False And True Self
False and true selves
Luke 3:21-22, 4:1-13, 4:28
I. Finding My Identity in My False Self:
--I Am What I Do (performance)
--I Am What I Have (possessions)
--I Am What Others Think (popularity)
1st temptation is to do something – I am what I do – I am a lawyer, officer, teacher, wife, husband – with all the stuff that goes with that. Men who retire and die – I am what I do. There is nothing under the bandage. This kills something inside me. It is a mask. How can you think your life is valuable with all the bad decisions you have made.
2nd Temptation is to have something - I am what I have – What do you have? I will give you all these kingdoms. Rome, Egypt, all the wealth, all the world. Education, possessions, appearance, stuff. Marketers to teens – real purpose of all these strategies isn’t just enticing kids but to create a craving in them – the kids have to have this stuff – their identities depend on it. So much coming at us. I am
3rd Temptation - I am what others think of me – show everyone who you are, get popular. Jump and be popular. Movie stars, Lindsay Lohan and others. Jesus came to set us free – you are unique, there is no one like you on the earth – you are called to reflect Jesus in a way that no one else can. If you put on a false self to please your parents, or that an authority figure.
II. Coming Into My True Self
Grant Lord that I may know myself that I may know Thee.~ Augustine
There is no deep knowing of God without a deep knowledge of self and no deep knowledge of self without a deep knowledge of God ~ John Calvin
Look back to Luke 3:21f – Who is Jesus? He is the Son of God, who the Father loves and in whom the Father delights. His identity is affirmed. Before the healings, before the preaching, before the miracles, before the crowds - No performance, no possessions, no popularity. Who he is is who God says he is! Then he is immediately challenged in the wilderness. Jesus is able to wait on the Lord, secure in his identity – he does not need a mask!
The response in Luke 4 is they want to kill him!
Each of us faces this same thing. This is the trap of the enemy. Who are you? Where do you find your identity?
God leaves us at liberty to be who we choose. We can be free or not. God wants us free. God loves you, you can take off the mask and be who you were created to be. Church should be the one place where we can be truly ourselves.
Coming into My True Self When we come to Christ we are set free to be ourselves. He came to save us – to bring the jewel we were created to be to the surface. That person who was alive is dead, Christ lives in me. Who are you? You are loved by Jesus! No longer identifying myself with what I do, what I have, or who I’m popular with.
Rabbi Susa – God will not ask you why weren’t you Moses, He will ask, why weren’t you you?
Who am I? I am a child of God. I am loved by Jesus. I can live a life pleasing to Him. I no longer identify myself with what I do, what I have or what others think of me.
There is no other you on the planet. You are the only one who can reflect the image of God in the way you were created to. Damage – Free radicals of sin, culture, family of origin, fall. But God calls us to healing and wholeness.
What God told Jesus at his baptism is the essence of the gospel. You are my son or daughter, I love you, with you I am well pleased. Is this true for us at salvation? Before we have done anything, produced anything at all? Yes it is!
So is God always pleased with us in the details? – of course not, not with particular behaviors. But those are part of the mask too.
When I am living out who God created me to be, when I take off the mask, then comes the fruit bearing, then comes the opportunity for ministry, then comes the joy of serving God in freedom.
Critical Issue: The Experiential Knowledge that I am a Deeply Loved Sinner (see Luke 3:21-2)
PROCESS:
Paying Attention to God by:
1. Stopping ( Silence, Solitude and Sabbath)
2. Reflecting Deeply on the Word
3. Reflecting on Your Reactions to People.
How might I be hiding behind a mask, a false self?
1. What makes me feel most vulnerable (i.e. like running for cover)?
2. Prayerfully reflect on an image of your self to which you are most attached?
3. Ask Yourself: Why am I doing this? (Where does it place my identity?) Why do I want this? (e.g. makes me look better to other, to fit in, I will have arrived)
In Christ Jesus I am:
A child of God
Loved by Jesus
I can be pleasing in His sight
False and true selves
Luke 3:21-22, 4:1-13, 4:28
I. Finding My Identity in My False Self:
--I Am What I Do (performance)
--I Am What I Have (possessions)
--I Am What Others Think (popularity)
II. Coming Into My True Self
Who am I? I am a child of God. I am loved by Jesus. I can live a life pleasing to Him. I no longer identify myself with what I do, what I have or what others think of me.
Critical Issue: The Experiential Knowledge that I am a Deeply Loved Sinner (see Luke 3:21-2)
PROCESS: Paying Attention to God by:
1. Stopping ( Silence, Solitude and Sabbath)
2. Reflecting Deeply on the Word
3. Reflecting on Your Reactions to People.
In Christ Jesus I am:
A child of God
Loved by Jesus
I can be pleasing in His sight
False and true selves
Luke 3:21-22, 4:1-13, 4:28
I. Finding My Identity in My False Self:
--I Am What I Do (performance)
--I Am What I Have (possessions)
--I Am What Others Think (popularity)
II. Coming Into My True Self
Who am I? I am a child of God. I am loved by Jesus. I can live a life pleasing to Him. I no longer identify myself with what I do, what I have or what others think of me.
Critical Issue: The Experiential Knowledge that I am a Deeply Loved Sinner (see Luke 3:21-2)
PROCESS: Paying Attention to God by:
1. Stopping ( Silence, Solitude and Sabbath)
2. Reflecting Deeply on the Word
3. Reflecting on Your Reactions to People.
In Christ Jesus I am:
A child of God
Loved by Jesus
I can be pleasing in His sight
Reflection questions:
How might I be hiding behind a mask, a false self?
1. What makes me feel most vulnerable (i.e. like running for cover)?
2. Prayerfully reflect on an image of your self to which you are most attached?
3. Ask Yourself: Why am I doing this? (Where does it place my identity?) Why do I want this? (e.g. makes me look better to other, to fit in, I will have arrived)
Life Questions:
Welcome: How do you identify yourself to someone you meet?
Worship:
Word: read Luke 3:20-21 and 4:1-13
What do you see in 3:20-21 about Jesus’ identity? What is it based on?
How did the devil attack Jesus? How did he question Jesus’ identity?
What expectations did your friends have of you growing up?
What has your identity been based on in the past?
How does what God said about Jesus relate to you?
Have you used the reflection questions above this week? What did you learn? Take a look at them now and share insights about yourself with one another.
Reflection questions:
How might I be hiding behind a mask, a false self?
1. What makes me feel most vulnerable (i.e. like running for cover)?
2. Prayerfully reflect on an image of your self to which you are most attached?
3. Ask Yourself: Why am I doing this? (Where does it place my identity?) Why do I want this? (e.g. makes me look better to other, to fit in, I will have arrived)
Life Questions:
Welcome: How do you identify yourself to someone you meet?
Worship:
Word: read Luke 3:20-21 and 4:1-13
What do you see in 3:20-21 about Jesus’ identity? What is it based on?
How did the devil attack Jesus? How did he question Jesus’ identity?
What expectations did your friends have of you growing up?
What has your identity been based on in the past?
How does what God said about Jesus relate to you?
Have you used the reflection questions above this week? What did you learn? Take a look at them now and share insights about yourself with one another.