2022-09-18 I Am

When I was 10 I and my parents moved from Steinbach, where we had lived for 3 years while my dad was in Bible School, to Bagot, 20 15 minutes west of Portage la Prairie. There, my dad became the pastor of the small Bagot Community Chapel. What that meant for us was another change of schools and the job of trying to find all new friends. That fall I entered grade 6. Grade 6 was okay, grades 7 and 8 were not. Actually, 9, 10 and 11 weren’t great either. But grade 8 was probably the worst. The main problem was that I didn’t have any close friends. Why was grade 8 the worst? Because, in that grade I finally found a friend. I’ll call him Bob. Things were finally looking up. I finally had someone to hang out with. Then he turned on me and started calling me names. One in particular, that made fun of how skinny I was. It hurt. Deep. For years after that I was terribly self-conscious about how weak and thin I was. I hated gym class. It was there that my inferiority was displayed for all the world to see.

Why am I telling you this story? What you think about yourself matters. It affects your life in countless ways. Because I thought so lowly of myself, I didn’t try very hard at sports. You see, I already “knew” I would fail because I was small and skinny and weak. I believed that to be true, so I didn’t try. As a result, I wasn’t very good. Because I convinced myself that most people wouldn’t like me, I didn’t talk to anyone. Lo and behold, no one wanted to hang out with me. And as a result, I didn’t have friends.

What you think about yourself will have a huge bearing on your life. If you believe you have no worth, you’ll never achieve much of anything. If you think everyone hates you, you’ll be looking around the corner watching out for your life. You won’t trust anyone. If you think you’re stupid, you won’t try to learn. If you think you’re powerless, you’ll simply give in to those with more power. If you believe that your life has no purpose, you’ll live as if you have no purpose. What you think about yourself will have a huge bearing on your life.

So, what do you think about yourself? What is your self-image? Who are you? (Pause for a moment for people to think)

Paul’s Identity in Christ

I want to read a passage that I read on Wednesday morning during my time with God. 1 Corinthians 15:1-11. (read) (blank) Paul is reminding the believers in Corinth that their salvation rests on one simple fact. Jesus died for our sins and rose from the dead, verified by many witnesses. It verified who he was and sealed the deal. Because of that, their first identity as people is this, they are saved people if they hold on to this truth. There is a lot more that goes along with this that I’ll get to a little later, but for now I want to look at Paul and his image of himself. Paul lists the order in which Jesus appeared to various people. By the way, the way this section is structured differently than the rest of the passage. It appears to be a commonly recited statement of belief, like a creed. Historians date it to 2 to 8 years after Jesus.

What’s important for us this morning is that Paul adds on at the end that he was the last one to have Jesus appear to him as a resurrected person. He then goes on to state that he was the least of the apostles and didn’t even deserve to be one because of his history of persecuting the church. In Acts he describes himself as handing people over to their death and approving their death. Paul was not in denial about what he had done. He knew who he had been, but he was also clear about who he now was. (read v10) (blank) “I am what I am.” He identified himself as an apostle, whether he deserved it or not. Once Paul understood who he was by the grace of God, his life was never the same again. His life direction took a complete 180. Instead of persecuting Jesus, he served Jesus. Instead of persecuting the church, he served the church and brought the good news of Jesus to Corinth and a bunch of other cities. This good news had changed him from a bitter, angry, cold-hearted man into a forgiving, patient, warm-hearted man.

Paul’s self-image and identity were completely wrapped up in Jesus. Jesus was everything to him. His identification with Jesus transformed his mind and transformed his life. I don’t know about you, but I look at Paul’s life, I see the kind of person he became, I see his passion and his willingness to sacrifice everything for Jesus and it draws me. Not always, often I want to live a mundane life and just live for myself. In fact, far too often. But other times I long to be like Paul. To have the clarity of purpose and the spiritual authority that he displayed. How did this happen? How did he change so much? We know it was Jesus. We know he identified with Jesus, but how did such a deep transformation happen?

Who was Saul before he became Paul?

Transformation of Saul into Paul

Saul was a Jewish man who was born in the Greek city of Tarsus in what is now south-central Turkey. He was born a Roman citizen; he was raised Jewish in a Greek city. But he didn’t stay in Tarsus, he went to rabbinic school and taught in the Pharisaic tradition under the teacher Gamaliel in Jerusalem. He was a rising star in Judaism. He was zealous for the law. He was all in for Pharisaical Judaism. That was his identity and it determined how he lived.

Then, he met Jesus on the road to Damascus. One minute he’s on his way to catch and haul Jesus following Jews to Jerusalem in chains, the next minute Jesus is blinding him and commanding him what to do. Three days later, the same amount of time that Jesus was in the grave, Ananias, a Christian Jew, prays to Jesus for him and his sight is restored. He spent a few days with the disciples there and then began preaching about Jesus. He grew bolder and bolder and proved to all who would listen that Jesus was the Messiah. When it got dangerous, he was let down through a window in the wall and he left Damascus. The text in Acts would seem to indicate that he immediately went to Jerusalem and from there to Tarsus. According to Paul’s own testimony in Galatians 1:16-18, he went into the desert in Arabia for three years before going to Jerusalem. Why did he do so? And what does it have to do with his and our identities?

We don’t know exactly why Saul went to Arabia, but it seems likely that Saul needed time to think through his belief system. Afterall, not long before this he had been convinced that Jesus was not the Messiah and now the opposite was true. He needed to think through all that the OT taught and figure out how it squared new with this new reality of Jesus being the Messiah. I also think he needed time alone with God. Time to soak in the presence of Jesus, time to adjust to the presence of the Holy Spirit in his life. Time with the God, but now as his Father. The twelve disciples had three years walking and talking with Jesus, Saul needed something similar. The task that God had given him was daunting, it would involve all kinds of hardships and trials. It would involve going up against the pagan belief systems of the day that were demonically inspired. It would involve going up against the rulers of various cities and countries who weren’t necessarily friendly. He needed to be absolutely clear about who he was in Jesus and what that meant. In order to have the spiritual authority that he needed, he needed to have a deep, deep relationship with the trinity and a deep, deep understanding of his new identity as a follower of Jesus. What was that identity? We see it all over his writings

I am joined forever to the Lord and am one spirit with Him (1 Corinthians ).

I am at peace with God, and He has given me the work of helping others find peace with Him (2 Corinthians ,19).

I am a new person. My past is forgiven and everything is new (2 Corinthians ).

I am a saint, a holy person (Ephesians 1:1; ; ).

I am righteous and holy (Ephesians ).

I am a child of God; I can call Him my Father (Romans ,15; ).

I am a child of God and one with others in His family (Galatians ,28).

I am a child of God and will receive the inheritance He has promised (Galatians 4:6,7).

I am a child of light and not of darkness (1 Thessalonians 5:5).

I am chosen of God, holy and dearly loved (Colossians ; I Thessalonians 1:4).

I am God's possession, chosen and secure in Him (sealed), I have been given the Holy Spirit as a promise of my inheritance to come (2 Corinthians ,22; ).

I am a coheir with Christ, inheriting His glory (Romans ).

I am a citizen of heaven with all of God's family (Ephesians ).

I am a citizen of heaven seated in heaven right now (Ephesians 2:6; ).

I am hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3).

I am a part of Christ's Body (1 Corinthians ).

I am God's building project, His handiwork, created in Christ to do His work (Ephesians ).

I am a slave of righteousness (Romans ).

I am a slave to God, making me holy and giving me eternal life (Romans ).

I am a temple—a dwelling place—for God. His Spirit and His life live in me (1 Corinthians ; ).

I am a prisoner of Christ so I can help others (Ephesians 3:1; 4:1).

I am an expression of the life of Christ because He is my life (Colossians 3:4).

This is just Paul’s writings, never mind the Gospels and the other letters and Revelation. It was this kind of identity in Jesus that gave Paul the drive and ability to persevere through thick and thin. Having an identity wrapped up in Jesus changes how we live like nothing else. (blank)

Here’s how Dr. Rob Reimer puts it, “We do not need to fear messing up—we are accepted, and deeply loved—while we are yet sinners (Romans 5). We do not need to fear being inadequate; we have the same Spirit in us that was in Christ. We have a High Priest who pleads our cause. We don’t have what it takes by ourselves, but we have what it takes, in Christ, to touch Heaven and change earth. We don’t have to fear rejection; we have been accepted like we are God’s own Son. We don’t have to fear failure; Jesus’ righteousness was credited to us and we already have approval of the Father. We don’t have to fear abandonment; we are welcomed into an eternal home where we forever belong, and we already have the deposit of His Spirit within us. We don’t have to fear demons or Satan or hell; we are united with the King of kings who is Lord of lords. We don’t have to fear hardship or suffering; God can redeem everything that comes into our lives to make us more like Jesus (Romans 8:28-39). We don’t have to fear death; Jesus has overcome death and conquered the grave. We don’t have to fear anything, because Christ is in us and Jesus isn’t nervous. He is the unchallenged King. . . . . When we root ourselves deeply in the love of God and listen for the Spirit’s revelation that we are deeply loved children, we can begin to move in faith, not fear, and act in authority.” Pp118, 119 Spiritual Authority

Getting There

So how do we get there? Some of you might say, “I know much of this already. Why do I still feel overwhelmed, and shameful and sinful? Why do I still not act and live this out?” Good question.

For some of us, we don’t really know these truths. When we read through the New Testament, we just glide right over these verses. How do we move these ideas from our heads to our hearts?

I wish I could give you an easy answer. But there aren’t easy answers. Certainly, some of us have had deep, deep experiences of the Holy Spirit, Jesus and the Father speaking into our hearts and confirming these truths. These experiences can be powerful and shift things in our souls. I wish that for all of us. For others of us, it’s more like a lifetime of these truths slowly but surely becoming part of us. It’s not a flood, but a steady trickle. I think Saul experienced both. When he met Jesus and when his sight was restored, it was a flood. But I think his time in the desert was more of a steady stream.

I also think that often these truths are confirmed in everyday faithfulness and experience. When you follow God over the long haul, and through thick and thin you find him faithful, these truths become part of you. I don’t think it’s one size fits all. These truths are also instilled in us by the Holy Spirit and the ways of the Spirit are somewhat a mystery.

However, there are things we can do that make a difference, that God instructs us to do that will enable the Holy Spirit to instill these truths in our minds and hearts. Afterall, Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 5:19, “do not quench the Holy Spirit.” So we can work with the Holy Spirit and we can work against the Holy Spirit.

Here are two things that can make a difference, things that are working with the Holy Spirit.

Obey Jesus teachings and the leading of the Holy Spirit. (read 1 john 2:3-6) (blank) There are many truths of our position in Jesus that we won’t learn unless we obey him. We won’t really learn that he is trustworthy unless we step out in faith and obey him when he calls us to. It is also true that to be one with someone you can’t be working in opposition to that person. When we sin against God, we are working against God and our intimacy with him will be affected. This one isn’t rocket science, but it is hard. In order to obey Jesus, we have to repeatedly deny ourselves. It’s hard, but worth it.

Meditate on these truths. (read Joshua 1:8) (blank) If this was true of meditating on the law, just think how much more it is true for meditating on Jesus, the fulfillment of the law. Most of us think that we can’t do meditation, but we meditate on other things in our lives very well. If you are a big fan of a particular sports team, you meditate on them. You think about them often and for periods of time. You know everything about them. It’s both hard and easy. Meditation is simply thinking about something often and for periods of time. How do you meditate on these truths? Read them often and spend time thinking about them. In your bulletin is a card with a list of 2 different truths about our identity in Christ from scripture. This list was compiled by Freedom Session. There are of course many more. How would you meditate on them?

At the beginning of your meditation time, ask the Holy Spirit to speak through the scripture that he breathed into existence. Ask him to breathe it into you.

Read the list each day for a month. Don’t rush over it. Read a truth and ponder on it for a while. Then go to the next one.

Take a section and read it every day for a week, pondering over them. There are four sections on the card, I am loved, I am Forgiven, I am Important and I am Competent. You might even memorize them. Read the verses that are listed so that you get the scripture behind them. This would give you four weeks of material.

Take one of these truths and read it everyday for a week. This would give you 20 weeks of material! Read the passages of scripture that they’re from. Sit and think about the verse and what it means for you for five minutes, ten minutes, ½ hour. Let it soak into you.

If you’re like me, while you’re trying to meditate on a passage of scripture, you’re going to have plenty of ‘squirrel’ moments. Your mind will wander. Just pause, pray about that situation or thought, give it to God and go back to meditating. If it’s Satan trying to distract you, he’ll get tired of giving you more things to pray about. If it’s just your own mind, it will take a while to learn to discipline your mind towards this scripture and prayer. (blank)

Conclusion

Hungering to Know and be Known is the theme of our fall sermon. The more you know who you are as a follower of Jesus, the more you will know Jesus and the more Jesus will know you. The more you know that you are deeply loved by God, the freer you will be to worship him and draw near to him. The more you know you are forgiven, the more you will live without shame and want to spend time with Jesus.

It is my prayer that each of us as followers of Jesus will be drawn closer and closer to God.

Before I pray, I’m going to have a time of silence. During this silence I want you to meditate on what Romans 8:1, 2 says about you if you are follower of Jesus, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.”

(blank)

Pray

Benediction: Rev. 1:5b, 6

Related Media

Related Sermons