who do you think you are?
O2 – 11.05.05
Tonight we’re going to examine the subject of who you really are.
A lot of people are suffering from a case of mistaken identity, especially teenagers. Think about it, it’s during your teenage years that you are discovering who you are and who you’re going to become. And so, on that quest, you could easily be distracted and take a detour towards becoming something you weren’t even meant to be.
A man was looking for a job and he noticed that there was an opening at the local zoo. He inquired about the job and discovered that the zoo had a very unusual position that they wanted to fill. Apparently their gorilla had died, and until they could get a new one, they needed someone to dress up in a gorilla suit and act like a gorilla for a few days. He was to just sit, eat and sleep. His identity would be kept a secret, of course. Thanks to a very fine gorilla suit, no one would be the wiser.
The zoo offered good pay for this job, so the man decided to do it. He tried on the suit and sure enough, he looked just like a gorilla. They led him to the cage; he took a position at the back of the cage and pretended to sleep. But after a while, he got tired of sitting, so he walked around a little bit, jumped up and down and tried a few gorilla noises. The people who were watching him seemed to really like that. When he would move or jump around, they would clap and cheer and throw him peanuts. And the man loved peanuts. So he jumped around some more and tried climbing a tree. That seemed to really get the crowd excited. They threw more peanuts. Playing to the crowd, he grabbed a vine and swung from one side of the cage to the other. The people loved it and threw more peanuts. Wow, this is great, he thought. He swung higher and the crowd grew bigger. He continued to swing on the vine, getting higher and higher—and then all of a sudden, the vine broke! He swung up and out of the cage, landing in the lion’s cage that was next door.
He panicked. There was a huge lion not twenty feet away, and it looked very hungry. So the man in the gorilla suit started jumping up and down, screaming and yelling, “Help, help! Get me out of here! I’m not really a gorilla! I’m a man in a gorilla suit! Heeelllp!”
The lion quickly pounced on the man, held him down and said, “Will you SHUT UP! You’re going to get both of us fired!”
For whatever reason, you could be like this guy, trying to be something that you’re not. You could try to be a jock when you don’t have the slightest idea how to play a sport. You could try to be a nerd when you could actually care less how many neutrons and electrons are in a certain atom. You could try to be a goth when black really isn’t your color. You could try to be a prep when you don’t quite have the benjamins to fill your wardrobe with Abercrombie & Fitch. OR you could be you. You could be who God made you to be, regardless of what anybody thinks.
Now, the question is, who did God make me to be? Did He make me to be a jock, a nerd, a goth, a prep? Who did He make me to be? Well, who He made you to be is not found in your social status or your clique at school. It’s not determined by your height, your weight, your age, your personality or your appearance. Your identity is not found in who you are, but WHOSE you are.
People were constantly trying to figure out who Jesus was. Some thought He was a demon, others thought He was a prophet, still others thought He was a Rabbi, and then others believed Him to be the Son of God.
Even Jesus asked his disciples the question, “Who do people say that I am?”
There was an Easter pageant at this church and as Jesus was entering Jerusalem, one of the characters announced his entrance by shouting, “The King is coming!” One of the kids in the front row jumped up in the seat, looked toward the back of the room, and shouted, “So THAT’S Elvis!”
You see, people were trying to figure out who Jesus was, but Jesus knew who He was. In the book of John, he made several eye-opening statements about his identity.
John 6:35 NIV 35Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.
John 8:12 12When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
John 10:9,10 NIV 9I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
John 11:25-26 NIV 25Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; 26and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.
John 14:6 NIV 6Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Jesus was constantly confessing WHO HE IS, WHAT HE IS, and HIS MISSION IN LIFE.
Before Jesus was arrested and crucified, he prayed a prayer for all believers and at the end of this prayer, this is what He prays:
John 17:25-26 25"Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them."
Who did God make you to be? He made you to be like Christ.
When you accept Christ as your Savior and acknowledge Him as Lord of your life, you are spiritually transformed from a nobody to a somebody. Your spirit is made new and you become a new creation in the sense that all that Christ is, is now in you.
So, who do you think you are?
Acts 17:28 (NIV) “28For in him we live and move and have our being.”
When you become a Christian, your identity is completely wrapped up in Christ. Who does God say you are in Christ?
You are accepted in Christ. What does acceptance imply? Recognition. In Christ we are recognized as one of God’s children. How? When we ask for and receive His forgiveness.
Romans 5:1 “Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.”
Instead of standing before God with our record and how bad we’ve screwed up, we stand before God with Jesus’ record in all his perfection. We’ve been justified. It’s just as if you’d never sinned.
I am significant in Christ. Every one of us here today craves significance. We want to matter; we desire our lives to have meaning and purpose beyond our day to day, hum-drum existence. We want to count for something and in somebody’s eyes.
Ephesians 2:10, “We are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” We matter to God.
You are a new creation in Christ Jesus. Your spirit is created in the image and likeness of God.
You are complete in Christ Jesus.
You are righteous in Christ Jesus. You have right standing with God just like you’d never done anything wrong.
You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you.
You am God’s child and a joint-heir with Christ.
There is no lack for your God supplies all your needs, in every area of life, according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
You have the mind of Christ.
You have an anointing from the Holy One and you know all things.
How do you know who you are? You find out what God says about you in His word.
The first step to finding your true identity is accepting Christ as your Savior. We’re going to say a pray together and everyone’s going to pray it and I encourage you that if you’ve never accepted Christ as your savior, say this prayer from your heart and mean it.
God in Heaven, I believe that Jesus was crucified and raised from the dead. Jesus, I confess You as my Lord. Make your home in me and may I be found in You. I accept my true identity in Christ.
Now, if you prayed that prayer for the first time, I want to ask you to be bold and step out of your row and come meet me down front here. I want to give you some materials to help you grow in your relationship with Christ.
Secondly, some of you here may have messed up in your relationship with Christ and you want to restore a right relationship with Him. 1 John 1:9 says that if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If you’d like to do that, just raise your hand right now, I want to pray with you.
We’re going to go into a time of worship and I want to encourage you to sing your hearts out. God has been so good to us, let’s express our gratitude and our love to him through this time of worship.
