Living out your Identity

How do we live out our identity?

What we know:

Ephesians 2:10 “10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

If we are created to do good things for the Kingdom of Heaven because we have taken Christ Jesus as our lord and Savior we have a purpose.

Ultimately if we have a problem with figuring our who we are, if we have an identity problem, we are admitting we have a purpose problem.

How do we fix our purpose problem?

It’s simple: Remember.

Think about it: Much of the time you spend trying to find “the real you” you are focusing more on trying to “re-find” who you are rather than letting simply letting God refine you are.

We are constantly growing as people, we are constantly learning, we are constantly presented (especially in todays culture) a new thing. Every day something is trying to take our focus off of:

How we were created (Created on purpose)

Where we belong (We belong with God)

What God defines us as (No one else defines us but God)

How strong we really are (God’s strength shines brightest in our weakness)

If we have a purpose problem, we have a memory problem: Identity Problem —> Purpose/Memory Problem.

This is why it is so important to remember who you are.

When I was a kid, my Mom and Dad unknowingly created a legacy that I intend to carry on to my Children one day. Whenever I would go anywhere, wether it be a friends house or a sports game with friends, my parents would always remind me before I slammed the door shut: “Chase! Remember who you are.”

When I was younger it never really stood out to me, I always thought they were trying teach me to bring honor an glory to my last name. Later I realized they didn’t care about the last name, they wanted me to remember that I belong to Jesus. I was a billboard for him before I was a billboard for anything else. “Chase, remember who you are.”

As I have grown more and more over the past couple of years, I have had to time and time again remind myself: Remember who you are. That’s what I want to do today: I want to clearly remind you who you are.

Point #1 - Fixing our Purpose/Memory Problem fixes our Identity Problem.

Psalm 139:13-14 - you were created intentionally, carefully, every minor detail created on purpose for a purpose.

Luke 15:32 - Sin has corrupted you because the Devil hates you, He hates what God has created and has destroyed it, but God in his mighty love for us has created a way for us to come from death (destruction) to life (abundant blessings)

Judges 6:11-16 - God’s definition of who you are is the only thing that matters, an artists description of his art is what distinguishes its worth to a knock off’s

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 - Even when you think you are weak, worthless, not able to accomplish anything, God’s strength is with you, in fact during those moments when you rely on his strength rather than your own you are being more faithful than you would be by doing it yourself.

Your purpose is clear: You are God’s handiwork, commentators agree this creation is not to be taken lightly, with a purpose to do good things. Which God has prepared in advance for you.

Salvation (being saved) isn’t given to us because of what we do, but when we have been given salvation because of our faith in Christ Jesus, we are for sure going to do good things because the result of our faith is salvation (being saved).

Ephesians is written well after Jesus ascended into heaven. Paul writes this letter to the church in Ephesus to encourage them in the faith.

When Paul mentioned that Jesus has prepared good works for us to accomplish, I can’t help but be reminded of what Jesus said before he ascended into Heaven in Matthew 28:19 -

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,”

Point #2 - Understanding our Purpose means we need to find our Passions

If you are wanting to have a purpose, you are signing up for something that is hard, I heard it once said: “If you want something you’ve never had, you have to do something you’ve never done.”

If you feel as though your relationship with the Lord is lacking, I would ask you to reflect on something: Is it a genuine relationship?

In any relationship, wether it be friendships, dating, married, parents and children, coworkers, you have to chose who you are going to war with. We know that as Christians our war is not against flesh and blood, but rather against the evils of the world, against sin and darkness. We must stand side by side with other Christians, we must recognize that fighting the enemy is a command given to us by God. To live differently than the world is a command given to us, this command is like our weapon in a spiritual battle.

God also instructs us that whatever is worth doing it is worth doing well. We must fight the Spiritual war with excellence. We must passionately fight tooth and nail for the sake of the lord.

So, is your relationship with the lord something your passionate about?

How do you measure your passion for the lord? Your passion is defined by the degree at which you are willing to suffer for something.

Are you willing to suffer for the lord, in the things you do are you willing to suffer for Christ, are you willing to run the risk of being made fun of, the risk of losing time with certain people, are you willing to run the risk for the sake of putting Christ’s name on blast through your actions and creation!? Are you willing to endure your own metaphorical cross. Are you willing to die to the passions of the world so you can rise again and love according to the passions of Christ.

If you want to live a life with passion, with purpose, remember what Jesus has done for you: He went to the cross and died a gruesome death being mocked and ridiculed. My savior went to calvary and died because he was passionate about the mission. The mission: to offer a way for children of God like ourselves to be made new.

Conclusion:

How do we live out our Identity in Christ:

Remember our passion.

Remember our purpose.

Remember our Lord.

Then go, go and live a life’s worth of experiences while proclaiming Jesus at the top of your lungs. Remember, the suffering we experience on earth is nothing compared to the goodness we have secured in heaven. Work tirelessly day and night, with passion for the Lord wherever he has you.