What Is Identity?
Notes
Transcript
Introduction:
Introduction:
When you look at me, what do you see?
I’m serious! When you look at me, what do you see? (Ask)
I can tell you what some people have told me. They tell me that I’m tall, that I’m skinny, that I must be a good distance runner, they ask what position I played in basketball.
Depending on who I ask that to, they may tell me that I look young. Some tell me that I look like I’m “In College.”
Now, go one step deeper. That’s what I look like. What do you think I’m like?
There’s no way of knowing really., unless you go to Cornerstone, then you might know!
Let me give you some information about me. I studied history education in college, I was a history teacher for 2 years, I have a masters degree, and I’m in a doctoral program right now.
Now, with that in mind, let’s go a little deeper. (What am I like? Ask..)
Let me tell you some things I’ve been told when I ask that question. I’ve been told that I must use “big words.” I’ve been told that I’m nerdy, I’ve been told that I must be smart.
Let’s go one step deeper though. WHO AM I? (Ask)
See, here’s where we’re ultimately going. There’s a million ways that I could identify myself. I could identify myself off of my short-lived high school basketball career. I could identify myself off of how hard I work. I could identify myself off of my marriage. I could identify myself off of my friends. I could identify myself in a MILLION DIFFERENT WAYS!
But at the end of the day, do you want to know the truth of these identities?
NONE OF THEM ACTUALLY SAY WHO I AM!
We assign labels to people and groups. We have “jocks” or “the athletes” and we have the “theater kids” or the “nerds.”
You might hear someone talk about GENDER IDENTITY or about their race!
We assign IDENTITIES to ourselves and other people based on a characteristic, but at the end of the day, do you know the problem with this?
NONE OF THESE CHARACTERISTICS ARE TRULY IDENTIFYING!
See, identity is so much deeper than one or two characteristics.
And what I want to propose to you TONIGHT and over the next few nights is that THERE IS ONLY 1 IDENTITY THAT is A TRUE IDENTITY!
At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how tall or short I am. It doesn’t matter how old or young I am, how smart or stupid I am, how funny or boring I am, who I hang out with, or what I look like!
Do you know what identity truly matters?
It’s an identity that only comes from one place.
Let’s talk about that tonight.
Over the next few days, we are going to trace through the Bible to see what God’s WORD says about IDENTITY.
Tonight, we are going to start at the very beginning!
Would you turn with me in your Bible’s to Genesis 1:24?
We are going to look at Genesis 1:24-31 tonight.
Each night, we will have a MAIN point that we are going to be focusing on. It’s a way for us to SUMMARIZE the message.
Tonight, our main point is: OUR IDENTITY WAS GIVEN TO US WHEN GOD CREATED US!
Tonight, our main point is: OUR IDENTITY WAS GIVEN TO US WHEN GOD CREATED US!
BODY
BODY
Genesis 1 is the first chapter of the Bible. From verses 1-23, we read about creation.
Each day, God creates something and then SEES THAT IT WAS GOOD!
There’s a rhythm to it. It’s a beautiful picture of God creating and forming things and God does it all with WORDS!
Think about the power of God for a second. I love this! God is so POWERFUL THAT WHEN GOD THINKS, THINGS ARE MADE!
If I say, “LET THERE BE A SANDWICH!” really loudly and really want a sandwich, there still is no sandwich.
God says, “LET THERE BE LIGHT!” and there is LIGHT!
That’s God!
That’s pretty incredible isn’t it!
And as we pick up in verse 24, we are on the 6th day of God speaking creation into being! We read Genesis 1:24-25
24 Then God said, “Let the earth produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that crawl, and the wildlife of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. 25 So God made the wildlife of the earth according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that crawl on the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
God starts by speaking 3 types of creatures into being.
God speaks livestock, creatures that crawl and the “wildlife of the earth” into being.
None of these are humans.
Keep that in mind.
But what we do see is that God speaks and IT IS!
God is speaking in massive scale and is creating!
It’s incredible!
God makes the wildlife of the earth according to its kind.
Keep that phrase in mind.
God also makes the livestock ACCORDING TO ITS KIND.
And then, GOD MAKES THE CREATURES THAT CRAWL ON THE GROUND ACCORDING TO ITS KIND!
So God is creating and God makes one thing after another and makes it ACCORDING TO ITS KIND!
Think about what’s going on!
God makes COWS and they are COWS! All of them! God makes BISON and they are BISON! God makes Zebras and they are ZEBRAS!
God makes each of these creatures and so many more ACCORDING TO THEIR KIND!
There’s no mistake. God doesn’t make a cow and then give it a Penguin to care for!
God makes a cow and God makes it have COWS!
It is ACCORDING TO ITS KIND!
Notice that. Do you notice what is happening?
GOD IS GIVING IDENTITY!
Think about it!
God is making things with unique characteristics and is putting these things into different groups!
Remember, GOD IS MAKING THESE THINGS BY THEIR KIND!
God is giving IDENTITY!
God is giving identifying characteristics of these creatures!
And as God does it, do you know what God says?
WE SEE THAT GOD SEES IT AND SAYS THAT IT WAS GOOD!
So let’s establish this, GOD GIVES IDENTITY AND IDENTITY IS NOT BAD!
So, the issue with identity isn’t an issue of identity being bad. After all, God has given identity!
And God doesn’t stop in verse 25!
Let’s look at verse 26!
26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, the whole earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth.”
LOOK AT THIS!
GOD SAYS, “LET US MAKE MAN IN OUR IMAGE, ACCORDING TO OUR LIKENESS!”
Listen, there’s so much to unpack here. First, we see the TRINITY IN FRONT OF US!
Look at this! LET US- that’s plural!
Let us- GOD the FATHER, JESUS AND THE HOLY SPIRIT, LET US MAKE MAN!
Before we even get to man, think about this! God has just told us who GOD IS!
GOD IS TRIUNE! GOD IS 3 in 1! We know from Genesis 1:1 that God is CREATOR! But now we see something else. WE SEE THAT GOD HAS LIKENESS!
And what is God’s likeness?
IT’S US!
Listen to this again!
THEN GOD SAID, “LET US MAKE MAN IN OUR IMAGE, ACCORDING TO OUR LIKENESS.”
So the TRIUNE God is going to make man. There’s something God still hasn’t made. God has made the livestock, the wild animals and crawling animals, but God isn’t done.
God makes MAN IN GOD’S IMAGE!
GOD MAKES MAN TO BE A REFLECTION! There’s two other places in Genesis where people use the same HEBREW word to talk about someone else.
Isaac says this in Genesis 27 when Jacob steals Esau’s birthright. We also see it when Adam has a son in Genesis 5 where Adam’s son SETH is called HIS IMAGE AND LIKENESS!
Do you know how this word is often used? It’s used to talk about SONS!
Guys, listen to that and make a connection with me!
We have GOD THE FATHER WHO CREATES HEAVEN AND EARTH AND EVERYTHING IN THEM!
And we have the HOLY SPIRIT AND THEN THERE’S JESUS!
JESUS, GOD’S SON. JESUS WHO WAS BEFORE ALL, WHO HAS NO BEGINNING AND END, BUT JESUS WHO IS THE IMAGE OF GOD!
JESUS WHO CAME TO SAVE US!
Listen, we are going to talk more about JESUS as the week goes on. But for now, let’s keep our focus on Genesis 1:26.
So God makes man in the IMAGE AND LIKENESS OF GOD!
Then, GOD GIVES MAN A JOB!
Look at what God says! “They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, the whole earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth.”
God has given man a job!
So think about this. God has given man an IDENTITY AND NOW GOD GIVES MAN A JOB!
God is giving IDENTITY TO MAN!
Don’t miss this contrast. God never talks about anything the same way as God talks about man.
God doesn’t give angels this position (1 Peter 1:12)
12 It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you. These things have now been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—angels long to catch a glimpse of these things.
God doesn’t give animals this position to RULE.
God doesn’t give it to birds of the air, or fish of the sea, or plants or mountains!
GOD ONLY SPEAKS LIKE THIS TO AND ABOUT MAN!
So let me challenge you to think about this deeply.
God has made YOU AND GOD HAS GIVEN YOU A SPECIFIC PURPOSE.
In fact, God’s creation of man is so foundational that Genesis 1:27 mirrors this!
27 So God created man in his own image;
he created him in the image of God;
he created them male and female.
Can we make a deal as a group? Let’s memorize this verse tonight! This verse is THAT FOUNDATIONAL to our ability to understand our IDENTITY!
Identity is found right here.
GOD CREATED MAN!
How? IN GOD’S IMAGE!
And let’s go one step further with that. God created them (THAT IS ADAM AND EVE), MALE AND FEMALE!
Don’t miss that! Men and women are made in the IMAGE OF GOD!
And there’s a reason that GOD CAN DO THIS. See, being made in the image of God is primarily not about having 10 toes and 10 fingers.
It’s a lot deeper than just the physical. God made us with SOULS!
God made ALL OF US!
We could talk about it like this. There’s a physical body. We can agree on that, right? If you’re here tonight and I see you, then you HAVE A PHYSICAL BODY!
Secondly, God has given you emotions. That’s just true. Every human has emotions. Some people are more emotional than others.
Like my friend Grant. I never saw him have emotions until we lost at Basketball state my Senior Year of High School. On the other hand, I have a lot more emotions. I get fired up and excited and I can get sad also!
Thirdly, God has given you a SPIRITUAL SOUL!
aEXPAND
28 God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth.” 29 God also said, “Look, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the surface of the entire earth and every tree whose fruit contains seed. This will be food for you, 30 for all the wildlife of the earth, for every bird of the sky, and for every creature that crawls on the earth—everything having the breath of life in it—I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.
God then tells Adam and Eve about their job.
They are to BE FRUITFUL AND MULTIPLY- fill the earth- and subdue it.
They are to do t
Application
Application
