Who Is The Real You?

Introduction:

1. This morning, I would like to speak with you about your favorite topic. Anyone know what that is?

2. We are a thoroughly self-preoccupied culture.

a. Never worry about what people think about you because they seldom do. 98% of the time, they are thinking about themselves!

b. The majority of people you are worried about their time thinking about their own problems, not the mistakes you made - unless it affects them!

3. So, today I want to talk with you about you.

4. Here is my one and only question: Who are you?

Context: II Corinthians 5:17: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

A. Asking Who You Are Is Not An Easy Question. There Are Several You’s To Choose From.

1. There is the you people think you are.

a. One of the greatest shocks our culture experienced a few years back was the infamous Hannah Montana scandal.

b. Miley Cyrus was the girl every mother wanted her daughter to imitate. She was Disney’s dream. Heralded as a virgin and tight with her dad.

c. Then Miley shed her image, her clothes, her morals and the you everyone thought she was. Today, her public persona is one of the most revolting and vile expressions of hedonism on the planet. And still, we really don’t know who she is.

d. Hopefully none of us here this morning are so completely opposite in public to what we are in private, but most people have a public persona that is different than their private you.

1) Interesting fact: 85-90% of public speakers are introverts. Because they speak publicly, everyone thinks they are extroverts; that they are energized by having lots of people around.

2) The most public part of pastoring is preaching. If you think about though, where is the majority of a minister’s work done? In private; study; prayer. Introverted life.

3) I confess that I am a mix of both. Most of my friends prefer a cave over a party!

2. There is also the you that you think you are.

a. If you are a positive, confident person, you might view yourself as being smarter than most people.

b. If you are a negative, depressed person, you might view yourself as having more problems than other people.

c. Neither of these assessments is accurate.

d. We assess our value using arbitrary standards that are external and wrong. In essence, our self-assessments, positive or negative cause us to live in an unreal world.

3. Third there is the you that you are expected to be.

a. This shows up in work environments more than most places.

b. You may be an emotional mess or having a thousand struggles, but when you punch in, you push your emotions out of the way and become your professional self until it is time to go home.

c. We do this all the time. Example: telephone rings. You can be having a fight with your spouse, but suddenly you answer the phone: Hello, Sally? Hey, how are you?

1) We change our actions, emotions, temperament and outlook to meet the expectations of others.

4. Finally, there is the you that is just you with your insecurities, desires, talents, personality...etc. That is the you that you live with every waking moment that few people ever see.

5. There is one more person however that completes this picture. A you designed by God that is meant to outshine all the others.

B. God’s Design

1. Each of us has a body, a soul and a spirit. We are triune beings.

2. Someone said, “We are a spirit, we have a soul and we live in a body.”

3. You soul is your personality, drives, motivation, emotions...etc.

4. Your spirit is deadened before you enter a relationship with God. Ephesians 2:2 tells us that before you invite Christ into your life and heart, that this spirit is inactive.

5. When you invite Jesus Christ into your heart to become Lord and Savior, this spirit part of you is awakened.

Context: This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! (II Corinthians 5:17)

A. What Happens At Salvation

1. You are still you. Your memories don’t disappear. Your past does not disappear. Your personality does not disappear, but your life changes.

2. In essence, there is a new sheriff in town.

a. You are a new person. What does that mean?

b. God is also a Spirit. God and your spirit become allies; friends. Paul identifies this reality as “Christ in us, the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:27) He lives inside our spirit.

1) Difficult to put into words, but this new compartment in you is where you and God hang out.