Who Am I 9.25.22

Who Am I? Sunday, September 25, 2022 Good morning! Welcome to Lake Erie Church. My name is Bill Isaacs, lead pastor. We welcome those watching online and we apologize for last week-something we did in the service caused FB to stop our video due to copyright issues...so many of you lost your online feed-it was restored later that same day-and we are taking steps to move away from FB to our website as soon as we can and we will announce that transition when it occurs. Today we continue our GROW series as we seek to understand the foundations of our faith. We are asking how much do we know about what we say we believe? Would we be able to explain what your faith in Jesus Christ means to our friends or someone who asks? As we go through the next few weeks let's remember this important principle EVERYTHING BEGINS WITH WHAT YOU BELIEVE ABOUT GOD. Let's read today... (Psalms 8:1-8) O LORD, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth! Your glory is higher than the heavens. You have taught children and infants to tell of your strength, silencing your enemies and all who oppose you. When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers-the moon and the stars you set in place-what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them? Yet you made them only a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honor. You gave them charge of everything you made, putting all things under their authority- the flocks and the herds and all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea, and everything that swims the ocean currents. O LORD, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth! Introduction: Of all of God's creation, nothing compares to His creation of man and woman. He made the stars, the mountains, the rivers but when He created man and woman-He was doing something very special. (Genesis 2:7) Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man's nostrils, and the man became a living person. (Genesis 2:21-22) So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. While the man slept, the Lord God took out one of the man's ribs and closed up the opening. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib, and he brought her to the man. There's a lot in the news today about identity and gender and it can be easy to become confused... if you don't believe in God and in His Word. Jesus said, we are to live by every word that precedes from the mouth of God. We don't look for our answers to life in social media posts, YouTube influencers-but through what God has revealed to us in His Word. This is very important. What is happening today was predicted in Romans... (Romans 1:21-32) But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn't worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles. So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other's bodies. They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen. That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved. Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done. Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents. They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy. They know God's justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too. What we see occurring in the world with gender identity and sexual confusion is in some cases, simply the forsaking of God, the inability or refusal of man to acknowledge God and when left to their own, man loses his divine connection...it's through God that we have our identity-we carry the very image of God as His creation. What we are saying is not popular and can sometimes subject us to persecution and ridicule but this is the time to know God, to know who we are and to be living witnesses of God's love in a world that has lost its way. Last week, we talked about God, who He was, how we might know Him...Today we look at ourselves to understand our unique design and connection to God. God Created You * Your origin is divinely initiated. There is no evolution of life that creates human beings. * You are not the extension of an amoeba or protoplasm-you don't have family members who are former baboons or gorillas! * You are created body, soul, spirit. o Your body is called by Paul in Scripture the "tabernacle" in which you dwell. o Your soul is the eternal creation of God that is uniquely you-it lives forever. o Your spirit is the breath of God that gives you life and you die when it is taken away. At death it returns to God who gave it. Genesis 2:7 Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man's nostrils, and the man became a living person. God Created You Like Himself Genesis 5:1-2 When God created human beings, he made them to be like himself. He created them male and female, and he blessed them and called them "human." Genesis 1:26 Then God said, Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. * When we say we are created in God's image and likeness, what does that mean? o The image of God refers to the immaterial part of humanity. It sets human beings apart from the animal world, fits them for the dominion God intended them to have over the earth (Genesis 1:28), and enables them to commune with their Maker. We can understand this "likeness" in 3 ways o Mentally, humans are created with the ability to reason and choose. * This is a reflection of God's intellect and freedom. * You chose the outfit you wore today-that's a created "image of God" distinctive that you have over all other created beings. * Anytime someone invents a machine, writes a book, paints a landscape, enjoys a symphony, calculates a sum, or names a pet, he or she is proclaiming the fact that we are made in God's image. o Morally, humans are created in righteousness and perfect innocence, a reflection of God's holiness (think babies). * God saw all He had made (humanity included) and called it "very good" (Genesis 1:31). * Our conscience or "moral compass" is a vestige of that original state. Whenever someone writes a law, recoils from evil, praises good behavior, or feels guilty, he or she is confirming the fact that we are made in God's own image. o Socially, human beings are created for fellowship. * This reflects God's triune nature and His love. In Eden, humanity's primary relationship was with God (Genesis 3:8 implies fellowship with God), and God made the first woman because "it is not good for the man to be alone" (Genesis 2:18). * Every time someone marries, makes a friend, hugs a child, or attends church, he or she is demonstrating the fact that we are made in the likeness of God. * When we say "created in the image of God" we are referring to a human being's unique role to be God's representatives in a created world. God Created You For A Purpose Genesis 1:26-28 Then God said, Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground. So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Then God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground. * What do the phrases "be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and govern it. Reign over" mean? o While reproduction of human life seems obvious but it may also imply that God wants spiritual reproduction-meaning our lives reflect the fruit of our relationship to Him-love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). * We are to have authority over Satan. * As God's representatives we have God's authority to subjugate the work of Satan on earth- o To take away poverty o To lift the burden of oppression o To take away ignorance and lack of faith. o He expects us to bring a blessing to others. * We are to have rule over the earth. * We are supposed to be intelligent stewards, under God, of all these things. * God wants us to manage the world as His sons and daughters. * He wants us to bring about righteousness in this world. * We are to be stewards of God's creation, to grow in God, and to function as God's sons and daughters. o The chief aim of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. (Westminster Catechism) (Micah 6:8) And what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God? Conclusion: The enemy wants to steal our identity because it reflects God, our Creator. So confusion about identity is a subtle attempt to thwart God's original design. (Ephesians 2:10) For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. I am original. I am intentional. There is no one like you, no one who can take your place on the earth. There is a lot of talk about self-worth today but we cannot find our worth in the things of this world or in the discussions of the age-we find our worth in Him!