Identity

Intro

2 Truths and a Lie

I used to drive semi out to CA

I was the drummer for a rock & roll band

I love to watch cycling

I would like to discuss what we believe about ourselves and about God. Before we finish this morning, I would like for you to know 3 absolute truths about God.

God is sovereign

God is good

God loves you

Let me tell you a little about how I have come to this conclusion. It comes from finding God in my story.

Ephesians 2:10 ESV

10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

ephesians

God Creates Man

Genesis 1:26–31 ESV

26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29 And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. 30 And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Gen. 1:26-

Then the there is the lie

Genesis 3:1–5 ESV

1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Gen. 3:1

The devil has not changed his tactics since the beginning, he even tried to hit up Jesus with the same method

Matthew 4:1–11 ESV

1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written, “ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ” 5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “ ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ” 7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’ ” 11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.

Jesus quoted Scripture back at satan, He quoted truth. By the way, each of these quotes that Jesus quoted can be found in Deuteronomy.

Deuteronomy 8:3 ESV

3 And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.

Deuteronomy 6:16 ESV

16 “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah.

Deuteronomy 6:13 ESV

13 It is the Lord your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear.

1st Observation: Be Grounded in Truth

Spend time in Scripture

It is hard to act like someone if you do not hang around them

There is a target on our backs, because we are loved by God & the enemy wants to destroy who God loves, so we need to know truth, because the enemy will be whispering lies into us

Illustration: Does what I am hearing and believing line up with the Word of God?

2nd Observation: Our Identity is found in God

He created us (and for a purpose) to be His image bearers

Jesus redeemed us & we are being formed into His image

Our purpose first & foremost is to be reconciled to God which molds us into new creations

Illustrations: discipline of a daughter “You are not a brat & I will not allow you to act like a brat, you are a Hall & I expect you to act like a Hall”

Application

We can avoid a lot of heartache & pain by knowing who we are & understanding that our identity is tied up in a God that moves heaven and earth to reconcile us with Him.

We are uniquely crafted by a God who loves us

We have been given everything we need in Him to make us complete

Spending time in God’s presence causes us to be more content, so we will not be looking for any outside substance for fulfillment

3-Fold Principle proves true when we are spending time in God’s presence by exposing ourselves to the Truth of God’s Word

God is in Sovereign - (when things get out of our control & the enemy begins whispering) remind yourself

Psalm 46:10 ESV

“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”

God is Good (every bit of His character is good for me, I don’t deserve it)

God Loves Me (God always has my best interest in mind)

Ephesians 2:10 ESV

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Let me leave you with some wisdom. I heard a phrase last year that I really liked & I wish I would have heard it when I was younger “You need to get some grey hairs around you.” We need people with experience. I can’t think of anybody better than some of the Church Fathers. Here is what one of them has to say about Truth:

Reading Scripture with the Church Fathers John Chrysostom (347–407)

Listen carefully to me, I entreat you.… [P]rocure books that will be medicines for the soul.… At least get a copy of the New Testament, the Apostle’s epistles, the Acts, the Gospels, for your constant teachers. If you encounter grief, dive into them as into a chest of medicines; take from them comfort for your trouble, whether it be loss, or death, or bereavement over the loss of relations. Don’t simply dive into them. Swim in them. Keep them constantly in your mind. The cause of all evils is the failure to know the Scriptures well.