In Christ We Are Unfinished

Title- In Christ We Are Unfinished

Title

Passage- and various

Attention-

Have you ever been unsure of yourself?

Maybe it was when you were a teen and trying to find your way in life

Or maybe it was in college and deciding what to do with the rest of your life

Or maybe it was the last time you are our and couldn’t decide on fries or a salad with your burger.....

We often face times when we are not sure of ourselves

I, for instance, know when I go into a restaurant that if they have a good burger…that is what I will order…burgers are my foundation, my identity

Maybe for you it is a soup and sandwich or a salad

If I go into a burger joint and order a salad my wife will feel my forehead and think I am having an identity crisis

We joke but an identity crisis is a reality

Introduction

Psychologist Erik Erikson coined the term "identity crisis" and believed that it was one of the most important conflicts people face in development. According to Erikson, an identity crisis is a time of intensive analysis and exploration of different ways of looking at oneself. Those with a status of having a scattered identity tend to feel out of place in the world and don't pursue a sense of true identity.

There is a little truth to what he has said…when we spread ourselves out into too many places and identities we really don’t know who we are and are on shackey ground.

This is a biblical idea…

James 1:8 KJV 1900

A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

If we are going to have a firm foundation for life we need to sand on one foundation

That foundation for the believer is the foundation of the Gospel and what we become when we accept the gospel

It is a reality that many believers struggle in life because of a spiritual identity crisis

What is the main driving point (CPS)?

Here in this verse Paul foundation for His confidence in his future hope and his ability to live a God honoring life now is in the Gospel.

Why does the CPS matter, what is the consequence?

Paul, throughout his epistles has written about the truths of the future hope that we enjoy and the struggles of this life.

He often points to the gospel as that foundation for his confidence

Through the gospel he has his new identity in Christ

But he is quite honest about the reality that although he is justified and righteous before the Father based on the gospel he still struggles daily

Transition

This morning we want to look at some truths to help us make sense of these same realities that Paul struggled with

The first reality we are confronted with is that...

I. We Are Positionally Complete In Christ

Explain

“He that began a good work in you”

This is the theological idea that when Christ died for my sins and I accepted that sacrifice I was prepared at that instance to stand before the judgment seat.

I know this idea of judgment is not popular in the church today but you cannot read your Bible and not come away with the reality that we will be judged for our lives…if we trusted Christ or not

Positional sanctification is a one-time act of the Holy Spirit on the hearts of unbelievers whom He has chosen for salvation from sin.

At the moment of salvation, believers understand and acknowledge their sinful state, their inability to save themselves through any works of their own, their need of a savior, their acceptance of the sacrifice of Christ on the cross as sin’s payment, and their faith in Jesus’ resurrection.

At that moment, believers are brought out of darkness into the light. Our position before God has been changed forever.

No longer dead in trespasses, we are made alive together with Christ (). Our position changes in that we are made citizens of a whole new kingdom: “He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves” ().

er dead in trespasses, we are made alive together with Christ (). Our position changes in that we are made citizens of a whole new kingdom: “He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves” ().

Positional sanctification also changes our position as sinners deserving of God’s wrath to the position of beloved children of the Father and perfect in His eyes. Our new position means we are:

part of the body of Christ ();

God’s special possession ();

new creations ();

dead to sin ();

possessors of the divine nature ().

Bridge to today

This positional change is a bit like what happens when someone becomes a soldier in the United States military.

When does that person become recognized as a US soldier.

More or less as soon as he accepts what the military offers him

When does he really become a soldier

After he is trained and prepared

Even before they look like a soldier

Even before the talk like a soldier

Even before they think like a soldier

Relevance

We as believers are no longer a part of the world and judgment but are now adopted into God’s family and have a future hope.

When?

As soon as we accept His offer of Jesus’ sacrifice for us.

Why does this matter?

We need to always remember our identity as believers...

We are in Christ

We are His

He is our Commander in Chief and will guide and direct us

Transition

Even though we are positionally complete in Christ we are left with a practical reality...

II. We Are Practically Unfinished

Explain

As much as we are positionally prepared to stand in judgment we are practically living a life on this sin-filled earth dealing with the effects of indwelling sin.

But there is a Scriptural principle that we can look at here to see how this works

Paul is quite transparent in about this battle.

He desires in his spirit to do right but there is the reality of our remaining sin nature.

Our old nature fights against our spiritual desire:

1- Tries to keep us from doing good

2- Seeks rest when we should be working toward Christlikeness

3- Works in our emotions to stir up wrong desires

This is the reality that we are left with.

Even here in we get the same picture

God does not changes us instantly and completely at salvation

Here we see that there is work to be done in order to become image bearers of God.

This is what we find here in this verse.

Everything here is based on the fact that the Philippians believers had accepted Jesus sacrifice and were living in that reality

Therefore, based on the truth that they accepted the Gospel and the reality of the gospel is not just to keep us from hell…it is to prepare us for heaven.

Based on that truth The Lord works in each person through His word, His people, His discipline, His goodness to develop Christlikeness within us.

Bridge to today

If you struggle with this idea of indwelling sin think of it like this...

A soldier goes over to another country to fight in a war

He sees things he can never unsee

He hears things that he can never forget

He experiences things no person should ever experience

He returns

He returns not only as an American veteran but as a human being dealing with the effects of war

He cannot just leave it all behind.

He lives through the process of becoming a new individual in spite of what he endured for our freedom.

In the same sense we are learning as believers how to become a new individual in Christ.

Or another way to see this

2- Someone who immigrates to the United States

A person immigrates to the United States

There are things in the US that must be followed or there are consequences

They don’t just drop all of their cultural experiences and history when they set foot on this soil

Driving the speed limit

They are Americans but they can often live life in light of how it was done where they came from

Driving on the right side of the road

And as they live life here they often become acclimated to

But the immigrant has a whole lifetime of experiences and habits from where they once lived

When I talk about immigrants becoming Americans I do not mean to say that they need to give up their previous culture and become us

That is not the case

Our country is founded on an amalgamation of cultures

But the areas they need to comply with…can they just change?

Do they instantaneously become all American as soon as they arrive here?

No, and none of us ought to expect them to

It takes time

That is not the case

Our country is founded on an amalgamation of cultures

Relevance

Keep this in mind next time you are struggling with a particular sin

Remember that it was a part of your old man and that Jesus died and rose again to give you victory over that by the power of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit

Why does this matter?

This matter of dealing with indwelling sin is less about doing and more about being

Actions are often overemphasized because they are what we see

We need to look deeper and look at the why

Who are we being when we respond in certain ways

Are we being the old man or the new man

Are we cognizant of the fact that we are forgiven, adopted into God’s family, and given victory over sin

Or are we feeling the pressures of sin and our emotions.

If Christlikeness was about doing God could have stopped giving us revelation after He gave the Law

Christlikeness is about how our being directs our behaviour

So how do we go from being lead by the flesh, by sin, and even Satan himself to being lead by the Spirit of God

Transition

This leads to our third and final point

III. We Will be Completed By Faith

Explain

Not only did He begin a good work in us, He will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ

In the same way that when God makes a promise He WILL keep it

When he starts a project He WILL finish it

He is not like those around us that tell us they are going to do/finish something and don’t…HE WILL FINISH IT

Bridge to today

Back to our military illustration

The troops are on the front lines in a heated battle

Bullets are wizzzing and bombs are exploding

There are the sounds and smells of war and death all around

The Commander in Chief calls to them and says “Keep fighting guys I have the victory secured for you if you just keep following my orders”

What will the soldiers do

FIGHT

Fight with all they have

Relevance

In a sense we, as soldiers of Christ, have received that same news

Remember

John 16:33 KJV 1900

These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

Jesus won the war for us…our responsibility is to follow His instructions within the individual battles.

Why does this matter?

So the soldier says...”what’s one battle…I’ll fight harder next time”

And he loses some ground

The ground he lost is more and more difficult to recover

The more battles he gives up the harder the fight is

Conclusion

This is a picture of fighting sin

The fastest and easiest way to end temptation is to surrender to it

The longer and harder way is to fight…and keep on fighting with everything that is in you

If you surrender to sin you lose ground

The fight gets harder

The enemy gets stronger

And you feel more defeated

No war was won without a few losses

But no war was ever won by surrender

Review of the Principles and the Sermon Proposition

Challenge to act now (your part)…immanence

Visualize Audience Implementation

Final Statement

Would you bow your heads and close your eyes with me?

Closing Hymn

374- Be Thou My Vision