You Are A Beloved Disciple Series

This morning I want to address the topic of our identity in Christ, concerning how we are a people covered by grace, and how we are deeply loved and cherished. Many believers walk about feeling defeated. They come down hard on themselves and never accept the forgiveness that God wants to offer time and again. When a believer fails to accept God’s grace it can hinder that person from being of service to the Lord, for he becomes debilitated in feelings of condemnation. I want to share an excerpt from an article written by Neil T. Anderson, entitled “Distorted Identity.” He says,

If our identity in Christ is the key to wholeness, you may ask, “Why do so many believers have difficulty with self-worth, spiritual growth and maturity?” Because we have been deceived by the devil. Our true identity in Christ has been distorted by the great deceiver himself.

This deception was brought home to me a few years ago when I was counseling a Christian girl . . . I asked her, “Who are you?” “I’m evil,” she answered. “You’re not evil. How can a child of God be evil? Is that how you see yourself?” She nodded [yes].

Now she may have done some evil things, but she wasn’t evil. She was basing her identity on the wrong equation. She was letting Satan’s accusations of her behavior influence her perception of identity instead of letting her identity - as a child of God in Christ - influence her behavior.

Sadly, a great number of Christians are trapped in the same pit. We fail, so we see ourselves as failures, which only causes us to fail more. We sin, so we see ourselves as [evil] sinners, which only causes us to sin more. We’ve been sucked into the devil’s futile equation. We’ve been tricked into believing that what we do makes us what we are. And that false belief sends us into a tailspin of hopelessness and defeat.(1)

Whenever we fail to understand our identity in Christ as being a beloved child of God, then we start identifying ourselves by our shortcomings instead. We then lack confidence to tackle the things to which God has called us; and let me tell you, we can’t be of much use to the Lord in this state.

In our message this morning, we will see a disciple who came very close to viewing himself by his failures instead of seeing himself through the eyes of Christ. This disciple was Peter, and it would have been a travesty for him to have been rendered useless by his failures, for he was to become the leader of the New Testament church. We will discover today how Peter came to realize that he was a beloved disciple; and it’s my hope that you too will come to realize that Jesus sees you as cherished.

Having Feelings of Failure (vv. 15-17)

So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Feed My lambs.”

He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Tend My sheep.”

He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep” (John 21:15-17).

We see here that Jesus asked Peter three separate times if he loved Him? How would you feel if Jesus asked you if you truly loved Him? You would probably feel that Jesus must doubt your love, and Peter probably felt the same way. If you recall, when Jesus was questioned before Pilate and tortured, Peter denied knowing Jesus three times before the morning rooster crowed (cf. Jn 18:15-18, 25-27). It’s been suggested that Jesus asked Peter about his love for Him three times in order to remind Peter that he had denied Him three times.

This must have been an extremely painful experience for Peter to recall how he had denied the Savior. Peter probably felt like a huge failure, and he probably felt condemned for what he had done. But I must ask, did Jesus remind Peter of his denial in order to make him feel guilty, or could there have been another reason?

Before we answer this question let me say that there will, unfortunately, be times when we’ll mess up. There will be occasions when we will deny Christ for fear of what other people think. There will be moments when we will fall prey to temptation; and like Peter we will probably hear Jesus whispering to our heart through the Holy Spirit, and asking, “Do you love Me?”