Who Am I?

We're going to be in verses 26 through 31 this morning. But before we get into any of that you have pain when you have a paper if you received one of those bulletins in the back, or if you have your phone you want to pull it out. I want to ask you a question in this is a question probably because I just had a birthday a few weeks ago that I ask myself almost every year or a question. That way we go through difficulty and hardships and makes you kind of just wonder and think about life. It's a healthy question to revisit and it's a question that if we don't revisit, I think we're doing a disservice to ourselves and someone ask you who am I? Who am I not? Who who am I he might have some things to say about that. Right? But who am I this is a fundamental question to be in a human being and I believe this question gets asked in the earliest stages of lives whether it's who am I going to be in this world? What is my place? What is my purpose? What is my reason for even being here why they've been placed in a certain family unit in a culture and what am I supposed to be doing with what has been given to me? It's a question that gets posted in school this idea. You can be whatever you want to be. But I want to ask you guys who am I and it's a loaded question here this morning because we begin to deconstruct who we are as a human being which is something that apparently my generation is pretty good at is his deconstructing and then leaving it a mess rather than building something up which is what I actually have to do here in this place this morning. Deconstruct, who am I what I like to do is I would say something along the lines of I am a husband. I am a father. I am a pastor. That doesn't tell you actually who am I does it? I might say things like I like sports sir. I like hanging out with friends and I like good food. But once again, it doesn't get down to the core of who am I and if you are in tune with the world in any degree, we have seen this search going on in human heart and it's a cycle that happens. I believe from generation to generation were people are constantly trying to answer the question of who am I through storytelling? Will there be through Motion Pictures or books or song people are constantly trying to put a narrative on there like to explain why they do what they do why they respond how they respond and what we tend to do is look within ourselves and we say I am a certain way because of things that have happened to me. I am a sufferer. That's why I am the way I am today. And we begin to put these taglines onto the reasons we do act and behave and what happens is we take on an assumed identity and then we live that identity out and this morning in 1st Corinthians. Paul is dealing with a church who I think has this question of who am I? Because they simply aren't getting it they are proud in their groups their office and he's great speaker that they're linking them self to and they're saying I'm of Paul I'm of a pollock and this is who I am and I'm leaking myself to them and he's going to share something incredibly important with them this morning, but this road of self-discovery. Or the true self is a road that every single human being has jumped on board on. There's an obsession with self-discovery was Googling through this to see what would pop up and I love Psychology today because they always have great articles that I like to deconstruct and then reconstruct with the gospel, but this article in particular says what constitutes the true self. Is there an understanding of what the true self is or at least what they're getting at? The true self is is in words you not just the person that you're projecting out to the world. But really what makes you tick what makes you act a certain way. And so there is this desire to get you the route to the bottom of self-discovery to find out the true self and it says in his article the ultimate goal for the individual is to develop and nurture those choices that are consistent with their true self comes to be a very ambiguous idea and culture today. The true self is to deny the best within us to find more happiness in life means to live in harmony with one true self. This means to find your identity. Aristotle in this is how we know this is a very old question that people have been pursuing for ages. He said knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom. Very opposite of what we write about this morning in the Psalms opposite to the Proverbs speak about God where the fear of the Lord is the beginning of all wisdom. And what I want to share is this I did Aristotle of knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom. The Bible starts out telling us about ourselves. Do you know the Primal you the very Origins and Beginnings? The true self is one that has rebelled against God and we see the results in the sinful Fallen world that we live in today is very presence of God has intended to dwell with us in the garden to Tabernacle with us to enjoy not just sit around and sing songs and praise and worship to actually tend and care for the garden to be fruitful and multiply to enjoy his present. We turned our back on that God and in the story of the Genesis 3 on begins to tell us what the true you apart from God actually is this is what he says about you the first two sons that we read about when is jealous and murders the other than the next man that rises up on the scene that is kind of this Tyrant. It takes to wise and he says, you know, what Cain he did to his brother. I want Tom to man Just for kicks. And if anybody comes after me, I will avenge it a hundred. We enslave. We hurt we harm we go to war because our desires have been disordered. CS Lewis and talking about the true you he doesn't use those words particularly, but he says you're real and he's going to paint it in the positive lights beginning new self, which is in Christ and also yours and yours just because it is his will not come as long as you're looking for it, but only come when you're not when you are looking for him. Do you want to find your true you? If you want to know what it means to be human if you want self-discovery, what's Dias Lewis is saying you don't need to go on a 15 week vacation. You don't need to sit in the woods and be still and not move. He says does that sound strange the simple principle holds, you know for everyday matters even in social life, you'll never make a good impression on other people until you stop thinking about what kind of impression you're making on them even in literature and art no man who bothered about originally originally she will ever be original. Where is if you simply try to tell the truth without carrying two pence how often it it has been told you will nine times out of ten become original. Ever even noticing it the principal runs through all of life from top to bottom give up yourself. You'll find your real self lose your life. Submit to death death of your Ambitions and favorite wishes everyday and death of your whole body in the end submit with every fiber of your being and you will find eternal life keep back. Nothing. Nothing that you have not given away will really be yours. Nothing in you that has not died ever be raised from the dead look for yourself and you will find in the long run only hatred loneliness despair rage ruin and Decay the look for Christ and you'll find him and with him everything else thrown in. This kicks at pushes on a major pressure point and culture today because we live within a society that it's being promoted and pushed that you need to do all that you can to find your true you and yourself. And so what people have done is is they go Inward and they continue to go Inward and outward and Inward and the further in we go without looking upward to God we go down a downward spiral that brings about death and Decay and frustration and bitterness why because in the garden and since the garden human beings have believed the lie about who they are. This is a serious problem for if you start your identity with Ally you will continue to live your life with that lie going right through it. The fundamental problem because of that our identity is confused for a problematic. Because they'll created in the image of God. We believe this lie that we ourselves could be gods and in so doing other than Imaging God, we image all sorts of other things. The reason people are trying to constantly find themselves. I'm trying to figure out their lives and their value and their meaning and their purpose is because they have lost it. Church, we talked about evangelism a few weeks ago. We talked about pressure point of society. And this is precisely one of them when one of your friends sits across the dinner table from you and talks about going on some sort of self-discovery. You can applaud them. Yes, and amen you need to do that. But look, here's the problem. If all you do is go down and inward Road of who you are and you are and you are still never find out of Italy view. A miserable path. We cannot our heads and we can applaud but the problem is they realized it is our core there is something wrong with this picture out what that is and we want to fix it. This is crucial for us look up not with n. Why should we believe the lie and in so doing have been deformed into the image of the LIE deform into the image of Satan? We have been transformed into the horrendous things that he applauds and promote rather than believing the truth and being conformed to the identity of Christ. Now, I want you to hear pause words this morning. He says this in 1st Corinthians 1:26 for consider your calling Brothers. Not many of you were wise according to the worldly standards. Thanks. Paul. Not many were powerful not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise? God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong God chose? What is low and despised in the world even things that are not to bring to nothing things that are sorry so that no human being is my boast in the presence of God and because of him you are in Christ Jesus. Highlight it Circle it underlined and whatever you do in your Bible. This is incredibly important because of him you are also in him something that God has done that. He has worked in our life. We now our he's giving us our identity actually in Christ Jesus. And then he says who became to us wisdom from God righteousness interpretation Redemption. So it is written let no one who both let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.

What do you hate about yourself?

That cost you what makes that up. What is identity identity related to the values that dictate our actions and choices.

Identity this idea of who I think I am is actually going to drive what I do in this world operate how I act and how I react to the questions we have to unravel is what is the Bible say about your identity? What does it even matter what you believe about your identity and what God says about it. It matters immensely.

matters immensely in the Bible starts out with this Spiritual being there in the garden in the Hebrew than the cash comes the serpent As We Know It And The Serpent Whispers these words into the ears of Eve. Holding something surely you will not die. He doesn't want you to be like him. And so she and Adam they believe this thing about themselves. They believe a lie, and when they believe the light begins to radically unravel all that. God has done. I doubt we see the Fallout of that. That's why we call it the fall or identity has been wrecked because of The Lies We believe about ourselves and about the world that you start with that falsehood. You assume that you begin to live that out. Why you live your life out of your identity. Think about this. Jesus says proud of the abundance of your heart your mouth speaks you speak from with already inside of your heart.

He speaks with already bubbling ensuring and turning know what we like to say is I was harsh with my kids because they were being morons today. That's what he would like to say. Or I had no right to speak back to my spouse or to my boss because of something they've done but that was already turning in your heart is already Brewing because we live from the inside out not from the outside in this is what the Bible is talking about. So in order to change something from the outside of us has to come into us to radically transform and change bats. This is fundamental and essential for all of those who are doing some soul-searching today. If you want to find the true you if you want to know what makes you tick you have to go to where humans began anywhere that's created in the image of God. Fantasy identity that we were to live out. Jesus says where your treasure is. Your heart that's where it is. What's your treasure is brewing within your heart and it shows forth in our lives. So what is the Bible say about us Paul is going to talk about what it means to be in one of the fundamental ideas that you have to know understand and believe sure this morning is that you are a worshipper created in the image of God. That is who you are. Look you might have learned in Sunday school. Are you through you might have heard that you were created? to worship That's simply not true or that you were created for worship. That's not true. Either for that is true. That an applied God is lacking something which had to make someone to fill that laugh and that has two didn't happen for God to be whole. However, that is not what the Bible teaches preaches believe about God know we were created as worshippers, which means we are continuously outpouring that is what we are doing with our lives worship is not something that you separate out or that you regulate a different times of the day, but it is something that is constantly happening in your heart always it's not an aspect of our being it is the essence of our being and because of the Fall our worship has been perverted twisted and turned and rather than worship God. We now worship. The true me the true self what pleases me what makes me happy. I will do what I want to do. And let me ask you this. How's it going for you? How's it going for you? Remember, we believe the lie, it goes terribly wrong and some part o for a while. It feels pretty good. If it doesn't answer her life, are we feel like we're finally accepted. We finally below the longer that we live in the law by the further from the truth of God. We get the more deformed into the image of Satan we become rather conformed to the image of Truth our problem as a cultural Society of humans are problem individually as a person is a worship problem. We have worship problems and I share this a lot in here. And the reason being is we are constantly bombarded with all sorts of ideas philosophy thoughts materialism. Things that are told that this is what will make you a great human or an important person. This is what I'll make you some one of value significance of worth and so all of these things come flooding into our lives and we can't you buy into them and we say the world will love me more if I have more I look better than faster. I'm smarter than thinner these think and every culture has standards a place upon people in order to tell them they're loved there a value thereof worth And we believe this. That's not what the Bible says here. That's not who God says that we are. In fact, what does God say he goes? Hey Corinth you guys were

you guys were nobodies he says not many of you were wise. There are probably some amongst them. Not many of you were powerful. There are probably a handful of them. Not many of you were wealthy and important and prominent. So there may have been some that existed but he says the majority of you are a bunch of nobodies and this is what God has done in your life. And I want you to share know and remember this and constantly come back to this because it's the last thing I want a single person in the church in Corinth or it redeem a Juke is boast in something that they have done rather than posting and what God has done and so he says consider your calling You're calling this is what's going to tell you who you are consider that you've been called by God. What does it actually entail are mean to be called by God? Three loves us cares for us. Washed us clean. We're going to see this here this morning because of Christ you are in him. And this is who you are now and it rises up the question. How did I Come to Christ Our to be in Christ. You've grown up in the church. You all know the word testimony in your testimony something that God has done in you in each and every single follower of Jesus has some sort of testimony that God is to transform and change their lives and it's the story about Jesus not the story about you, but the story of Jesus and how he changed your life being in Christ and when you're in Christ, we know this from 1st Peter 2:9, you are a chosen race a royal priesthood a holy nation. Who am I? Who am I? I'm a chosen race a royal priesthood a holy nation a people for his own possession. I don't know how you came in here feeling. You like a dirtbag sleazy bad week liar. Crazy, lunatic unlovable rejected hurt suffering wounded we have all kinds of adjectives to describe how we feel here this morning and how we view our lives. But this is what the Bible says about those who are in Christ. He says you are my possession. You are lovely. You are important. Now what it means to be created in the image of God means weirdo reflect God's glory. Relationship with God in Harmony and Shalom and it when we send we shattered that and rather than Imaging Godly image all sorts of other problematic issues and other people and greed and power and trying to rise to prominence of significance to our own means and what we desperately need in this world today is somebody outside of herself to tell us that were important. I don't care how bad of a day you had and you might come to yourself and sit down and be like, I'm just really a good person how many times have you actually convinced yourself that you are significant important of worth and value? Do you know why we can't do that as human beings because we were created in the image of God. And that's where we get our significant before we get our value. That's where we get our important. We need something some wants to tell us that we are those things and so what we have done is we've gone to money and we said money will tell me I'm important and Powerful significance. We got you good looks and a traction and if we can attract other people to like us then I'm important loved and valued family instead of family is going well and family life is happening. Then I'm important and valued and loved every single person is somewhat like a mirror a mirror has to actually be lit. There has to be like in order for to shine back and to see something we all need light to shine into our life to tell us we're worth something. That is why self-discovery Does not work because the more you try to discover yourself you still need the affirmation of somebody else something else to tell you. What important. Now, is it the lie or is it the truth? That's the question of the scriptures here.

Do you let the love of God to find you and tell you who you are?

Do you wash yourself in the water of the word? Do you like him Define? What is success? What is important? What is a value you let him take care of your past and even your presence and who knows what's coming down the road for humans and we fail do you let God Define and handle those things in your life or do you say you know what? I'm going to let the world do this in my life. God Saves us he has given us a new identity and that new identity is now what we live out of

How many people in here look at their lives and desperately want change in certain areas and they strive for all sorts of programs and plans and hopes of a New Year's Revolution weather shield something resolution. Pardon me something of that sort to change me. What we desperately need is the word of God and God to move and transform our lives and our hearts that then permeate every aspect of our lives in lausanne to live out of what is this new identity. I don't know about you but I constantly need to be reminded of who I am in Jesus Christ. My job is not to teach you guys new things is to remind you guys have all the ultra beasts in Scripture. Because we're going to hit precisely in the moment of your life when you need to share them and there are people in here this morning that need to know who you are in Christ is not what your past and the world says about you. He makes all things new. He takes a horrible things and take them from ashes and bring them up to Beauty. He takes broken things and he restores them. That's what God does and so often we say why want it now and in my time on his plan might take weeks years months into eternity, but God is at work and you need to know who you are. And what Paul says here is this is the wisdom of God the way that first 30 works is he's not giving a list of four things. He says this is the wisdom of God. The wisdom of God is Christ. He's already been comparing in 1st Corinthians chapter 1 the foolishness of what the cross to those who don't believe they think it's Folly to think it's ridiculous that price didn't come have a juice thought he would or they wanted intellect and wisdom in the other culture of the Greeks. And so what Paul does is he says their inverse 30 because of him you are in Christ Jesus who became to us wisdom from God then Next three things are a Triad there a set of words that begin to explain what we have obtained and who we are in Christ. We are righteous Sanctified and readings that is who we are that is what we live our lives out at. This is not who you someday. We'll be or who you hope to be but this is what God has done in somebody's life was received Jesus Christ. This is really important.

I know that if you block the Jesus for 30 years 40 years you like identity. I get it. I'm new in Jesus Christ, but this is applicable Moment by moment application for each and every one of us. how often in your life have you become fearful? Running Christ. You should be Fearless how often in your life when presented with the lion the temptation to believe that something outside of their is going to fulfill you and make you whole so you spend your entire life or day or week or month or whatever trying to get that thing only to realize that that thing did not satisfy her fulfill you how many of your parents around this time of the year here. The thing your kid has to have how many of you had more than 4 Target magazines in your house already just me. Yeah, I think we throw those things out every day at this point daddy. If I just get this I'll be so happy. Did you know we never graduate from that? It just never happens. Goodness. Can't wait to get the new iPhone 11 cuz my iPhone 8 is cracked. I'll just be happy. I'll have three cameras. Guess what it'll stink in 6 weeks. That's how this world works and we think we had these knees and that they're going to satisfy and they're going to fulfill up but yet what we're being told her in the moment is you have gospel when you go outside of Christ. Your identity says you are in Christ near to be an image bearer of Christ. And when you go to things outside of God, never never to intended to fulfill you guess what the result is they won't but you continue to try and strive and try how many of us have faced Temptation live cheat steal tax season is coming up very easy to do right? Maybe we'll get ahead a little bit. If you do impress somebody that moments were tempted with worldly Comforts to get what we think we need we believe a lie. That's because you forget who you are. Who are you? Who are you? I am a creature created in the image of God. That's who I am. What does it mean to be a creature created in the image of God means? I'm depended upon God for every breath that I breathe for every drop of water that I drink for every food particle that I take into my body. Sometimes I get outside of that thought process and think I'm pretty self-sufficient. I can do this on my own but I am a creature dependent upon God and then God now defines who I am. I'm not defined on my past. Thank God, huh? I'm not defined by my suffering. The world loves to do this. We have a great slogans and some of them actually have some meaning but we say things like hurt people hurt people. So guess what? I was hurt. I'm just going to hurt you abused people abuse people. I'm just going to use you. I saw anger when I grew up there for I'm just going to have a right to my anger and I'm going to constantly blow up. You just have to accept that we saved my past is going to defy me and I'm going to live out the identity that I've assumed has been placed on me Christ moves into our hearts and says I have made you knew do you know that church that you are new in Christ Jesus?

Huey Lewis's words again look for yourself and you'll find in the long run only hatred loneliness despair rage ruin and Decay but look for Christ and you will find him and everything else thrown and you were made to be image of Paris. So what is that mean give me five minutes more to go, just worship and praise Paul says, this is what it means your righteous. me. You love Jesus. your follower Jesus Your Righteous Wait a second, you know my past I've abused of hurt and harm others. I've been wrong terrible and horrible things. Lucky you flip over to 1st Corinthians. Just a few pages over to chapter 6 verses 9 through 11. Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God do not be deceived neither the sexually immoral the adulterous adulterers nor manufactures homosexuality North he's or the greedy nor drunkards nor revilers nor swindlers. What are the kingdom of God and such were some of you but you were washed you were Sanctified you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ by the spirit of our God.

I don't care about your past. I care about you. I care about the hurt that I brought into your life right now, but your past is not who you are you. too many of us Define Our Lives instead of the scriptures to finding our lives and the scriptures Paul says here in 1st Corinthians. What it means to be in Christ is that you are righteous in Philippians 3:9 be found in him not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law which comes through faith in Christ. Jesus the righteousness from God that depends on faith. 2nd Corinthians 5:21 that Christ was made sin for us that we may be made the righteousness of God in him. He took our sand he gave us his righteousness. It's a good deal. I don't know why so many are opposed to it. He took my past he took my wrongdoing instead of me having to stand up and give an account and say will God she was just kind of Moody that day. That's why I responded that way. I got to think that she cut me off it. So that's why I said that in the car. I probably shouldn't have said we haven't even account. I have Christ account on my record. I now have the righteousness of God. Not only that though. I'm Sanctified sanctification is idea being set apart or holy Vessel in his Temple. I'm with him. In the presence of God Romans 8 says we're taking out of the Splash and we're in the spirits. Who makes you holding great question. What time do you think we make ourselves? Holy listen to this and Hebrews 12 1 through 2 therefore since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses. Let us lay aside every weight and everything was clean so closely but it's Ronnie endurance the race that is set before us looking to Jesus the founder and Perfecter of our faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross despising the shame and sealed as right hand the Throne of God what this verse of saying is no you do not make yourself. Holy God has made you holy and to grow in your Holiness. You look to God that verse goes on and says to fix your eyes on Jesus the founder and Perfecter of our faith to pursue holiness. There were avoiding sin. But it's that idea. But I'm looking to you God as I look to you as soon loses its dross and loses its Appeal on my life. This is who God has made us number three and finally Redemption. He's delivered us from evil being delivered from sin and it's penalty. This is who you are. Yeah, there is a penalty for the sin but it is Christ that has delivered us through that in the idea of redemption vegan to stir up this mindset of what the Israelites went through there under the grips of pharaoh, they're enslaved and in bondage. They do what he said when he said they got fed when they were told to get fed, right? This is slavery. This is not a good situation. This is bonded and then they still live where are named Moses. He rises up to take them out of the promise or take them out of Egypt into the promised land know what is significant about the people of God are crying out to God. Begins to act. Begins to move and they're they're on the last plague. There's blood applied to the doorpost and they're celebrating. What would be the first Passover and enter into that journey and that Trek and something significant happens in the tax that many of us miss. It's not that they just get to go and they're free from death and the hand. Pharaoh is that the presence of God goes with them? After that sacrifice after the blood on the doorpost, what does it mean to be redeemed? It's shalom restored the presence of God With Us for the Israelites perfect in the wilderness. Absolutely not.

Presence of God it made them distinct given significance given value gave them identity and Paul says here. Best Redeemer search is who you are.

Let me ask you. Who are you? What you believe about yourself? May. Question permit in your hearts me think on it today and you talk about it. And may we do a better job as a church of reminding one another of who we are we have these conversations with Prime. Jesus thank you for the help that we have in you.

There's Redemption that there is salvation. We've been Justified and made whole.

Got for those who have forgotten who they are in Christ. May you allow for this to be a reminder on this morning and made an impact their lives and may they grow because of its it would be encouraged by it and we have a deep rest that settles in because we are in Christ loved us you define US and you've made us your own in Jesus name. Amen.