Who am I Part 2

Scripture

1 Corinthians 15:21–22

21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

Pray

Story 1

Who are the two most important people in History?

Application 1

Are you in Adam or in Christ?

Here’s how God sees history: he sees two leaders, two heads, two captains. You’ll read with me, as we’re going to spend the next few moments together going through the book of Ephesians, you’ll see this word come up a few times, this word “head.” The word “head,” and what that means is leader. That means captain. That means one whose decisions implicate and affect everyone else who is associated with them.

None of us are individuals. None of us are isolated. None of us stand alone. We’re part of one of two groups, one of two families, one of two teams, one of two nations: those who are in Adam, and those who are in Christ. Here’s how Paul says it in 1 Corinthians 15:21–22. “For as by a man came death,” that’s Adam, “by a man has also come the resurrection of the dead,” that’s Jesus. And here’s the language: “For in Adam,” there’s one team, one group, one category, “all,” what? “die, so also in Christ,” there’s our big idea, “in Christ shall all be made alive.” I want you to start to see yourself in these two terms: in Adam or in Christ.

Now, this is why it is so incredibly important. We’re all born in Adam. We all inherit from him a sinful nature. We all inherit from him separation from God, and we need to be born again. We’re physically alive, but spiritually dead to God. We also need to be made spiritually alive to God, born again in Christ. This is the foundation, this is the framework for your identity. And the big theme we’re going to be studying through the book of Ephesians for tonight, is this big issue of identity. Identity.

Here’s the difference between being in Adam and being in Christ: at the cross of Jesus Christ, he traded places with us. He literally traded places with me. All of the death, all of the shame, all of the condemnation that I deserve went to Jesus. All of the forgiveness, all of the love, all of the grace that Jesus rightly has as the sinless Son of God comes to me. What that does is that changes our identity.

I want you to see this: if you are in Christ, you are in Christ’s position and Christ is in your position. He suffers and dies so that you might be blessed and live. Do you believe that God the Father loves the Lord Jesus Christ?

What does it mean to be in Christ?

The next question: what does it mean to be in Christ? What does it mean to be in Christ? When the Bible uses this language of “in Christ,” or “in him,” or “in the Beloved,” and it speaks of our identity in these various ways, what does it mean?

And if you continue in that friendship and you grow in that friendship, and you nurture that friendship— “Whoever abides in me and I in him,” there’s our language. “He it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do,” what? “Nothing.” Some of you say, “I can do a lot of things,” and in the sight of God, it’s nothing, and in the end, when all is said and done, it will account for nothing.

The illusion could be, in this world, that you’re accomplishing a lot, but ultimately, eternally, as you stand before him for whom we must all give an account, it will be nothing. You will have wasted an entire life. The only way life is rightly to be lived and eternally to be credited is if we are in Christ, and Christ is in us, and our life is the overflow. It’s the outpouring of the life of Jesus in and through us.

I want you to see that the beginning of your identity is in Christ, and then that is also the beginning of your activity. So, from your identity comes your activity. Now, for those of you who were raised under religion, or guilt, or manipulation, or condemnation, or shame, you will wrongly think, “I need to live my life in such a way that I’m fruitful, and I’m holy, and I’m mature, and I’m moral, and I’m growing, so that then Jesus will want to have a relationship with me.” That’s exactly the opposite of how it works.

Jesus wants to come into your life, he wants his life to flow through your life so that you can begin to change, and from you comes something called fruitfulness: a new way of thinking, a new way of acting, a new way of living. But it’s not you, it’s Christ in you, it’s Christ through you. It’s Jesus’ life changing your life, Jesus’ life taking residence in your life, and it is the life of Jesus producing fruit through your life. Now, what this leads to is a far more productive and humble life. You can do things by the power of God that you cannot do on your own, but you’re doing them to the glory of God, which means there’ll be greater humility.

Story 2

Loving father choosing a terrible kid from the orphanage

The kid should not spend his time wondering why, but be thankful and celebrate that it happened

Supporting Scripture

Ephesians 1:1-13

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,

To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful[a] in Christ Jesus:

2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Spiritual Blessings in Christ

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us[b] for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 making known[c] to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. 13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,

Application 2

9 things that it means to be “In Christ”

In Christ you can be faithful (v1)

In Christ you are blessed (v3)

In Christ you were chosen and made blameless (v4)

In Christ you are forgiven (v7)

In Christ you can know the will of God (v9)

In Christ you are reconciled (v10)

In Christ you have an inheritance (v11)

In Christ you have hope (v12)

In Christ you have the Holy Spirit (v13)

Question

Is your identity in death (someone or something) or in Christ?

Pray