God knows your false identity

Can you name the alternate identities of the following people?

· Clark Kent – (Superman)

· Bruce Wayne – (Batman)

· Steven Rogers – (Captain America)

· Matthew Michael Murdock – (Daredevil)

· Arthur Curry – (Aquaman)

· Mile Peterson – (BibleMan) (make this funny)

Why are we fascinated with this whole idea of secret identities? Do you ever wish you had a secret identity? What would your superhero name be? If you were living a secret identity, who would you trust enough to tell them your real identity?

Did you know that we all have a false identity?

Did you know that our false identity is so convincing that sometimes we don’t even know it’s fake?

We start to believe it’s who we really are!

We can come to church, play “nice Christian kid” for a few hours, and pretend like everything is OK.

We can post a picture of Scripture, or put a verse in our bio, and ...

WE CAN FOOL A LOT OF PEOPLE, BUT WE CAN NEVER FOOL GOD.

As we learned last time, God knows everything. We can’t hide anything from him.

You go before me and behind me, and you lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand.

Psalm 139:5–12 ESV

You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it. Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,” even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.

I can never escape from your Spirit. I can never get away from your presence. If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.

What this text is saying is, no matter where we go, or what we do, God sees everything, and knows everything. We can’t hide anything from Him, so we might as well not even try.

What this text is saying is, no matter where we go, or what we do, God sees everything, and knows everything.

We can’t hide anything from Him, so we might as well not even try.

Tonight, I want to talk about the idea of having a false identity. As I said above, we all have a false identity.

I’m not saying we’re all secretly crime fighters in our superman pajamas, but what I mean is,

there is this false version of ourselves, and of our value, that is always fighting to rule our lives.

This false identity is an identity that is wrapped up in superficial, shallow, and temporary things.

WE ALL HAVE A FALSE IDENTITY THAT IS WRAPPED UP IN SUPERFICIAL, SHALLOW, AND TEMPORARY THINGS.

For some of us, this identity is wrapped up in playing sports.

For some of us, it’s in our grades.

For others, it’s in our looks. We all have certain things that “define us,” that we’re known by, or that make us feel valuable.

1. Position 2. Appearance 3. Wealth 4. Skills

Ask this question: What are some things that make people feel valuable at school?

· If they say “having cool clothes,” write that under Appearance.

· If they say “having gum,” then write that under Wealth.

· If they say, “being good at football,” write that underneath Skills.

And so on.

I think that just about everything that makes us feel valuable can be summed up in 4 categories.

Position. Appearance. Wealth. Skills.

Let’s look a little deeper at each of these categories.

1. Position - standing, popularity, who your friends are, how many people know you, how many likes your statuses get, your position on a team, or in leadership, your accomplishments.

People can get caught up in their positions. They can feel really feel good that they’re not just a regular cheerleader, they’re the head cheerleader. Or they’re 1st chair in the band. Or captain of the football team. They begin to feel they have value because of their position.

2. Appearance - how cool/cute your clothes are, how often people tell you you’re attractive, have the right make up, good hair, nice skin clarity, good weight etc.

People can really feel valued for their looks. They get compliments all the time, a lot of attention, and they start to feel like they have value and that their identity is in being the attractive kid.

3. Wealth - how much money you have, what phone you have, how big your house is, etc.

People can feel valuable because they have money. They feel like they are somehow worth more than others, that their time matters more than others.

4. Skills - how talented you are, how athletic, how smart, etc.

People can feel valuable because they are smart, because they are good at skateboarding, at football, singing, etc. They feel valuable because they are talented.

These four categories determine whether or not we feel valuable and whether or not we feel good about ourselves. These shape our identity.

If these are UP, then we feel good about ourselves.

Examples:

· Just made the football team – I feel great.

· Just got a fresh, new haircut – I feel great.

· Just aced my chemistry test – Feeling fantastic.

· Just got new shoes – Wow, I’m gorgeous.

· Just got a huge check at work – I’m bill gates, mark cuban, etc.

However, when these categories are down, then we feel bad about ourselves and like we have no value.

Examples:

· Just got cut from the team – I’m a loser.

· Got a bad haircut – I’m ugly.

· Failed my test – I’m stupid.

· I’m poor – I have no future/i can’t do anything

· Tons of pimples today – I think I’m gonna switch to homeschool.

To make things even more complicated, sometimes we’re high in some categories but low in others. When this happens, we often try to overcompensate. For instance:

· If for some reason we don’t feel very smart, we might put everything in to sports.

· Or if we’re not athletic, maybe we put everything in to our looks. If we can’t be athletic, at least we will be attractive.

· Or maybe we’re not attractive, so we put everything in to grades and getting a job. If we can’t be attractive, at least we will be rich.

And around and around it goes. People spend all day chasing after these worldly things, just to feel valuable.

Their identity is totally caught up in these shallow and superficial things.

It honestly breaks my heart, seeing people feel completely destroyed and depressed because they don’t feel valuable.

I hate how much emphasis people have to put on their physical appearance just to feel valuable.

I hate how much pressure gets put on kids to have perfect grades, extracurricular activities, etc., just so they can be successful.

I hate how students who come from poor backgrounds can feel worthless, like they have no future.

I hate how students who are not athletic get bullied and are made to feel like garbage just because they aren’t good at sports. It breaks my heart.

Unfortunately, we live in a culture that puts so much value on temporary, shallow, and superficial things. We live in a culture that says your position, appearance, wealth, and skills are your value and your identity.

The problem with these is … they’re false!

These are not your REAL identity. These are your FALSE identity.

They are not really where your value comes from. You know how I know? Because all of these can be taken away by a bad car accident.

If your value as a human being is dependent upon being attractive, that can be taken away in one instant.

Your smarts can be taken away by one brain injury.

Your athletic abilities by one injury.

Your money can be taken by one hospital bill, etc.

IF YOUR VALUE AND IDENTITY ARE DEPENDENT UPON SUPERFICIAL TEMPORARY THINGS, THEY CAN BE TAKEN AWAY.

Another way to say this is:

TEMPORARY IDENTITY EQUALS TEMPORARY VALUE.

On the other hand, if your value and identity are dependent upon something eternal, they can never be taken away, no matter what happens to you on this planet.

YOUR REAL VALUE CAN NEVER BE TAKEN AWAY BECAUSE IT IS ETERNAL.

Today, I want to tell you your REAL IDENTITY and where your REAL VALUE comes from.

But before I do, I want to share this story with you.

If there was a son who came home and said to his dad, “Hey Dad, guess what? I have finally become valuable to you. I made the basketball team at school and I got my math grade up to an A. Now you can think highly of me.” If that dad was a good dad, he would know exactly what to say. He’d say something like,

“Son, I’m so glad you made the team, and I’m proud of you for doing well at school. That brings me joy, but don’t think for a second that is why I love you, or that I didn’t think highly of you before. I love you because you’re my son. You don’t need to EARN my love.”

Your real identity, and your real value come from one thing and one thing alone: You are a child of the King.

It’s not something you can earn. If you have given your life to Jesus, and you’re following Him,

He has washed every wrong thing you’ve ever done away,

and He looks at you and sees you as his precious son or daughter.

ou don’t need to earn His love. You don’t need to earn your value. You are a child of the King. That is your real identity.

You don’t need to earn His love.

You don’t need to earn your value. You are a child of the King.

That is your real identity.

Listen to what John says:

- See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!

If you have any question about your value, just think about the fact that Jesus was willing to give His life for you. I believe that even if you were the only person on the planet, Jesus would have still given His life for you.

Think about it. You are so valuable, that the King of the universe would come down from heaven, be locked in a frail human body for 30 years, pray, fast, endure temptation, be mocked, beaten, spit on, and ultimately be killed, all because He saw value in you.