Dr. Wayne A. Lawson
The Word Ministries, OKC
Preached on Sunday March 12, 2006
http://www.thewordministryokc.com/
Title: Identity Theft
Scripture: St. John 10:10
10The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
Identity theft is something we have heard much about in the media during the past few years. Perhaps you pay your bills on-line, or just do some casual shopping on line for the simple convenience of paying bills or shopping from the privacy and comfort of your own home. I have grown comfortable paying majority of bills on line. I find it to be convenient. There are many safeguards currently in place. But, perhaps there was a planted program somewhere that captured your vital information and placed it into the hands of a thief. Although identity theft is a rapidly escalating type of crime, it is not necessarily new. Incidents of various types of identity theft have more than doubled over the past four years and now represent the leading consumer fraud reported to the Federal Trade Commission, accounting for 42% of all complaints.
Many identity fraud cases begin with the simple theft of a credit card number, as easily as taking the information from a paper receipt. Stolen Credit Cards and Social Security Numbers can devastate your life. When thieves effectively steal your identity they can do one or all of the following:
• Open new credit card accounts using your name, birth date and SSN
• Call your credit card company pretending to be you and change the mailing address
• Establish cellular phone service in your name
• Open a bank account in your name and write bad checks on that account
The real tragedy with identity theft is you may never realize that it has happened to you until you receive bills for a credit card you never had – bad credit report includes debts you never created – billing cycles pass and you don’t receive a statement – charges appear on your bills that you did not authorize. Identity theft can be very subtle in the beginning and before you know it you find yourself attempting to prove your identity. Can you imagine yourself in the position of having to ever prove who you are to creditors or some local agency.
Identity theft my brothers and sisters can also take place on the Spiritual Level. Matter of fact it has been going on since the beginning of Human Kind. One of the Classic, Biblical ways to understand Satan is as a thief, John the Evangelist writes that the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. The author of 1st Peter, possibly the Apostle Peter himself, writes that “YOUR ADVERSARY THE DEVIL PROWLS AROUND LIKE A ROARING LION, SEEKING THOSE WHOM HE MAY DEVOUR.” The devil seeks to steal our likeness to Christ. Satan is the original Identify Thief who would like nothing more than to corrupt the image of God in you, drain your spirit, and therefore, derail your becoming like Christ. For that in itself is the essence of Christianity = to be like Christ.
According to the New Testament, the religious experience of the earliest Christians was derived from and dependent upon Christ. Christian experience is more than an imitation of the life and teaching of Jesus. It is the present experience of the risen Christ indwelling the believer’s heart by the Spirit. Both Johannine and Pauline literature refer to this reality by emphasizing the inclusive and corporate personality of Christ. Stay with me, I am going somewhere with this. Paul expresses the personal appropriation of the work of Christ by the term “IN CHRIST.” It appears to be the Apostles Favorite Term to describe the Personal and Dynamic relation of the believer to Christ, and it appears in a variety of Contexts. This particular phrase “In Christ” is found:
• 8 – times in Galatians
• 34 – times in Ephesians
• 18 – times in Colossians
This is what theologians call “Identification with Christ.” It means God has acted in such a way that we have become identified with Christ. Therefore, as far as God is concerned, what is true of Christ’s standing has become true of us. Did Jesus die? Then so did I. Did Jesus rise from the dead? Then I, too, rose from the dead. The comparisons can be pressed even further. Did Jesus ascend to the Father in heaven? Then according to my identification with Christ, I too ascended to heaven and took my seat at the right hand of the Father! This is expressly stated in EPHESIANS 2:5-6 "AND EVEN WHEN WE WERE DEAD IN OUR SIN AND TRANSGRESSION (GOD) MADE US ALIVE TOGETHER WITH CHRIST….AND RAISED US UP WITH HIM, AND SEATED US WITH HIM IN THE HEAVENLY PLACES IN CHRIST.” Of course we have not become the creators of the world, nor have we become deity, but the areas where we are identified with Christ go much further than many of us would challenge ourselves to think.
Union with Christ is the result of an act of divine grace, the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. Baptized into Christ, the Believer is incorporated into the body of Christ. This new position In Christ is the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise to his disciples: ST. JOHN 14:20 - “ON THAT DAY YOU WILL REALIZE THAT I AM IN MY FATHER, AND YOU ARE IN ME, AND I AM IN YOU.” Therefore this phrase has a corporate meaning as well – we belong to the Community of Christ. This community is defined by its relation to its representation of Christ. So when we are In Christ, not only are we related to Christ, but we also Look Like Christ. I have to pause at this point and tell you that this is the missing ingredient in the local church today:
• Identify with everybody but Christ
• Church no longer wants to look like a Church
• Used to be a time when people could look at us and tell we were different
• We want to look like the Rappers
• We want to look like the Gangsters
• Too much of the world in us and not enough Jesus in us
This is why Jesus took the time to warn His disciples in our text – “THE THIEF COMETH NOT, BUT FOR TO STEAL, AND TO KILL, AND TO DESTROY.” We all know who the thief is. The devil takes aim at each of us today. His design is to Steal – Kill and to Destroy. He will:
• Lie to Us
• Deceive Us
• Steal from Us
• Entrap Us
• Turn us against one another
• Blind us to the Will of God
There is an alarming Complacency that exists within the Household of Faith today. We feel as though we no longer need worry about what the devil wants to do to us. You need to understand today, no matter who you are, the devil’s design is to kill, to steal and destroy. I have found more and more today that the devil is robbing God’s children of their identity. There is a problem of identity theft that has attacked the Church. Jesus compares His mission on earth and contrasts it to that of the mission of Satan - and He effectively draws the Contrast. He says the devil wants to steal, kill and destroy, but, I want you to have an abundant life.
There are so many in the Church who are still searching for their stolen identity. The search for identity is one that we all have gone through at some point in our life, it is not until we are able to see the real self that we are then willing to surrender to God and allow the Holy Spirit to take control and charge of our life. We see so many today searching for their Identity. I have never seen so many:
• Self Help Books
• Self Help Tapes
• 10 Steps to Success
• Be Loosed and Delivered Services
• Sermons and Workshops that will Change your life
• Visits to Dr. Phil – Dr. Ruth – Dr. Laura – Dr. Brothers – Dr. Pepper - in all my life
Satan is in full Rebellion to Christ and His Saints. He has unleashed not only evil powers within the world but he has also unleashed them within the Church. These forces seem to corrupt and destroy the creatures of God; that the sinful desires that draw us from the love of God seek principally to devour our Divine Identity. So the logical question must be – how does it happen – how can satan steal your identity? My brothers and sisters we see it all too often. There are many Churches today that resemble on Sunday mornings:
• A Corporate Conference
• A Motivational Speaker in the Pulpit
• A Woodstock Concert
• A Broadway Ballet
• A Hollywood Production
My brothers and sisters Satan has infiltrated the Church in such a Subtle way and we have become desensitized. The Church at one time used to stand up for Something, now the Church falls for Everything.
• Spoke against Vietnam War – Silent on War in Iraq
• Spoke against Homosexuality – Silent about Same Sex Marriage
• Marched against Racism – March to Build Bigger Churches
• Used to Honor Integrity and Values – No longer part of the expectations of a Leader
I heard a Pastor of a very large church when he was asked about the Obvious Absence of Religious Artifacts and Drawings in the Sanctuary say that it was done by design in an effort not to offend anyone in the Sanctuary. He went on to say that He does not preach about – racism – equality – homosexuality – war in Iraq – abortion. He stated that people should make up their own mind about these issues. He preaches live your best life now sermons and people continue to flock and support that particular ministry. We are losing our Identity to Christ more and more.
• We are looking for the Best Now
• We want to live the Best Now
• My Bible says the Best Is Yet to Come for Every Believer
It would seem to me that the devil has even stolen the Believers Hope for Tomorrow. I read recently an example from nature that may help us understand the process of how the thief steals, kills, and destroys. As most of you know, the Oyster is a two-pieced shell fish. The major predator of the Oyster is the Starfish. Muscle for Muscle, the Oyster is the stronger of the two creatures. The Oyster has one larger powerful muscle that it uses to close its two shells like a Vise. The Starfish has no Muscle as strong as the Oyster’s. But, it has Five Legs with many Smaller Muscles that it alternately Rests and Exerts when taking hold of an Oyster with its Suction Cups. The pressure on the one large muscle is at first easily resisted. It is Low-Level, but constant and unyielding. In time, the Oyster is exhausted and unable to hold its shell closed any longer. The Starfish breaks in and devours it. Likewise the constant pressure from sin - the world - and the devil seeks always to drag us down into modes of being, thinking, and acting that bear no resemblance to Christ. Who can withstand the constant pull?
Satan’s stealing process is a gradual one. He uses all manner of media to entice our senses of, sight, smell, touch, and taste. Just like in the days of Adam and Eve - the devil has not changed his deception strategy. Eve must have seen the delicious-looking fruit from a distance, then as she came to the tree, she thought it smelled good, then she touched it, plucked it off and ate (tasted) it. What appeared at first to be a harmless little fruit led to the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the paradise that God had created for them.
The Bible says God’s plan for us is that we be "TRANSFORMED INTO HIS LIKENESS WITH EVER-INCREASING GLORY, WHICH COMES FROM THE LORD, WHO IS THE SPIRIT” – II CORINTHIANS 3:18. There is no end to the power He wants to exhibit in our lives. The devil, on the other hand, is always trying to rob us of something God blessed us with. When he succeeds, the spiritual gifts seem to fade, and the material things occupy our attention. The devil is determined to destroy you and:
• Everything you love
• Everything good
• Everything holy
• Everything perfect and pure
• Everything that has power
• The devil wants to destroy you
• Jesus wants to take off you what the devil put on, and put back on you everything the devil took off
If you are going to live in absolute victory today, then you need to join me in taking the pen of the Word of God, dip it in the eternal blood of God’s own Son, draw a dividing line of God’s Word in your life, and get mad at the devil! Jesus Christ came for one purpose, to annihilate the works of the devil in your life! "FOR THIS PURPOSE THE SON OF GOD WAS MANIFESTED, THAT HE MIGHT DESTROY THE WORKS OF THE DEVIL” – I JOHN 3:8 When Jesus hung on the cross He said, "IT IS FINISHED." In other words, "It is done" or "It is completed." What did He do? He destroyed the work of the enemy for eternity.
We were created as incredible models of our Father. We bear such a striking resemblance to our Father that His enemies hate us just because of who we are!!
• We were created in His image and likeness
• Of all the creatures of the earth, we are unique
• Of all the creatures of the earth, we are the only ones that live with the knowledge that we will one day die
• Of all the creatures of the earth, we are unique in our capacity for rational thought
• We have an Abundant Life with Christ, that was established long ago
- In the Garden of Eden, humanity was crowned with glory!
- In the Garden of Eden, we received the promotion that the devil wanted!
- In the Garden of Eden, we became God’s beloved favorites!
- In the Garden of Eden, somebody didn’t like it!!!
- But it was On The Cross our Identity was Restored
- On The Cross we gained Abundant Life
- On The Cross, identity thief rendered Powerless
- On The Cross gained Authority to Identify with Christ
- I don’t know about you, but I thank God for my Identity
- I know who I am and whose I am
- Want world to point at me and say “He’s just like his Father”
- Looks like his Father
- Talks like his Father
- Walks like his Father
- My Father sits high and looks low
(close)
