Who Am I? Part 1
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Who are you?
Ask yourself that question: “Who am I?”.
I don’t mean your name or your family or your heritage.
I’m not talking about your ethnicity or what you do for a job or what kind of hobbies you enjoy.
I’m talking about your IDENTITY…Who are YOU?…the REAL you?
If you are a Christian - a believer in Jesus Christ for your salvation and eternal life…you know where you will spend eternity based on your faith in Jesus…YOU have an IDENTITY that no one can take away from you.
People enjoy taking “selfies” - photos of themselves that they can post on social media and send to friends and family.
It’s a fun way to communicate with others
And the camera doesn’t lie, right?…actually in many camera apps, there are many filters that can change how a person looks, the lighting, the skin tone, the eyes, lips, nose, even make people look like an animal or some other silly face.
But the Bible gives us a true picture of ourselves - a no filter selfie that is always true. It shows us who we really are - it gives us our identity!
Let’s look at the first chapter of Ephesians and see just WHO you are!
Tonight, we will learn three truths about our identity in Jesus:
Blessed By God
Chosen By God
Adopted By God
1. Blessed By God
1. Blessed By God
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,
We have “every spiritual blessing” already in our name, in heaven, waiting for us because of Jesus.
We don’t get a partial blessing - we get them ALL!
This is the heading of all that is to follow in the passage.
Do you ever feel like God is holding out on you?…like you are missing out?
Satan wants you to feel that way, but it is a lie!
This verse reminds us that we have all the blessings!
2. Chosen By God
2. Chosen By God
Ephesians 1:4 (NKJV)
4 just as He chose us in Him (Jesus) before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,
Sometimes there is a little confusion on this verse.
Some might teach that only certain people were chosen (selected) by God before the foundation of the world to be SAVED…but that’s not what this verse is saying.
Notice that it says that God chose US…who is the “US”?…They are believers!…Anyone that has believed in Jesus for salvation!
Also, notice that it doesn’t say we were chosen for salvation (salvation isn’t even mentioned in this verse)…it says that we are chosen to be “holy and without blame before Him in love.”
In other words, God decided before He ever created the world that everyone that believes in Him should be holy and blameless. This is telling us that God wants believers to live holy, blameless lives…that He has chosen that we should live that way…which means that He has given us the power to do it!
Remember, He has given us every SPIRITUAL gift…that means that the gifts are empowered by the Holy Spirit that lives inside every believer! - He is IN YOU!…therefore He is EMPOWERING you!
So, God decided that’s how it SHOULD be…but is that how it always is?…NO!
Why? Because God also gave us a FREE WILL…we also must choose to live that way. God already chose that holy and blameless life for us, but He also offers the choice to us.
God: “I chose a holy and blameless life for you. Will you also choose it?”
God doesn’t want us to live in our addictions or other harmful habits - He wants us to live holy and blameless lives by the Spirit’s power!
This is lived out in our daily choices.
3. Adopted By God
3. Adopted By God
5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,
Once again, there can be confusion over this verse as well.
Notice the word “US” again - we already know that the US is believers - all believers.
So God once again PRE-destined (chose before-hand, just like verse 4) all believers to experience ADOPTION.
This verse is NOT saying that God chose some to believe and others to not believe…It is saying that God chose ADOPTION as part of the package deal when a person chooses to believe in Jesus by faith.
Adoption is a benefit of salvation! (some say that adoption IS salvation)
God could have given us eternal life as a gift for believing in Jesus without adopting us, but He is such a loving God that He didn’t want to just bring us to heaven.
God wanted to give us the incredible privilege of being members of His family, of calling Him our FATHER!
In the Greco-Roman world of the Ephesians, adoption was a permanent, binding contract in which the parent would bestow on the adopted child all the benefits of any natural-born child. There was no difference!
The adopted child would be a family member, with a promised inheritance, but they would not immediately receive the inheritance.
The inheritance would not be recieved until adulthood or until the benefactor passed away.
Our adoption is all about the inheritance! The Ephesians that Paul was writing to would have known this and we need to also know it:
This gift of adoption means that we receive all the same blessings as the Son of God, Jesus Christ!
17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.
6 that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel,
29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
7 that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
Who am I?
Who am I?
Blessed By God
Blessed By God