What Does the Bible Say? | Indentity

Intro

Hey Y’all! how are y’all? We are officially in the last month of school. How’s that feel? Who is ready for camp? I’m super ready for camp.

Who was in service on Sunday morning? Who is thinking about going to Boston? That is gonna be such a good trip.

anyways, let’s just kind of get in to it. We have a lot to talk about tonight.

Tonight is our last night in these study we have been doing called, “what does the bible say?” and tonight we are going to get in to a topic that everyone has an opinion on, the world has very hard opinions on. Today this topic is almost the under current of everything that has happened in society in the past say 10 years. This topic has weaved its way in to every facet of society, because it makes you take a side.

So i have two questions that I want to ask you before we jump in to it.

Can we define our identity for ourselves? Okay, i think in some aspects we can identify ourselves, but in other, more ultimate respects we can’t. Like, I can say I’m a braves fan, but that doesn’t tell you who I really am other than I may live in the Atlanta area, love baseball, and really love not winning the world series. But that tells me nothing about my character or who I am as a person. Another way I identify is as a Christian, but that is not an Identifier that I choose but that God choose. I may have chosen to follow Jesus, but God is the one who saved me. Just as I identify as a human, but I’m not the one who chooses to do that.

Are some sins worse than others? In the eyes of God, which is worse, a small lie, or murder? their the same, now they may carry a more weighty consequence here on earth, but they are the same to God. Think back to when we talked about Hell, what makes you deserving of Hell? Sin. which sin? All of them. What sends you to hell is not submitting your life to Christ and following after Him.

So that is were I want our heads to be tonight. We are going to be talking a lot about Identity tonight and how the bible informs our views of identity.

Goals

So tonight our goal is, to answer the question of where our identity ultimately comes from. The question I want us to be able to answer after we leave tonight is, where do we find our ultimate identity and how does that inform our views on issues of identity?

everybody tracking? Tonight if you zone out, you’re going to be confused when you zone back in, so stick with me, we are going to get a little more philosophical than we normally would. but we have to when we talk about this, so track with me, it’ll make sense.

So tonight if you have your bible, go ahead and open up to Genesis 1, we started this study with Genesis and we are going to end this study with Genesis. If anyone needs a bible, throw a hand up, we will get one to you. It’ll help tonight to see the text in front of you. So if you need one, we will bring one to you.

Context

So genesis 1, verse 26-27 is where we are going to be, only two verses tonight, but there is a ton of stuff in these two verses.

So while you’re finding it, let me give you just a bit of context.

So Genesis, God is creating the universe and six days in to God creating everything in the known and unknown universe, God creates man. God was filling the earth with all the creatures, but God stopped and made man differently from all the other creatures. So that is where we are at in the history of creation, six days in.

So before we read this text, let me pray for our time in the word tonight.

pray with me

Okay so lets read this passage and jump in to it, read this with me.

English Standard Version Chapter 1

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.

Three distinctions

Okay cool so I want to point out three major distinctions that these two verses give us about humanity.

The first one, we are created by God. We are not a product of some sort of random chance or or any process left to do what ever.

This distinction seems self evident. Like if we are Christians we are going to believe this to be true. Even if you just believe God exists, you accept this as a fact. Its just something that comes with believe God exists, believe in Christianity.

This would be like trying to do a movie about Superman and not talking about how he is super. When you talk about where humanity comes from, if you are christian, you believe God created us.

But we need to talk about this tonight, God created mankind. God created all of us. We were all created by an almighty creator.

Everybody tracking? Cool.

The second distinction I want to make from this text is, we are created in the image of God. Look at the text, it is mentioned three times. So that should tell us, that is super important. Anything repeated in scripture would be like if we underlined it, highlighted it, circled it, anything to make it stand out. We want to take note of that. These two verses are basically screaming at us that we are created in God’s image.

So I want to teach y’all a term, i know I haven’t done one these in a while, but, I want y’all to say Imago Dei with me. Anyone want to take a shot at what that means? Cool.

It means The image fo God. It is the idea that mankind is created in the Image of God. So what does that mean? It means that we are created set apart from the rest of creation, we are crated with the likeness of God inherently in us.

This isn’t saying that God you know has two legs, two arms and a head. It means we were created to bear a resemblance of our creator. We have the likeness of God. This doesn’t make us God, but we can relate to God, God has created us to know Him. The rest of creation does not have the knowledge of God that we have because breathed his life into us.

This also means that every single person ever created was created with inherent dignity and worth. No one is worthless. write that down, i don’t even have a slide for that, but write that down, no one you meet is worthless.

So next week for a DQ gift card, tell me what the image of god means. It means, we are created set apart from creation in the likeness of God, no one is worthless.

Okay cool, the last distinction this text makes is, we are all created either male or female.

This may seem very simple but if we keep reading, God calls Adam and Eve to be fill the earth, be fruitful and multiply. What God has done here in this scripture is create the building block of society, the family.

So what do we need to take away from these three distinctions. That God is the creator, the mankind is created with inherent worth, and that the family was created by God. God is the creator, we are the creation.

Everybody tracking?

The Problem.

Okay, so we see these distinctions, and then if we keep reading genesis we see a serious problem. In just the 3rd chapter of the bible, Mankind goofs. Sin enter the world, bringing the rot that accompanies sin. Death enters the world. it doesn’t take long for the first murder to happen. Chapter 4, boom, Cain kills his brother Able. Look how fast sin started corrupting the world.

And what happened when sin entered the world?

Think of it like this, let’s say that there was a mirror in the Garden of eden, that Adam and eve could look at. Like a normal mirror, nothing magical there, just a nice mirror. When they looked in they saw themselves exactly as God created them, they were perfect, made in the perfect image of God. But then, they sinned, and what happens to that mirror is that mirror gets cracked, that mirror shatters. Have you ever looked at a broken mirror that still has some glass on it? You can see yourself in there, but it is definitely not a perfect picture, the image there is broken. And like that image in the mirror, sin has broken the relationship with God, Adam and eve are sent out from the garden, from the presence of God, to live out the remaining days of their lives. Death has enter the world. The image is broken.

And the thing about sin, it that it corrupts the world. And what is sin? Sin at its essence rebellion against God. Every person that has ever been born has been born with a sinful nature.

Like think about little kids, if you have ever worked with young kids, like 3-4 you know they can be selfish little dudes. And that is not a knock against kids, it is just how they are, they are born with that sin nature. We are all born with a bent towards sin.

So what is the problem here? How is sin affecting us today, as a whole in society?

Like we said earlier the Imago Dei means that no one is worthless.

in our world today, this is being attacked, sin and the enemy is looking to corrupt this world fully, down to the family.

So there is an issue that I want to talk about tonight I know i haven’t really got to that yet, and have done that on purpose, I wanted to give us a lot of bible to sit on while we talk about this. SO what I want to talk about in terms of identity is the LGBTQ+ issue.

Now I may have geared this whole study to lead up to having this talk. To talk bout this issue, we need to see what we believed about God, the Church, Scripture, Sin, Politics. All of those things are important for us to consider when we talk about this issue. So if you are about to zone out, please don’t, cause you will be so confused, and you’re going to miss hear what we are talking about you’re going to be super confused.

The Corruption of Identity

So let’s define our terms, that is super important. What are we talking about at the basic level when we say LGBTQ+ issues. in essence we are talking about homosexuality. When the bible speaks directly about these issues, it is speaking about homosexuality. There was not much of an idea in the Ancient Near East, which is the area where we get the bible from, of multiple genders or people becoming the opposite sex. But that doesn’t mean the bible doesn’t inform how we view those issues.

So we all have a good idea of what we mean by homosexual and the issues that go along with that. Homosexuality a couple of the same gender.

So let’s talk about it, there are a good amount of verses that speak about homosexuality, the most famous one is probably from Leviticus 18, which says it is an abomination. it is actually mentioned in the same sentence as child sacrifice. That is pretty clear. Paul speaks about it, he basically says the same thing. Its an abomination to God.

So lets ask ourselves, does homosexuality fit in to the biblical worldview? Simply, no. It doesn’t fit in to a world view that is based on biblical convictions and founded on biblical principles.

So what are we doing here? Why am I bringing this up? Especially when we started this talk about identity. What does that have to do with anything?

Remember what we said about sin, we have a massive problem, sin is in the world corrupting everything in the world. That includes us, that includes how we think. That includes how our minds work. So what do we do about this? Homosexuality and the LGBTQ issues are engrained in our society now. So what do we do about this? how do we engage with a society who not only thinks what we believe is morally wrong, but will actively seek to make sure we cannot talk about how the bible informs our views on this issue.

We have seen in society how the idea of identity has been completely corrupted. We can, if we want to, identify ourself in any way we’d like. If I say I am one thing, then it is so, then it consumes my identity and my entire self is shaped by that one identifier. Society has corrupted the idea of identity. Sin has corrupted the idea of identity.

So what do we do? how do we engage with a society who not just think differently than us but is seeking to silence any views which go against their own? What do we do? Do we meet them with anger? Do we stoop down to their level and try to out yell them? No, that doesn’t really work.

Have you ever gotten to in to a shouting match with someone? It doesn’t go well. You just end up more mad.

So what do we do?

We have to first before we try to engage with people who are homosexual or support the LGBTQ community, we need to first remember who we are, and whose we are.

We have to remember that we have missions. As the church, we are called to point people to Jesus. We are called to ‘be the church’ we say it every Wednesday night. So how do we go and be the church to the LGBTQ Community? I know that sounds uncomfortable. But.

We have to remember what we said about the imago Dei, every person is inherently created with worth or dignity given to them by their creator, God almighty.

One of the questions that truly set this whole series off about what does the bible say, is the question ‘do gay people go to hell?’

We have to back up and remember what send us to hell, rejection of the Lordship of Christ in our lives. Sin, which we all have in our lives, severs our relationship with God, it makes all of us deserving of hell. Going to hell is choosing to reject the Lordship of Christ.

So do gay people go to hell? Anyone who dies with out submitting their lives to Christ has rejected Christ, therefore they go to hell.

So the next question that normally accompanies that first question is what about gay christians? To that, i would have to say, they do not exist, in the sense that someone who is a practicing homosexual, they have not submitted their lives to the Lordship of Christ. The may have given a portion of their lives, they may even have a better quiet time than you, but they have not truly submitted to Christ in all aspects of their lives. What they have done is rejected the idea that God is the one created them in His image, and have instead created their own identity in their ow image, rejecting Christ

now this brings up a more subtle issue, what about someone who is a Christian, but struggles with same sex attraction? by that, I mean they are attracted to members of the same sex. Just because they have those feelings and desires, are they doomed? No, they are not doomed to hell because they are tempted. If they are not acting on their desires and giving into sin, they are clinging close to Christ. If you don’t believe me about this existing, believe me, we have friends who struggle with this, and it is a daily fight, but they cling to the Lord for strength. To help them daily kill sin.

This reminds me of a quote by John Owen, who said

Be killing sin, or sin will be killing you.

And this is true for every sin, we like to place these sins higher up on the list of worse sins, but they are no different to God from our sins. If we are going to be able to engage the LGBTQ community that leads to people submitting all of their lives to Christ, we have to remember that no one is beyond redemption. no one is too far gone for God to come and Save them. If the Lord can save you, if the Lord can save my crazy self, the lord can save you or friends who are struggling with this particular sin, and any sin, no matter what is going.

Point to Christ

Remember sin corrupts every facet of this world, even our minds. If we are going to be able to preach the gospel of redemption to a community who other wise hates the church we need to see them not as people who hate us, but people who need jesus.

Because if we read the bible, it says all of us are worthy or judgment from God. No one is worthy, all have fallen short of the Glory of God. But Christ is Better.

SO why is this important? Why are we talking about this? I want us to realize where we find our ultimate identity, we are created by God almighty for the sole purpose to know God and enjoy Him forever. Our ultimate identity is found in Christ alone, if you feel worthless, know that Christ took your place on the cross so that you could know him and have a personal relationship with him.

Sin is trying to distort that identity found only in Christ. But the good news of the gospel is that, even though we broke the relationship with God,Christ has made a way for us to know him.

So this gives us a choice. Where are we going to find our worth and ultimate identity? Are we going to try and create our own identity and try to find our worth in this world. Are we going to try and create ourselves in our own image. if you try that, just know that nothing in this world will truly satisfy you. There will always be a place in your life, that can only be occupied by God. Nothing else will do. Or are we going to see God for who He is and come to know him as god, to know Him as savior. An identity only found in Christ will bring us ultimate Joy in our lives. If you are in here and do not know Christ, please come talk to someone, come talk to me, come talk to a friend. Find someone to talk to. Christ is better, and the only place we can find ultimate worth.

pray with me