INTRODUCTION
• SLIDE #1
• OI hope you have been learning some things during our What Do I Believe About… series.
• We began with examining the possibility that there is a God in heaven who created the heavens and the universe, an uncaused first cause.
• Then we made the significant jump to see that this Creator, is a personal God, one who indeed cares for you.
• Next we looked at how we could be in a relationship with this God and how we could experience the joys of the promises He offers to one who comes to Him.
• Last week, Jerry took you on a journey showing you why one can can trust the Bible as the Word of God. If we cannot trust the Bible, then we have no basis for anything we say or do, it is then simply opinion.
• This week we are going deeper down the rabbit hole as we strive to grasp the concept of our identity in Christ!
• Once one grasps the concept of a creator, then makes the huge leap to realizing that He cares for them, then takes the necessary steps to be in a relationship with this AWESOME, God, and by the way, we then see enough evidence to trust the Bible as God’s only revealed word and will, now we go deeper.
• I see too many Christians who do not apprehend the concept that being in a relationship with Jesus makes them special, it changes who they are and it changes what they are about, as well as how the relationship changes their eternal destiny.
• Identity is something many people struggle with, who am I? You can turn to Facebook and you will see all kinds of quizzes.
• What Walking Dead Character are you? What President are you? What Super Hero are you? What Greek God are you? What Celebrity do you look like?
• FYI, I did the celebrity because I tell folks I want to look like Johnny Depp, for my wife. I took the quiz and on my 5th try, I was told I look like Johnny Depp!
• My follow up identity quiz was HOW BLIND ARE YOU!
• Our identity is important, who we are is important. People try to steal our identities because they want the benefit of your bank account or credit score.
• Today we will examine five implications of our identity in Christ! We will be looking at a few passages so you can follow on screen or via the You Version App.
• SLIDE #2
• John 1:12 (HCSB) — 12 But to all who did receive Him, He gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in His name,
• SLIDE #3
SERMON
I. In Christ, I am a child of God, and an heir of His kingdom.
• When you are in Christ, and we spoke of how that happens 2 weeks ago, your identity changes from being of this world, to becoming a part of God’s family!
• Notice that when we receive Christ, we have the RIGHT or another way to translate the Greek word EX OOO SEE A (RIGHT) is PRIVILEGE!
• It denotes a LIBERTY OF ACTION.
• This LIBERTY OF ACTION gives those in Christ the ability to continue to live in obedience to Christ and be saved.
• The scriptures do not afford a single instance of any person being saved by faith until the faith involved expressed itself in action through obedience to the Lord's commands. (1 John 2:4; 5:3.) Real faith leads to obedience.
• We are reminded in Galatians 3:27-29
• SLIDE #4
• Galatians 3:27–29 (HCSB) For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ like a garment. There is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, heirs according to the promise.
• Notice that being a child of God means we are co-heirs with Jesus! ROMANS 8:17!
• Union with Christ constitutes the true spiritual descent from Abraham, and secures the inheritance of all the Messianic blessings by promise, as against inheritance by law.
• When I was growing up, my dad stressed that I was not to bring shame on the family name, that being in my family meant something. I was not to be like the other kids, I was to conduct myself in a way that reflected the values of my family.
• We are called Ambassadors for Christ in 2 Corinthians 5:20. When I am on Facebook, I am an ambassador for Christ, I should speak and act as my Lord.
• When I am in the checkout line, since I am a child of God, my conduct should reflect that. My language, my thinking, my goals in life should reflect my savior!
• I can resist peer pressure because I am a child of God. Mouseketeers, you can resist the temptations and peer pressure you face because you are special, you are a child of God, an Heir of God!
• Let us look at the next implication.
• SLIDE #5
• 1 Corinthians 6:19–20 (HCSB) Don’t you know that your body is a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God in your body.
• SLIDE #6
II. In Christ, I am a temple of God’s dwelling.
• WHEN you are in Christ, your body is the temple for the Holy Spirit!
• Your body is the temple when the Holy Spirit dwells when you receive Him at baptism (Acts 2:38).
• For us we do not understand what Paul was writing; his readers knew.
• During Paul’s day, people would not think of desecrating the temples people thought the false gods would dwell
• In Corinth, the temple of Aphrodite resided. No one would think of disfiguring that place.
• For those who worshipped Aphrodite, sexual immorality was a part of the worship. There were Christians who came out of that world to become children of God. For Christians, children of God, sexual immorality desecrates God’s temple.
• When we are a temple of the Holy Spirit, we do not want to desecrate the temple that contains God’s Spirit! Paul was trying to make that clear to his audience, they were no longer worshipping the false gods, they were worshipping the true God!
• Many times people appeal to this verse in a way that says we should stay in shape, watch what we eat, and so forth.
• This verse also goes to the conduct that would desecrate the temple of the Holy Spirit.
• When we are about to hit the send key, when we are about to like the Facebook post or pass on the Facebook post that is filled with foul language, or when we are tempted to stray away from our spouse, or give into to the temptations dating can bring, we need to remember…
• SLIDE #7
• 1 Corinthians 3:16 (HCSB) Don’t you yourselves know that you are God’s sanctuary and that the Spirit of God lives in you?
• This next implication flows from one of my favorite verses.
• SLIDE #8
• 2 Corinthians 5:17 (HCSB) Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away, and look, new things have come.
• SLIDE #9
III. In Christ, I am a new creation.
• The word NEW denotes NEW is QUALITY, RENEWED.
• THIS CALLS TO MIND THE NEW birth in which a person’s spirit is renewed when one becomes a Christian.
• The spirit has died, or ceased to function, when a person commits their first sin. (Reese, 12 Corinthians)
• In the process of becoming a Christian that spirit is born again.
• This is what Jesus was referring to in John 3:6 in His conversation with Nicodemus.
• SLIDE #10
• John 3:5–6 (HCSB) Jesus answered, “I assure you: Unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit.
• Now, 2 Corinthians 5:17 offers us a joyful blessing that happens when we become a NEW CREATION; old things have passed away, and look, new things have come.
• The old things would be the old way of life that we used to be shackled, the life that kept us separated from God.
• The new things that come is the new life we can have in Christ; the new mind we can have in Christ!
• SLIDE #11
• Romans 12:1–2 (HCSB) Therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.
• When we allow the Spirit to work within us, we can leave the old things behind!
• SLIDE #12
• 1 Corinthians 12:27 (HCSB) Now you are the body of Christ, and individual members of it.
• SLIDE #13
IV. In Christ, I am a member of the body of Christ.
• THIS GOES BACK TO BEING IN GOD’S FAMILY!
• Jesus loves the church!
• SLIDE #14
• Ephesians 5:25–27 (HCSB) Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her to make her holy, cleansing her with the washing of water by the word. He did this to present the church to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or anything like that, but holy and blameless.
• When we are on Facebook, when we are on the job, when we go to the store, when we drive down Fry Blvd, we are a part of the body of Christ and we represent Jesus!
• You are not a member of a social club, you are a member of the most important organization, God’s church!
• Our mission is of the upmost importance for those who do not know Jesus. Our mission is of the upmost importance for the world we live in, we are to take the message of reconciliation to the world!
• Philippians 3:20 offers another blessing!
• SLIDE #15
• Philippians 3:20 (HCSB) but our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
• SLIDE #16
V. In Christ, I am a citizen of heaven.
• We are citizens of Heaven!
• This should change how we take on life, it should change how we live life, it should change how we face death!
• It seems clear that Paul uses this political imagery to describe the fact that true Christians are temporary resident aliens here on the earth, but that they have their citizenship in the heavenly commonwealth!
• We are strangers in a foreign land!
• The original language implies we are CURRENTLY citizens of heaven!
• When we traveled to Europe, we were there on our United States passport, we were aliens in a foreign land!
CONCLUSION
• Your decision to follow Jesus should be a life-changing experience for you because you did not join a club, you have been adopted into God’s family!
• Christians, the world is watching you to see how seriously you take being a part of the body of Christ!
• I pray that we place our focus on living for Jesus, that we realize the we do not carry the name of Jesus, but we show the world what He means to us!
