Identity and Image

Introduction

In the series we discussed how it is that God created us so that we might better know who we are. We mainly looked or at least routed our discussion in genesis two so that we could see how God created and intended us to be in a perfect world, but we do not live in a perfect world. Sin has warped and twisted our identities and our roles.To wrap it up it is important that we understand how Christ has redeemed us to know who we are now.

We are in Christ – that’s our primary identity – how many times is in Christ used in scripture. This is gods way of reshaping us into our true identity in Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:16–20 (ESV)

16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

11 Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, (Paul was just talking about how we will all appear before God one day) we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience. 12 We are not commending ourselves to you again but giving you cause to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart. 13 For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. 14 For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15 and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.

Paul was responding to some criticism that some in the Corinthian church had about his ministry.

Not exactly sure the nature of the criticism.

Some may have even thought he was crazy.

Paul explains that he is motivated not by pride but by the love of Christ that those he comes in contact with might know the gospel:

that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15 and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.

Understanding Christ’s love for him motivates Paul’s love for others to know Christ as well.

As believers, we are increasingly being viewed as different. As the world and culture operate less and less from a Christian worldview, those who hold to a biblical worldview will begin to stand out more and stand at odds with culture.

ILLUST - From “Critical Media Project”

purpose: “resource for educators and students (ages 8-21) that enhances young people’s critical thinking and empathy, and builds on their capacities to advocate for change around questions of identity.”

“why identity matters How do you identify yourself? And, what is the most important part of your identity? Is it your sex, your race or ethnicity, your sexual orientation, your class status, your nationality, your religious affiliation, your age, your physical or cognitive abilities, your political beliefs? Is there one part of your identity that stands out from the rest, or does your identity change depending on who you’re with, what you’re involved in, where you are in your life?

key concepts Identity is a socially and historically constructed concept. We learn about our own identity and the identity of others through interactions with family, peers, organizations, institutions, media and other connections we make in our everyday life.

Key facets of identity—like gender, social class, age, sexual orientation, race and ethnicity, religion, age and disability—play significant roles in determining how we understand and experience the world, as well as shaping the types of opportunities and challenges we face.

Social and cultural identity is inextricably linked to issues of power, value systems, and ideology.

The media uses representations— images, words, and characters or personae—to convey specific ideas and values related to culture and identity in society.”

https://criticalmediaproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Why-Identity-Matters-PDF.pdf

Christianity provides us with an overarching metanarrative that runs from creation to redemption: We are creatures made in God’s image, who have sinned against him, who need to be rescued through the atoning work of Jesus, and who are called to love both God and neighbor.

In contrast, critical theory is associated with a metanarrative that runs from oppression to liberation: We are members either of a dominant group or of a marginalized group with respect to a given identity marker. As such, we either need to divest ourselves of power and seek to liberate others, or we need to acquire power and liberate ourselves by dismantling all structures and institutions that subjugate and oppress. In critical theory, the greatest sin is oppression, and the greatest virtue is the pursuit of liberation.

These respective metanarratives will vie for dominance in all areas of life. Consider, for example, the question of identity: Is our identity primarily defined in terms of our vertical relationship to God? Or primarily in terms of horizontal power dynamics between groups of people?

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/incompatibility-critical-theory-christianity/

16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer.

no one according to the flesh

In other words. . . by the world’s standards, the world’s labels, or the world’s values.

What are the world’s standards FOR YOU?

What are your labels?

What’s your label?

How many here are from Granger? Edwardsburg? Mishawaka? Elkhart? South Bend? Cassapolis?

How many came forward when we talked about men? Women? Married? Single? Senior Saints?

I am a ___________ __________ __________

This (from a worldly view) affect what we believe about our value.

Philippians 3:4–8 ESV

4 though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. 7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ

Your identity begins with Jesus.

Without Christ first, I live with a blank in my identity:

Jason = __________, man, husband, father, pastor

Without Christ first, second-rate identities begin to take first-rate importance.

This doesn’t mean that being a man or husband or father or pastor are second rate in themselves, but they are when compared to who I am in Christ.

Where does Christ fit in the list of your life?

Jesus-first changes everything.

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 1

The world states that the goal of understanding your identity is to understand where you fit in the power structure of society. if you are in the group that is labeled by society as “oppressor,” your role is to lay down your rights and use your power to liberate others. If your identity finds you in a category that is understood as “oppressed” you are stand against those in power and assert your own identity in order to find liberation.

Here’s the truth:

We are all oppressed by sin

that’s why it all feels wrong

We can be liberated

but it is not within our power

In Christ we find the liberation from sin and self and it shifts all categories and labels under him

In Christ

This is an identity statement.

In Christ, I am … the salt of the earth (Matt 5:13)

In Christ, I am … the light of the world (Matt. 5:14)

In Christ, I am … a child of God (John 1:12)

In Christ, I am … part of the true vine, a channel of Christ’s life (John 15)

In Christ, I am … a friend of God (John 15:15)

In Christ, I am … chosen and appointed to bear fruit (John 15:16)

In Christ, I am … resurrected to new life (Rom. 6:5)

In Christ, I am … a slave of righteousness (Rom. 6:18)

In Christ, I am … enslaved to God (Rom. 6:22)

In Christ, I am … a son of God (Rom. 8:14)

In Christ, I am … a joint heir with Christ, sharing His inheritance (Rom. 8:17)

In Christ, I am … the dwelling place of God (1 Cor. 6:19)

In Christ, I am … united to the Lord (1 Cor. 6:19)

In Christ, I am … a member of Christ’s body (1 Cor. 12:27)

In Christ, I am … what I am, by God’s grace (1 Cor. 15:10)

In Christ, I am … a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17)

In Christ, I am … reconciled to God (2 Cor. 5:18-19)

In Christ, I am … the seed of Abraham (Gal. 3:29)

In Christ, I am … a saint (Eph. 1:1)

In Christ, I am … an heir of God since I am a son of God (Gal. 4:6-7)

In Christ, I am … blessed with every spiritual blessing (Eph. 1:3)

In Christ, I am … God’s workmanship, made to do good works (Eph. 2:10)

In Christ, I am … a fellow citizen of God’s family (Eph. 2:11)

In Christ, I am … a prisoner of Christ (Eph. 4:1)

In Christ, I am … righteous and holy (Eph. 4:24)

In Christ, I am … a citizen of heaven (Phil. 3:20)

In Christ, I am … hidden with Christ in God (Col. 3:3)

In Christ, I am … an expression of the life of Christ (Col. 3:4)

In Christ, I am … I am chosen of God, holy and dearly loved (Col. 3:12)

In Christ, I am … a child of light and not of darkness (1 Thess. 5:5)

In Christ, I am … an heir to eternal life (Titus 3:7)

In Christ, I am … a holy partaker of a heavenly calling (Heb. 3:1)

In Christ, I am … one of God’s living stones (1 Pet. 2:5)

In Christ, I am … a member of a chosen race, a holy nation (1 Pet. 2:9)

In Christ, I am … a priest (1 Pet. 2:9-10)

In Christ, I am … an alien and stranger to the world I live in (1 Pet. 2:11)

In Christ, I am … an enemy of the Devil (1 Pet. 5:8)

In Christ, I am … born of God and the Devil cannot touch me (1 John 5:18)

In Christ, I am … participating in the divine nature (2 Pet. 1:3)

“he IS”

It is moving Jesus to the front of the list.

Blaise pascal - not only do we know God through Jesus Christ but we also know ourselves through Jesus Christ

18 All this is from God,

Your identity is RECEIVED not ACHIEVED

Illust - adoption

who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

We are all together different.

“Identity is the question of our age. It is also the root of many of our conflicts.”

— J. Brian Tucker and John Koessler, “All Together Different.”

Substitute “gospel” for reconciliation

God took the initiative to fix the relationship by sending Jesus.

Reconciled us - who is the ‘us?’ - the church

to himself - how? through the gospel.

What we need is not racial reconciliation but gospel reconciliation.

When we have gospel reconciliation, (reconciliation in our relationship to God) reconciliation between anyone else is made possible.

Why? because the blank is filled, we share an identity in Christ.

Galatians 3:28 ESV

28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Because of this, the church, in one sense, does not work toward racial (or any other) reconciliation — we live out the reconciliation that Christ has already accomplished.

Gave us (plural) two things: (both singular)

Ministry of reconciliation (the gospel)

ministry = service (διακονίαν)

what does it mean

It means to live out the reconciliation.

In what ways do you judge people based on the labels, identities?

Message of reconciliation

message (singular)

Being in Christ is not a point of intersection but a point of supercession over every other idea.

Tribal conflicts in the church happen when one group in the church sets their preferences against another.

1 Corinthians 3:4 ESV

4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human?

1 Timothy 4:12 ESV

12 Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.

Acts 10 - racial gaps.

This is living according to the world’s definition of identity.

Christians today:

ILLUST - Bourne Identity

In the Bourne Identity, Matt Damon plays Jason Bourne—a CIA agent who has suffered amnesia and is trying to figure out just who exactly he is. The fundamentals of his journey are not too different than our own.

In the mountains of Switzerland, Jason has hitched a ride to Germany with a young woman named Marie. He's running from the police—but he's not even sure why. He tries to keep quiet about his situation until the frustration overwhelms him. Finally, in response to her asking a simple question, he turns to her and says desperately, "I don't know who I am or where I am going."

At a truck stop along the snowy highway, Bourne starts to recount what little he knows about himself to her, reaching for clues to who he is.

Bourne asks, "Who has a safety deposit box full of…money and six passports and a gun? I come in here, and the first thing I'm doing is I'm looking for an exit."

"I see the exit sign, too, but I'm not worried," says Marie.

Bourne replies with increased desperation. "I can tell you the license plate numbers of all six cars outside. I can tell you that our waitress is left-handed and the guy sitting up at the counter weighs 215 pounds and knows how to handle himself. I know the best place to look for a gun is the cab of the gray truck outside, and at this altitude, I can run flat out for a half mile before my hands start shaking. Now why would I know that? How can I know that and not know who I am?

Your identity drives your purpose.

Who you are informs what you do.

20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us.

Who you are informs what you do.

Ex. Job - mechanic

Gangs -

Family

We are ambassadors (directly tied to identity)

ambassador - identifies with _____ in order to represent _____.

Ex. ambassador

This is where identity and image intersect.

This is how we can all be in different stages of life, different genders, places and spaces and spheres of influence and all share not only a common identity but a common purpose.

Westminster catechism sums it up nicely,

Q. 1. What is the chief end of man? A. Man’s chief end is to glorify God,1 and to enjoy him forever.2

Who you are (in Christ) informs what you do (for His glory).

Because we are in Christ we live Christ-first in every role and relationship.

When we all have Jesus-first, we share a common identity and our differences actually become gifts.

Before we get angry at the world, we need to ask, “Have we shown them an alternative?”

We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

Paul bleeds Jesus. Even in writing a letter to the church he makes the plea that anyone who may be hearing the letter as it is read to be reconciled to God through Jesus.

Paul wants everyone to know the gospel, and he mentions it at every opportunity he gets.

Conclusion

Without Christ first, I live with a blank in my identity:

In your role and in your relationships (i.e., in the labels that follow “Christian”) what does it look like to be live it out Jesus-first? How will it be different from the world? Jesus-first man

Jesus-first woman

Jesus-first husband

Jesus-first wife

Jesus-first young adult

Jesus-first single

Jesus-first widow / widower

Jesus-first senior