Message from Sunday February 7th 2016
I Identify as a Christian
Our Identity is in Christ - 1 Peter 1:17-25
Message:
Today people are "Identifying" themselves with this, that or some other category of people in our society.
I find it kind of strange since I thought we were all part of one big family - the human family.
There seems to be some pressing need to shout out an individual's distinctiveness instead of proclaiming what makes us all one.
With that in mind I wanted to review just how we as Christians can "Identify with Christ" just in case it becomes necessary to inform folks of our distinctiveness from the rest of society.
What is a Christian?
How can you identify them?
Is it by their fingerprints?
Or is it by the kind of Bible they read?
Can you tell by the denomination that they belong to?
What makes someone distinctly Christian?
The Bible explains how to identify a Christian this way;
John 1:12 (NIV)
12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—
You must believe in the name of Jesus. That Jesus name is the name above all names that Jesus is the Messiah the Promised One of God.
Romans 6:6 (KJV)
6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
A Christian is someone who has buried their old self, their old nature. They have put their body on the cross with Jesus. Christians do not serve the desires of the flesh. They are born again to the Spirit of God.
Galatians 3:26-28 New International Version (NIV)
26 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Christians come to Jesus by faith. They do what Jesus did by being baptised a kind of death and resurrection. They wear the character of Christ like a garment. It can be clearly seen and identified. There is no distinction between Christians, they are not distinctive by race, social status or by gender. Anyone can be a Christian who has repented and has been baptised.
1 Corinthians 6:18-20
18 Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. 19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.
Christians keep their distance from sexual immorality. Christians realize that their bodies house the Holy Spirit and so they do not abuse their bodies or subject them to sexual sins. They realize that even their bodies belong to God and that God is free to do with them whatever He wishes. They consider the price of their freedom from sin. Jesus took the cross for them.
1 John 3:1-10
3 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears,[a] we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3 All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.
Christians have a spiritual conscience as well as a moral conscience and that awareness helps them to purify their lifestyle so that it reflects the kind of life that Jesus lived. In many ways Christians are a curiosity to the rest of the world because they are so different from the rest of the world.
4 Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. 5 But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin.6 No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.
Someone is a Christian if they have turned away from sin in their life. It may not be anything that you can see outwardly it may be something that a person has wrestled with inwardly. It is called repentance. A Christian willingly stops sinning because they know it is an offence to God.
7 Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. 8 The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. 9 No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. 10 This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.
Christians know that bad company corrupts good character.
1 Corinthians 15:33
The change in a Christian is marked by their desire to flee the sin that was in their old lifestyle. There is a new power and presence in their life that actually prevents them from sinning. That presence and power is the Holy Spirit.
Colossians 3:1-14
Living as Those Made Alive in Christ
3 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
Christians find the things of God most interesting, fellowship with other Christians, Bible study, prayer, singing of God’s praise and thinking about how they can best be used by God given their current circumstances. Christians look for and expect Jesus to return and they expect to be with Him for eternity.
5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.
Christians are in a constant state of being changed. They have a lot of things they are trying to change in their lives and for that reason they are not perfect but they are forgiven. Christians are learning to master their emotions and thoughts and attitudes so that they are more like Jesus.
For many of us it is a lifelong battle with victories in one area or another. But a Christian is someone who realizes that they will never be perfect until they are with Jesus. It is the Holy Spirit of God working inside the Christian that makes them want to change and who gives them power to change.
11 Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.
Here again Christians come from all kinds of backgrounds but the common denominator is that Jesus is alive in them.
12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
For the Christian love is the chief pursuit.
Jesus said… Mark 12:29-31
29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
Christians call this the golden rule because it is the most precious and valuable of Jesus teachings. Using these scriptures will help you if you ever have to identify yourself as a Christian. Amen
