Knowing What You Are
Romans 6:1-10
In the early 1970s, a social scientist named Philip Zimbardo led a team of scientists from Stanford University in an interesting experiment. The team built a mock prison in the basement of the University’s psychology department. The scientists placed advertisements in the local papers looking for volunteers who would participate in the experiment. Zimbardo and his colleagues selected twenty-four people to participate, choosing the ones who appeared to be the most emotionally stable and healthy.
Half of the group was randomly selected to be prison guards. They were given military-style guard uniforms and dark glasses. They were told their responsibility was to keep order. The other half of the group became the prisoners. They were arrested in their homes, cuffed, brought to a real police station, fingerprinted, and then blindfolded for the trip to the mock prison. They wore prison clothes with numbers on the front and back of the clothing. The number became their identity. They were only allowed to refer to themselves and others by their numbers. In post interviews with the prisoners in the experiment, they confessed that when their identity became a number, they felt helpless and hopeless. Four of the prisoners were pulled from the experiment early because of emotional breakdowns including extreme depression, crying, rage, and anxiety. Other prisoners incited rebellions and riots against the guards. When the mock prisoners forgot who they really were, they became depressed. Their self-perception impacted their thinking, attitude, and ultimately their behavior. When they believed that they were criminals, they began to live like criminals. The experiment was intended to last two weeks, but Zimbardo shut it down after six days because of the chaos that was ensuing. When he was dismissing some of the mock prisoners, he needed to remind them that they were not prisoners, that the scenario was not real. Unfortunately many Christians live as powerless Christian lives because they have forgotten their identity in Christ. We need to stop believing Satan's lies and realize who we are in Christ.
I You are a Child of God (Satan's lie - You are a victim of your past)
A John 1:12 - But as many as received Him, to them He gave the power (right, privilege) to become children of God, to those who believe on His name.
B Galatians 3:26 - For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
C Galatians 4:6-7 " And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!" Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ."
D I am not a victim of my environment or my heritage - I am no longer a slave to my past - I am a child of the King!
E My Father is rich in houses and lands,
He holdeth the wealth of the world in His hands!
Of rubies and diamonds, of silver and gold,
His coffers are full, He has riches untold.
I’m a child of the King,
A child of the King:
With Jesus my Savior,
I’m a child of the King.
My Father’s own Son, the Savior of men,
Once wandered on earth as the poorest of them;
But now He is pleading our pardon on high,
That we may be His, when He comes by and by.
I once was an outcast stranger on earth,
A sinner by choice, an alien by birth,
But I’ve been adopted, my name’s written down,
An heir to a mansion, a robe and a crown.
A tent or a cottage, why should I care?
They’re building a palace for me over there;
Though exiled from home, yet still may I sing:
All glory to God, I’m a child of the King. - Harriet E. Buell, 1877
E Romans 8:16-17a - The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ..."
II You are a Redeemed Individual (Satan's lie - You're of little worth)
A Ephesians 1:7 - In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace.
B ...to redeem means to buy back from bondage, to buy back by paying a price. And sometimes the price is very high. Have you ever heard of the phrase "a king's ransom"? You might say something is worth a king's ransom or someone is worth a king's ransom. That really goes back to the time of the Crusades when there was a king in England by the name of Richard Coeur Deleon and he was captured by his enemies during the Crusades, thrown into prison and a colossal ransom was basically asked of the people of England. They wanted him back to badly that they submitted to heavy taxation, over a process of time they amassed a fortune and many rich nobles added to the common peoples giving and they filled up the coffers with large sums of money in order to free their king. And that's what gave birth to the phrase "a king's ransom." And it's used to connote a huge amount of money required to redeem someone back from bondage.
Another story that took place during the Crusades is that of a knight, Sir John Pauncefote who was captured by the Saracens and held for ransom. In order to emancipate him and redeem him from death they would require the right hand of his lovely wife. As the historians tell us, she eagerly granted her own right hand to buy back her beloved husband. High prices paid for redemption. But Peter tells us of an even higher price, an infinitely higher price. Peter tells us that we were redeemed with precious blood, the blood of Christ. And that's the focus of our study of these great verses. - adapted from J MacArthur
C 1 Peter 1:18-19 - "knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.
D If I offer a car for sale, which I think is worth 7K, and offers are made ranging from 2K to 9K, how much is the car worth? The 7K that I think it's worth? The "low-ball" offer of 2K? No. The car is worth what the highest bidder is willing to pay in the open market. People are "traded" in a spiritual and eternal market. We are not worth what we happen to think, or any "low-ball" offer. We are worth what the highest bidder will pay. The highest bidder is God, and the price-tag is the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. God looked out across the eternal ages and said, "I'll take that one, even though the price is steep!" Our worth is established once and for all, and can never change or diminish. God has made the ultimate offer and paid the highest price.
E Titus 2:14 - Jesus Christ..."gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works."
F Redeemed—how I love to proclaim it!
Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb;
Redeemed through His infinite mercy,
His child, and forever, I am. - Fanny Crosby
III You are a Forgiven Person (Satan's lie - Your past sins are so awful it's impossible for you to find forgiveness and acceptance.)
A Ephesians 1:6-7 - To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
B A psychology student said to his father, "One thing we learn in psychology is how to deal with people's guilt. We try to convince them they shouldn't feel guilty. But no matter how much we try it doesn't work." His father was a Christian and said, "Of course it doesn't work son. They are guilty." - copied
C Psalm 103:12 - As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.
D Evangelist Charles Finney preached on 1 John 1:7 "....The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin." A stranger asked him to walk home with him; against all advice he did. Ushering Finney into the rear of a building, he locked the door and pocketed the key. "Don't be afraid," the man said. "I just want to ask you some questions. Do you believe what you preached tonight?" "I most certainly do," replied Finney. "We're in the back of a saloon and I'm the owner. Mothers come in here lay, their babies on the counter and beg me not to sell liquor to their husbands. I turn a deaf ear to their cry. When a man leaves here we see to it that he's well under the influence. More than one man has been killed on the railway tracks after leaving here. Can God forgive a man like me?" the man asked. "I have only one authority. 'The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin,'" said the evangelist. The stranger wasn't satisfied yet and asked, "If a man doesn't spend all his money on liquor, we take him to our gambling hall and fleece him of his last dollar with marked cards. Can God forgive a man with a heart like that?" "I have only one authority. 'The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin,'" Finney replied again. The stranger still wasn't finished. He said, "Across the street is my wife and daughter. Neither has heard a kind word from me in five years. Their bodies bear the marks of my brutal attacks. Can God forgive a man with a heart like that?" Finney lowered his head and said, "You've painted one of the darkest pictures I've ever seen. But still I have only one authority. 'The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.'" That night that man became a new creature in Christ.
E Ephesians 4:32 - And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
F Warren Wiersbe said, "An unforgiving spirit is the devil's playground (cp Ep 4:26, 27-note), and before long it becomes the Christian's battleground."
G As having been forgiven, as a child of God, forgiveness is to be the believer's continual practice, our new way of life Don't say you can't forgive, for what you are really saying is you won't forgive. We can forgive others because He forgave us! As an act of mercy we are called to make the conscious choice to extend grace to others who don't necessarily deserve it. - copied
IV You are a New Creation - (Satan's lie - You cannot be totally changed)
A 2 Corinthians 5:17 - Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
B As Christians, we are new creations: The old life of sin has been defeated and destroyed by repentance, the old nature has been conquered by crucifixion, and now we stand as new creations. We have new goals, values, desires, attitudes, thoughts, actions, new everything. As Christians we have not just been repaired but totally renewed! - Ferguson
C Ezekiel 36:26 - A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
D Christians can say, “Being justified by faith, we have peace: with God; ... and not only that, but we also have joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.” When someone tells a Christian that he is not forgiven, he says, “Oh! you may say what you like about it; but I have the witness within that I am born of God. I am not what I used to be; if I were to meet myself in the street, I would hardly know myself; I mean my spiritual self, — my inner self, for I am so changed, so renewed, so turned upside down that I am not what I was, I am a new creation in Christ Jesus.” The person who can say this can bear to be laughed at. They know what they are all about, and at the most sober moment of their life, even when lying on their bed sick and ready to die, they can look right into eternity, soberly judge Christ, and find him to be worthy of their confidence, and, thinking of the blood-washing, find it to be a real fact. - Charles H. Spurgeon
E 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 - Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
F 2 Peter 1:3-4 - His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
V You are an Overcomer - (Satan's lie - You're incapable of having victory over your besetting sins.)
A Romans 8:37 - Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
B Romans 6:14 - For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
C 1 Corinthians 15:57 - But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
D God has never been totally defeated by the events of the past, nor will He be by the events of the future.
E Joseph was in the dungeon, but God released him. The Hebrews were in slavery, but God delivered them. David was overwhelmed by the guilt of his sin, but God forgave him. Daniel was in the lion's den, but God preserved him. Jonah was in the belly of the fish, but God retrieved him. Jesus was in the tomb, but God raised Him. No problem has been so great that God in His power has not overcome it. And that is the promise that comes to each of us this morning. What He has done in the past, He will do again today. Through God's power, we can overcome.
F A young man in a wheelchair, crippled by an accident asked his friend, "Do I have a future?" The friend responded, "As a pole-vaulter; no. As a man, yes!" An overcomer accepts the promise of God's word that no matter how great the problem, he can overcome. He has a future.
G 2 Corinthians 4:7-9 - But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.
H Victorious living is a struggle between the old man and the new man. It's like a dog-fight. If you feed one, it becomes strong. Starve the other it becomes weak. Victory is ours when we stop believing our lives are all about us and focus on Christ and His Word.
I Philippians 3:13-14 - Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
J Whatever it is you may be going through
I know He's not gonna let it get the best of you
You're an overcomer
Stay in the fight ‘til the final round
You're not going under
‘Cause God is holding you right now
You might be down for a moment
Feeling like it's hopeless
That's when He reminds You
That you're an overcomer
You're an overcomer
The same Man, the Great I am
The one who overcame death
He's living inside of You
So just hold tight, fix your eyes
On the one who holds your life
There's nothing He can't do
He's telling you
You're an overcomer!
- Publishing: © 2013 Ariose Music / 9T One Songs (ASCAP) / Meaux Mercy / Chriscendo Music (BMI) (Admin. at EMICMGPublishing.com) / Universal Music – Brentwood Benson Publishing / D Soul Music (ASCAP)
