Our Identity In Christ - lesson 4
Our Identity In Christ
Lesson 4
(Set up chairs into small groups)
O.K. lets review all that we have learned about our “Identity In Christ” that begins with the letter A.
Week one we discovered that we have been given
ALL THINGS PERTAINING TO LIFE AND GODLINESS.
Week two we learned that we are also
ABLE MINISTERS OF THE NEW COVENANT
Last time we were together we talked about the privileges and responsibilities of being
AMBASSADORS FOR CHRIST
Has God given anyone more insight on any of these
aspects of your identity?
Our identity in the flesh unconsciously affects our thinking, our conversation, our actions our decisions, and every aspect of our lives.
I have found that I must be deliberate and conscious about allowing my identity in Christ to also affect my thinking, my walk, my talk, my decisions, my prayers, my praise.
Why is that?
Because I must deny the flesh in order to allow the Spirit of God to
work through me.
I have so far to go with that, girls, but I can tell you that when I have allowed God to have His way rather than having my way, there is such a freedom. I think that is the freedom He desires we live in as His Beloved.
And we will learn more about that today as we explore what it means to be
BELOVED OF GOD
On your handout you have been given several scriptures that refer to followers of Christ as beloved of God or beloved by the Lord.
Since we had so many references, I thought it would be good to look at them individually and get a good Biblical understanding of what God desires for and from His beloved.
Each of five small groups will start with different scriptures and then continue to look at the remaining scriptures. Describe what it means to be beloved of God. Feel free to look up the scriptures to get more understanding of the context. Remember to ask the questions Who? What? When? Where? Why? and How?
Group 1
II Thes. 2:13 (NAS) But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.
I Thes. 1:4 (NAS) knowing, brethren, beloved by God, His choice of you;
He chose us from the beginning for salvation
He chose to sanctify us by the Spirit and faith in the truth
We who are In Christ should be thankful for our brothers and sisters who are also beloved by the Lord.
Psalm 127:1-2 (NAS) Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; unless the LORD guards the city, the watchman keeps awake in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, to retire late, to eat the bread of painful labors; for He gives to His beloved even in his sleep.
His loving provision is more productive in our lives than the work of our own efforts. He works for us even when we are sleeping.
Group 2
Deut. 33:12 (NAS) Of Benjamin he said, May the beloved of the LORD dwell in security by Him, who shields (covers) him all the day, and he dwells between His shoulders.
Moses is pronouncing a blessing over the 12 tribes. In those days, the blessing had both legal and prophetic significance.
Security for God’s beloved comes by dwelling by Him. He shields (covers) His beloved at all times. Psalm 91:1
“Those who are beloved of the Lord are blessed indeed.” (Matthew Henry)
It is here intimated that the temple in which God would dwell should be built in the borders of this tribe. Jerusalem the holy city was in the lot of this tribe (Jos. 18:28); and though Zion, the city of David, is supposed to belong to Judah, yet Mount Moriah, on which the temple was built, was in Benjamin’s lot. God is therefore said to dwell between his shoulders, because the temple stood on that mount, as the head of a man upon his shoulders. And by this means Benjamin was covered all the day long under the protection of the sanctuary (Ps. 125:2), which is often spoken of as a place of refuge, Ps. 27:4, 5; Neh. 6:10. Benjamin, dwelling by the temple of God, dwelt in safety by him. Note, It is a happy thing to be in the neighbourhood of the temple. This situation of Benjamin, it is likely, was the only thing that kept that tribe in adherence with Judah to the divine institutions, when the other ten tribes apostatized. [1]
The closer we are to God, the more He can bless us.
Jer. 31:3-6 (NLT) Long ago the Lord said to Israel: “I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself. 4 I will rebuild you, my virgin Israel. You will again be happy and dance merrily with tambourines. (renewed joy) 5 Again you will plant your vineyards on the mountains of Samaria and eat from your own gardens there.(peace and prosperity) 6 The day will come when watchmen will shout from the hill country of Ephraim, ‘Come, let us go up to Jerusalem to worship the Lord our God.’ ” (renewed commitment)
God is promising Israel that His judgment will give way to blessing.
His love is unfailing. He draws us to Himself, rebuilds and restores. He nourishes and protects.
Group 3
Dan. 9:23 (KJV) At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to shew thee; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision.
God hears the prayer of His beloved. He gave His beloved Daniel a vision and understanding. He commanded Gabriel to come forth and give Daniel insight and understanding.
Dan. 10:11-12 (KJV) And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright: for unto thee am I now sent. And when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling. 12 Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words.
God sends messengers/helpers to His beloved. When we set our heart to seek Him, He sets out to give insight. The words of God’s beloved are important to Him. He reassures us in fearful times.
Group 4
Col. 3:12 (NCV) God has chosen you and made you his holy people. He loves you (holy and beloved – KJV and NAS). So always do these things: Show mercy to others, be kind, humble, gentle, and patient. 13 Get along with each other, and forgive each other. If someone does wrong to you, forgive that person because the Lord forgave you. 14 Do all these things; but most important, love each other. Love is what holds you all together in perfect unity.
God has chosen us. He has made His beloved holy. His expectation as a result of this is that we show the same love, mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience and forgiveness to others.
Group 5
I John 4:10-19 (ASV) Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12No man hath beheld God at any time: if we love one another, God abideth in us, and his love is perfected in us: 13hereby we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.
14And we have beheld and bear witness that the Father hath sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. 15Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God abideth in him, and he in God. 16And we know and have believed the love which God hath in us. God is love; and he that abideth in love abideth in God, and God abideth in him.
God has shown His love for us by paying our sin debt with the life of Jesus Christ. This example of perfect love should encourage us to love one another. It is a responsibility as well as a privilege. Although we cannot see God, His love is perfected in us with the mutual abiding of us in Him and He with us.
God will abide with the one who confesses Jesus as the Son of God
excerpt from devotional
The English transliteration of the word “beloved” is agapao. It is that unselfish love that has its birth in the heart of God and flows into the lives of His children. It is this love that Paul describes to the church at Corinth as being patient, kind, not easily angered, and keeping no record of wrongs. It is this type of love which always protects, always hopes, always perseveres, rejoices with the truth, and never fails. It is the “why” and the “how” of His choosing you to take part in salvation.
Read I Cor. 13:4-8
God’s love is patient, kind, is not jealous, does not brag, and is not arrogant, God does not act unbecomingly; does not seek His own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
God’s love never fails!
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[1]Henry, M. 1996, c1991. Matthew Henry's commentary on the whole Bible : Complete and unabridged in one volume . Hendrickson: Peabody
