Born Again Christian Part 5a
Who Are You?
Scriptures: 1 Thessalonians 2:13; Isaiah 55:11; Ephesians 1:1-2:22
In my message last week I shared with you that was the conclusion of my series on Born Again Christian. This week the Spirit laid on my heart one additional message for the series. The subtitle of this final message is “Who Are You?”
If you ask some people who they are they will tell you about their job title or the role they play within their family. I saw this often in the companies I have worked for. Let me give you an example. Most of you know I work in an industry that is constantly “right sizing.” Depending on the company, political environments, and the life cycle of the products being promoted it is not uncommon for companies to announce without warning that they are going to downsize their sales force. Several years ago I was a field manager at a company that had never experienced a downsizing. This was one of the “benefits” we told candidates whenever we visited college campuses or attended job fairs to recruit potential employees. This was a selling point for our company and part of our identity until we had our first downsizing which shocked many of those working for the company. Imagine that part of your identity of never having gone through a downsizing being shaken to its core when your company goes through one. In my position as a manager I had to tell my affected team members that they were being downsized. I watched the range of emotions that they went through upon hearing that the job they had counted on for years was being eliminated. I witnessed the transformation of their identity, going from being employed to being unemployed. As I witnessed this I never wanted to experience that pain.
I lived for years under the cloud of being downsized and wondering how I would take care of my family. While I knew that God had me and would take care of me I did not want that belief or my profession of faith to be put to the test. I did not want to have to prove that I trusted God. You see, it was easier claiming my identity as His child with all of its benefits while I was working. I remember praying “God I know you have me and I thank you for this job and if it pleases You, I would like to keep it because it’s allowing me to do Your will.” Did you notice how I casually mentioned that the job allowed me to do His will? While this was the absolute truth in my mind, I know that God did not require me to have “that specific job” in order to do His will, but it was comforting for me to stress that to Him. Well, in 2014 my number was called and I was laid off from that company. I had been an employee of that company for 13 years so my work identity was now stripped from me. What I feared and dreaded had finally happened. But something else happened too. After going through that and witnessing firsthand how God worked it all out I no longer fear being downsized. It took me going through a downsizing to lose my fear of it. My personal victory came over the fear because of God, not me, Him alone! I am sharing this story with you because while I was working at that company I had a sign on my computer that said “God is my real employer.” While I worked for that company in the natural, I reminded myself and attached my identity to the fact that God was my “real” employer. That attachment to Him enabled me to go through the process of finding another job and reestablishing a new work identity.
We all have several identities and those identities help define who we are to ourselves and to the world around us. Now before the start of our service each of you were handed a sheet with a question for you to answer. The question was “Who are you?” and you were to write the top 5 identities that define who you are. While you do not have to share your answers with anyone, I want you to look at them and see if you put on your list that you were a Christian and a child of God and, if that did make your list, where did it fall on your list? Was it the last thing you thought about or the first? Or did it show up somewhere in the middle? This morning I want you to think about the fact that as a born again Christian God has to be first in our life. We have covered a lot of Scriptures in this series, but today I want to direct your attention to just two chapters in the New Testament that, if you will read them weekly, you will know exactly who you are as a born again Christian in Christ Jesus. Before we go to those chapters I want to remind you of what I shared with you last week about the power of the Word of God when it’s believed.
His Word will empower and act in the lives of those who believe it. How His Word manifests in our lives is totally based on what we believe about it. First Thessalonians 2:13 says, “For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe.” When the word of God is accepted and believed as coming from God then that “believed word” is able to do its work within us. God says in Isaiah 55:11, “So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; it will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.” We are going to see what God’s word says about us if we receive it as being from Him versus being from man. Turn with me to the book of Ephesians. We are going to spend the remainder of our time in the first two chapters of the book highlighting every reference that speaks to who we are and what we have in Christ as a born again believer. New Light, it is the Bible, and only the Bible, that gives us our identity. We must understand this. We must believe this, and when we do there will be no confusion about who we are as Christians. As we read these two chapters in Ephesians, whenever we get to a statement that references who we are, what we have, or what we know we will pause, highlight it and say it out loud with conviction. We will also write it down with words, “I am…”, I have…” or “I know...” depending on the statement. Let’s start with Ephesians 1:1.
1. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints who are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus. 2. Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. “I am blessed with all spiritual blessings!” Remember the fruit of the spirit that we talked about last week? That’s part of the spiritual blessings that we’ve received. We have everything we need spiritually to do what we need to do for God here on earth. Remember – it’s not about us, but what we are called to do for Him!
4. According as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.
“I am chosen!” How are we chosen? The key is “in Him.” The only way we could be chosen is to be “in Him.’ Who is the “Him?” It’s Jesus. When we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we became part of Him. We became “in Him.” Everyone who accepts Jesus, God chooses because they are “in Him.” Remember how you felt as a kid in gym class when the captains of each team got to choose who they wanted on their teams? Everyone hoped to be chosen because the last person left is not really chosen, they get selected by default because they are the last person left. The team captain did not “choose” them but had to take them because they were the last one left. Imagine being that child and knowing that no one wanted you on their teams. Well that is not the case with us. No matter how bad we were, when we accepted Christ, God immediately chose us; made us holy and blameless before Him in love! Praise God!
5. Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will. “I am predestined!” This doesn’t mean that God predestined some people to be born again while others are not. The predestination is because we are now “in Him” or as it says in this verse “by Jesus Christ.” The predestination kicks in when we accept Jesus. Remember God desires that everyone would be saved even though He knows this will not happen (1 Tim. 2:4).
6. To the praise of the glory of His grace, in which He has made us accepted in the beloved. “I am accepted!” Remember what I told you last week about God qualifying us? He made us acceptable to Him – we could not do this of our own power.
7. In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace. “I am redeemed and forgiven!” Through the blood of Jesus we were saved and restored because our sins have been forgiven. Satan cannot hold our past over our heads because God wiped our past clean when we accepted Christ and asked for forgiveness.
8. Which He has abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence. “I have practical wisdom!” That word “abounded” means to be plentiful. This verse is saying that God has already (past tense) given us an abundance of wisdom. We have what we need, we just need to access it!
9. Having made known unto us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He has purposed in Himself. “I can know His will!” And we’ve talked about this before. We can know His will when we spend time with His book – the Bible.
10. That in the dispensation of the fullness of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in Him. 11. In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who works all things after the counsel of His own will. “I have an inheritance!” What is it? It’s “all things in Christ.” What are they? You will have to read the 4 gospels to find out. Everything we see Jesus doing in the gospels are part of our inheritance. Our inheritance is not solely for us. Our inheritance is primarily to help us bring other people into the kingdom of God.
12. That we should be to the praise of His glory, who first trusted in Christ. 13. In whom you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after you believed, you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. “I am sealed!” That word “sealed” means “To stamp (with a signet or private mark) for security or preservation, by implication to keep secret, to attest.” This chapter concludes with Paul saying,
14. Who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of His glory. 15. Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints. 16. Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers. 17. That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. 18. The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, and what is the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints. 19. And what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power. 20. Which He performed in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places. 21. Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in that which is to come. 22. And has put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be the head over all things to the church. 23. Which is His body, the fullness of Him that fills all in all. (Ephesians 1:1-23)
God wants us to know who we are as born again Christians. There are many verses in the New Testament that tells us, but if you have any doubts about your standings with Him, focus on these two chapters in Ephesians. Read and re-read them until their message gets into your spirit. Focus on what they tell you about who you are as a child of God and what He has made available to you. Then believe it. Don’t question it; doubt it; or try to see if it matches up with what you have been told before. Just read it and believe. I will continue this message next week.
Until next time, “The Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up His countenance on you and give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26)
(If you are ever in the Kansas City, KS area, please come and worship with us at New Light Christian Fellowship, 15 N. 14th Street, Kansas City, KS 66102. Our service Sunday worship starts at 9 a.m. and Thursday night Bible study at 7 p.m. Also, for use of our social media, you can find us at newlightchristianfellowship on FB. To get our live stream services, please make sure you “like” and turn on notifications for our page so you can be notified when we are live streaming. We also have a church website and New Light Christian Fellowship YouTube channel for more of our content. We are developing more social media streams so please stand by and we will notify you once those channels are up and running. We look forward to you worshipping with us. May God bless and keep you.)
