WARNING PREACHY …
Considering identity.
Who are you: do you know? Many people may not. Identity is not just a matter of designation
(i.e. your name), but it is a matter of what you are (the essence of your being). Because
of this, your identity is more of a spiritual aspect of who we are than a physical
one[1]. And because of this, when we have a wrong understanding
of our own spiritual identities, we can experience many malfunctions in our
physical lives.
Follow me here.
If all my life I am told by
people that I am ugly, worthless, and good for nothing, does that make it
so? If my parents withheld love from me
(which was not the case) does that mean I am unlovable? If the devil whispers in my ear that I am no
good and that God is angry at me because I have broken all of the 10
Commandments (twice), does that mean that I am no good and that God desires my
destruction? No, whether we believe
something to be true or not does not make it so. The only thing that matters is what is true,
and our faith in that.
The Truth will set you free.
30 Even as he spoke, many believed in him. 31 To the Jews who had
believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then
you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:30-32)
The Jews were held captive by
the Law. They believed that if they
followed the 10 Commandments, and the religious duties of the Jewish religious system,
that God would be happy with them. All
of their lives they were taught the Jewish religious system, and when Jesus came on the scene,
proclaiming a grace that came from God alone, many would not hear of it. Unfortunately, the Jewish story is actually so often
the reality of us all. Too many of us
are held hostage by the wrong narratives in our own heads brought about by often well intentioned people who were dead wrong.
Your Identity.
So who are you?
As for you, you were dead in your
transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live
when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the
air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among
them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts.
Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great
love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead
in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with
Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,
7 in order that in the
coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in
his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through
faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one
can boast. 10 For
we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God
prepared in advance for us to do.
(Ephesians 2:1-10)
Here is the truth of who YOU
ARE. You have been died for, forgiven,
and redeemed. This is the truth, if you
will believe it. You are not all those
other things that this world has convinced you of, but you are loved by the resurrected Jesus. And so I
leave you with these parting words of Him who looked upon a woman accused of the great sin of adultery
in Israel.
10 Jesus
stood up and said to her, “Woman,
where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
11 She said, “No one,
Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go,
and from now on sin no more.” (John 8:10-11)
And so you see my friends, I don’t
know what lies are running in your heads, but if you do not know that you are a
redeemed child of the living God, you are living in a lie and being robbed while suffering in your
flesh for lack of the truth. You may
indeed have had a thousand lying words that was stuck into your soul over the
years, but I want to tell you just one simple and powerful truth - you are redeemed and loved by our Holy and
magnificent Savior Jesus Christ.
And if you will believe it, you will be free indeed.
And if you will believe it, you will be free indeed.
17 Therefore,
if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold,
the new has come. (2 Corinthians
5:17)
Thankful
ReplyDelete