remains in you, and you have had victory over the evil one.
1John 5:4-5
because whatever has been born of God conquers the world. This is the victory that has conquered the world: our faith. And who is the one who conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
CONCLUDING REFLECTION: OUR WORTH IN CHRIST
Commitment Cards
My Statement of Worth
From this day forward, I will base my self-worth on what God
says about my value to Him. My purpose in life is His purpose for me. My strength to fulfill His will is found in His infinite power. I acknowledge that this understanding can only be unquestioningly found through His special revelation – the Bible. I will place this certificate of Worth in my own pocket rather than in the pockets of others because my estimated net worth as a human being is eternally beyond human comprehension.
Signed: _______________________________
*adapted from others
