1 Peter 2:1-10 - Confident Identity

Introduction:

As many of you know, I love superhero movies. I love the idea of looking like a normal everyday person and having superpowers. But the interesting things about superheroes, other than they aren’t actually real, is that they don’t really wear a mask to conceal their identity. It’s when they are taking off their mask that they conceal their identity. Because their true identity is their mask and who they are when they wear it. Their true identity is their superhero alter ego. That’s when they stand out and lean into their identity.

They take off the mask to fit in. Spiderman is not a high school kid named Peter Parker who’s good at math and science, but a powerful superhuman being than can swing from the rooftops and catch 4500 lb. cars and rescue people from sudden death. Peter Parker’s true identity is that he is Spiderman.

Tony Stark and Bruce Wayne aren’t eccentric billionaires but actually Ironman and Batman. When they are doing their superhero thing is when they are being their true self.

They take of the mask to hide their identity because then they are regular everyday people. But even when they look like everyone else, they never forget who they are.

In Captain America civil war when Tony Stark is trying to convince Peter to come to German to fight against Captain America and the Avengers Tony thinks have gone rogue, he asks Peter why he does the things he does. Peter’s response is telling, “when you can do the things I can, but you don’t, and then the bad things happen, they happen because of you.” That’s a lot of weight for a 15 year old kid, but it’s true, you have a responsibility to be the person you are meant to be.

And this may seem like a lot, but as Christians we have a responsibility to be the people God has called us to be. We have a responsibility use the power of the Holy Spirit to share the Gospel and warn people of the coming Day of Judgement. We also get to make a difference by feeding the hungry, giving water to the thirsty, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and imprisoned.

Who we are is tied to what are supposed to do, so we can’t afford to hide our identity and blend in.

We have to lean into our confident identity as people who have power beyond measure, because we have the Spirit beyond measure!

Transition to the Text: Turn with me in your Bibles to 1 Peter 2. Again, 1 Peter is written to encourage people who are facing tough times. And as we’ve already seen, we are called to remember what Jesus has done for us on the cross and to be holy in the midst of our hardships. Today we look to our identity; our true identity, and how by confidently leaning into that identity we will be encouraged and challenged to live lives that reflect Jesus to the world.

Introduce:

Big Idea: Lean into your confident identity.

Read:

1 Peter 2:1–10 (ESV)

1 So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. 2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. 4 As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For it stands in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” 7 So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” 8 and “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. 9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Big Idea: Lean into your comfident identity.

Transition: Whenever we face tough times, our confidence in who we are is tested. It’s during these times that our we might be tempted to be someone we aren’t.

The first thing Peter warns us about is:

1. Stop trying to be someone you’re not. (1 Peter 2:1-3)

Explanation: Peter starts out this chapter with a call to put some stuff away that are getting in the way of your identity.

Peter says to put away Malice and deceit and hypocrisy and envy and slander. Each of these things not only get in the way of your identity, but over time they actually can become your identity.

First Peter says to put aside malice. Think about the person who is full rage and malice. They are are always angry. They are people who have to get even with those who harm them even unintentionally. They are the ones that can’t ever let anything go, ever. And over time, they become “the angry person.” But no one starts out like that. It’s an identity that builds over time. Maybe it started with an angry response to one inconvenience. Or maybe it was a lifetime of abuse. Peter is saying, “put it away.” We might say, “let it go.” That is not who you are.

Peter says to put aside all deceit and hypocrisy. This goes with trying to convince people that you are someone you are not. For many of those people Peter was writing to, many were Jews who had become Christians. And they were facing tough times because of their identity in Jesus. So he states, don’t lie about who you are. Don’t pretend to be a Jew when you’re really a Christian. Be open and honest about it. Peter knew a thing or two about this as before Jesus was crucified, given the opportunity to lean into his identity as a follower of Jesus, Peter denied Jesus three times. And he didn’t want them to have that same regret.

A comical example of this occurs in Esther. If you know the story, Haman wanted to destroy the Jewish people. Mordecai and Esther did everything they could to save their people. And the key to saving their people was for Esther to stop hiding who she really was and to reveal her identity as a Jew. When Esther leaned into her identity as a Jew, she pleaded with the king for her life and the The king loved her and allowed the Jewish people to defend themselves against their enemies. And listen to what happens:

Esther 8:17 ESV

17 And in every province and in every city, wherever the king’s command and his edict reached, there was gladness and joy among the Jews, a feast and a holiday. And many from the peoples of the country declared themselves Jews, for fear of the Jews had fallen on them.

Oh how the tables had turned! But think about it, if you are always trying to be someone you’re not, you really end up with no identity.

Peter says to put aside envy. Envy is desiring someone else’s life and identity rather than living content and confident in your own. Envy can lead you into despair because you don’t have that life someone else has. It can lead you to wonder why God allows the evil person to prosper while His own children suffer. Jeremiah understood this.

Jeremiah 12:1 ESV

1 Righteous are you, O Lord, when I complain to you; yet I would plead my case before you. Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all who are treacherous thrive?

Don’t be envious of anyone even when they seem to be prospering. This earth may be the only heaven those people ever know. For those in Christ, this earth will be the only Hell we ever know. Trust in who God created you to be.

And lastly put aside slander. Slander is putting down someone else’s identity. Slander is typically saying something about someone else that isn’t true in order to tear them down. And this usually happens when we are hoping, that by tearing someone down, we’ll look better. Ironically this doesn’t typically work out. We just become a slanderer.

Application: Be who God created you to be. Trust in His goodness and grace. Don’t look at other people’s lives with longing to be like them.

Or as Dr. Seuss once wrote: Today you are you, that’s truer than true, there is no one alive who is youer than you.

So be that person with all your flaws and imperfections knowing that God accepts you for them all. But allow God to change you and help you to grow.

But still the question arises, who are you? Where will you find your identity.

2. Find your identity in Jesus. (1 Peter 2:4-8)

Explanation: There are a lot of places to find your identity. You can find your identity in your career, you spouse, your kids, your bank account, your achievements. You can even find your identity in your sin or even your pain.

But you were made for so much more than that.

Peter invites us to consider whether or not we actually in Jesus. He invites us to see whether or not we have tasted and seen that that the Lord is good. And lest we think that being a Christian is a means to fame and fortune, then He reminds us of who Jesus is. Jesus was rejected by men. So if Jesus was rejected, we should not be surprised when we are rejected by people either.

But Jesus who was rejected by men, was accepted by God. And the same is true of us, when we are rejected by the world, we are also accepted by God when we are in Jesus because of what He has done for us.

This is what Jesus meant in Matthew 24:9

Matthew 24:9 ESV

9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake.

Part of our identity in Jesus is to be rejected by the world. This is one of the reasons why a good way to tell if you are in Jesus or not is to look at how well you fit in the world. If you really fit in the world, that’s a major red flag.

James 4:4 ESV

4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

But your identity in Christ connects you to something bigger.

You are being built up into a spiritual house. We are a holy priesthood. We no longer require a priest to be an intermediary between us and God. We are welcome to come as we are because of what Jesus did on the cross.

However, the place where we find our true identity is a great stumbling block for those who don’t. They will think it silly to find your identity in Jesus.

There are really only 2 options. You’re either in Christ or you aren’t. There is no in between.

Illustration: In sports, we often talk about the flakiness of fair weather fans. When their team is doing well, they are a fan. When their team isn’t doing well, they could care less.

In Christianity, there is no room for a fair weather Christian. No matter the circumstances, Jesus wants you compete allegiance.

Application: There are many things in which to find your identity, but only one identity will last. So no matter what happens in your life, lean confidently into your identity as a child of God. And if you aren’t a Christian, maybe it’s time to answer the call to embrace Jesus as Lord and Savior. Maybe its time to find an identity worth living for.

Because you were made for so much more than you can possibly imagine.

And Jesus died on the cross so that each of us who put our faith in him would become a part of something bigger than themselves.

3. Be a part of something bigger than yourself. (1 Peter 2:9-10)

Explanation: God’s ways are not our ways. God’s thoughts are not our thoughts. To many of us, God’s ways don’t make sense, because it’s not the way that we would have done it.

It’s hard for us to accept that Jesus’ rejection was all part of the plan. It’s hard to accept that there were those who were destined to disobey God and that was part of God’s plan as well.

But all of this was to create something new: the Church. Before Jesus, the only way to come to God was to become Jewish. But Jesus opened the way for all people from every tongue tribe and nation to become the Church.

Peter tells us that:

We are chosen by God. Which means our acceptance is not based on anything we have done to earn it.

We are a royal priesthood that is welcome in His presence any place any time. We are no longer bound even by worshipping God in Jerusalem. But you may enter boldly into the presence of God in your car or in the shower as well as in the assembled body of believers.

We are a people for his own possession. Paul told the elders of Ephesus in Acts 20:28

Acts 20:28 ESV

28 Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.

And it was for a purpose: together, through the church, we proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

Verse 10 speaks to the newness of the church. Once we were not a people, but we have received mercy to be called into something bigger than ourselves.

For those Peter was writing to, in the midst of tough times, it would have been really easily to neglect gathering as the church. While there are strength in numbers, a group is a pretty big target. It’s risky to gather.

Illustration: There are times in life, where we know we are part of something special.

I would never wish for 9/11, but 9/12 was a cool experience. It was a day where we put aside our differences and united as Americans, not in vengeance but in solidarity. We supported one another as a nation. We had each other’s back.

We were united if only for a little while.

Now I’m going to be honest, last Sunday I had a milestone. I was at my last church for 2,331 days. Last Sunday was my 2,332nd day at North Hills. I’ve been here longer than I’ve been anywhere else. I have to admit, I know that I am a part of something special here at North Hills. There is a love and unity at North Hills that I haven’t experienced anywhere else. As we begin this new ministry year, I’m excited for what God is going to do, because I’m confident that I get to be a part of something truly special.

Application: As Christians we need to be united in our identity as followers of Jesus. We need to be united as a church, especially a local church like North Hills where we get to love and care for one another. Jesus bought for us this identity with His blood so that we can be a part of something bigger than ourselves.

But make sure that you are a part of it.

Look to cross, repent of your sins as you acknowledge what Jesus has done as the only solution for your sin.

Find your hope, your peace, your joy, and your strength as a part of God’s Family.

Lean into your confident identity as one accepted by God.

Response: Are you living in light of your confident identity?

Summation:

Big Idea: Lean into your SURE IDENTITY.

1. STOP trying to be someone you’re NOT. (1 Peter 2:1-3)

2. FIND your identity in JESUS. (1 Peter 2:4-8)

3. Be a PART of something bigger than YOURSELF. (1 Peter 2:9-10)

Conclusion:

One of my favorite movies is the Lion King. There is a great moment in the movie the lion king where Mufasa appears to Simba in a cloud. Simba had been living the good life of ease. He had put his past problems behind him. And then everything gets messed up when Mufasa appears to him in a cloud. Mufasa says, you have forgotten me. Simba says he would never forget his father.

Mufasa says, “you have forgotten who you are and thus forgotten me.” That’s a powerful statement.

The same is true of us and God. We forget God when we forget who we are. Because we can only forget who we are when we forget the price it cost Jesus on the cross.

We forget who we are when we try to be who the world wants us to be. We forget who we are when we try to conform to the world’s standards for acceptance. Maybe we hide our Christianity because there have been others who have sullied the name of Jesus.

We forget who we are when we seek our identity in things other than Jesus: a career a relationship, money, power and fame.

And we forget who we are when we fail to join together with God’s people as the church, even if we have been hurt by a church. Find a church that is a family and community. But one more thing, you may be hurt by a church when they hold you accountable and convict you of your sin. That’s not abuse, taht’s

Today there is a great need for Christians to stand confidently in their identity as the people of God. We must proclaim God’s excellencies, even when it’s not popular and sometimes even when it doesn’t make sense.

Remember who you are and if you haven’t already, find your identity in Jesus.

Let’s pray.

Week 3 of 2022 Summer Sermon Series: Unshakeable: Sure Identity (1 Peter 2:1-10)

Big Idea: Lean into your SURE IDENTITY.

1. STOP trying to be someone you’re NOT. (1 Peter 2:1-3)

2. FIND your identity in JESUS. (1 Peter 2:4-8)

3. Be a PART of something bigger than YOURSELF. (1 Peter 2:9-10)

Response: Are you LIVING in light of your sure IDENTITY?

Opening Discussion:

What the difference between being trying to grow as a person and trying to be who other people want you to be?

Sermon:

How does malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy and all slander get in the way of identity? What’s the alternative?

What does Peter mean by the comparison between our identity in Christ and the need to be like an infant?

What is the result of our association with Jesus? What does it mean to be “a spiritual house” and “a holy priesthood?” What does this have to do with our identity?

How does Christ’s identity impact our own identity?

According to Peter, what is the purpose of our identity?

What does it mean that we were once not a people? How do we gain our identity in Christ?

Application:

Have you ever tried to be someone you're not? What is that like?

From where do you gain your identity?

How does your relationship with Jesus impact your own identity?

Have you been changed by Jesus’ identity? How? What’s different about you because of Jesus?

How should your new identity impact the way you live your life?

How can you start living our your sure identify in Christ starting today?