Your Spiritual Identity (#4)

1 Corinthians 6:15-20

Who are you? Ask that question to most Christians and their responses will probably sound something like this...

• “I’m a carpenter and have spent most of my life building houses.”
• “I’m a failure because I couldn’t keep my marriage together, even though I tried with all my heart.”
• “I’m a little girl who grew up on a dirt street on the other side of the railroad tracks. We were just poor people with nothing to our names.”
• “I’m an addict that keeps relapsing into the same destructive patterns that keep me enslaved.”
• “I’m a successful business man/woman that built my business from the ground up.”

Our identity shouldn’t primarily be related to something we do, have been told by others, or some difficult personal trial we’ve faced. The tendency to define ourselves in terms of our vocation or some particularly formative or emotional life experience is a grave mistake for the believer in Christ.

It’s not the type of work we do or the successes we achieve that tell who we really are. Nor are our failures or struggles in life the right representation of us as believers. As followers of Christ, our identity should be found in our union with Him. We aren’t what’s been done to us or even what we do daily. We are what Christ has already done for us and declared us to be. God wants who we are in Christ (our spiritual identity) to determine what we do and how we live.

Satan has deceived us into living by the visible (life experiences/accomplishments/failures/etc.), rather than the invisible qualities of being “in Christ.” When we become dominated by the visible (life experiences/accomplishments/failures/etc.), our attraction to it becomes just another form of addiction. We end up living according to the visible more than the invisible things that God has made us to be. We value all the wrong things in life. Consequently, our faith is frustrated and we fail to experience the abundant life God intended for us!

When asked the question, “Who am I?,” the best answer is to explain who we are related to our position in Jesus Christ. We are saints, new creations in Christ Jesus, people that have been born from above with a supernatural life within us.

But, we’re even more than that. We are also the temple of the Holy Spirit.

“Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For “the two,” He says, “shall become one flesh.” But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him. Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” (1 Corinthians 6:15-20)

Paul makes a similar statement in 1 Corinthians 3:16-17, but there he is specifically speaking of the church collectively as God’s temple (plural pronouns). In this passage he explains that each individual believer is the dwelling place of God the Holy Spirit.

To understand the significance of this declaration you have to understand the functioning of the OT Temple and the most sacred place in it, the Holy of Holies. To get a picture of this inner sanctuary where the presence of God resided, you have to turn to Leviticus 16 where we are told about the only day of the year when the High Priest was allowed into that inner sanctum. It is called the Day of Atonement and there were strict rules that governed that day’s activities.

Instead of reading Leviticus 16, let me give you a summary of the instructions given by God to the High Priest about his approach to the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement.

It begins with...
(1) Aaron (High Priest at the time this was given by God) taking off his normal priestly garments, washing, and then putting on special linen garments prescribed for the sacrifices which ultimately took him into the holy of holies (v. 4; cf. Exod. 28; 39 ).

(2) He then secured the necessary sacrificial animals: a bull for his own sin offering and two male goats for the people’s sin offering; two rams, one for Aaron’s and the other for the people’s burnt offering (vv. 3, 5).

(3) He slaughtered the bull for his own sin offering (vv. 6, 11).

(4) Entering into the Holy of Holies with the blood of the bull, he created a “cloud” of incense in the Holy of Holies to “veil” the glory of God covering the mercy seat so that he could enter, thus sparing his life (vv. 12-13).

(5) He then took some of the blood of the bull and sprinkled it on the mercy seat seven times (v. 14).

(6) Lots were then cast for the two goats, to determine which would be slaughtered and which would be driven away...called the scapegoat (vv. 7-8).

(7) The goat for slaughter, the one for the people’s sin offering, was sacrificed, and its blood was taken into the Holy of Holies and applied to the mercy seat, in a similar fashion to the bull’s blood earlier (v. 15).

(8) Cleansing was then made for the holy place (v. 16), seemingly by the sprinkling of the blood of both the bull and the goat. The atonement of the holy place is done alone, without anyone present to help, or to watch (v. 17).

(9) Next, outside the tent, he made atonement for the altar of burnt offering using (it seems) the blood of both the bull and the goat (vv. 18-19). There is a difference of opinion as to whether the “altar” in verse 18 is the altar of incense inside the veil or the altar of burnt offering outside. Some argue forcefully for the latter, which is my opinion also: “(1) The term ‘altar’ in verse 20 must clearly refer to the altar of burnt offering, yet it would have no previous reference apart from verses 18 and 19. (2) Verses 20 and 33 speak of atonement for the ‘Holy Place,’ the ‘Tent of Meeting,’ and the ‘altar.’ Since the ‘altar of incense’ is a part of the ‘Tent of Meeting’ there is no need to specify it, while there would be a need to specify the altar of burnt offering, outside the tent.” A. Noordtzij, Leviticus, trans. by Raymond Togtman (Grand Rapids: Regency Reference Library, Zondervan Publishing House, 1982, pp. 167-168.

(10) Then the second goat that was kept alive had the sins of the nation symbolically laid on its head, and was driven from the camp to a desolate place, from which it must never return (vv. 20-22).

(11) Aaron then entered the tent of meeting, removed his linen garments, washed, and put on his normal priestly garments.

(12) Following his change of clothes into his normal priestly garments, he sacrificed the burnt offerings of rams, one for himself and his family...the other for the people (v. 24).

(13) The final details of the earlier sacrifices (the bull and goat) were completed. The fat of the sin offering was burned on the altar (v. 25), and the remains of the bull and the goat were taken outside the camp, where they were burned (v. 27).

(14) Those who had been rendered unclean by handling the animals on which the sins of Aaron or the people were laid were to wash themselves and then return to camp (vv. 26, 28).

There is also a legend about this day that says whenever the High Priest would enter into the Holy of Holies a scarlet rope would be tied around him so that he could be pulled from that inner sanctuary if he died in the presence of the Lord.

Dr. W.E. Nunnally writes about this legend, “The rope on the high priest legend is just that: a legend. It has obscure beginnings in the Middle Ages and keeps getting repeated. It cannot be found anywhere in the Bible, the Apocrypha , the Dead Sea Scrolls, Josephus, the Pseudepigrapha, the Talmud, Mishna, or any other Jewish source. It just is not there.” (Dr. W.E. Nunnally is Associate Professor of Early Judaism and Christian Origins at Central Bible College and Adjunct Professor of Hebrew at the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary.)

In addition, it is highly unlikely that you would have been able to drag the High Priest out, even if he died in the Holy of Holies. The curtains of the temple were designed such that it would make it nearly impossible to do so. Some people say that the veil that separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies was made using layers of cloth possibly reaching three feet in thickness (The Talmud says it was 4 inches thick...still too great for a human to tear). The curtains probably overlapped in such a fashion so as to create a maze-like effect through which the priest would enter and exit the Holy of Holies in the NT Temple.

If you also take into account the fact that the High Priest didn’t wear his normal garments (16:4, 23-24) that included alternating bells and pomegranates along the hem of the garment so that you could hear whether he was moving and alive, the argument for the use of this rope grows even weaker.

There is no factual or biblical evidence that this practice actually occurred, but I think the legend may have grown in the minds of some people because the Holy of Holies was the most sacred place on earth. Entering the presence of the Lord was not something to be taken lightly or carelessly.

On a November night in 2009 a sophisticated looking couple by the names of Michaele and Tareq Salahi, sneaked into a White House dinner honoring the Prime Minister of India. Following the event Michaele Salahi posted pictures on her Facebook page of the couple with Vice President Joe Biden, chief of staff (at the time) Rahm Emanuel, Washington Mayor Adrian Fenty, CBS News anchor Katie Couric, Rep. Ed Royce, and three Marines in their dress blues.

Most of us remember hearing about the incident and the embarrassment it caused the White House staff and Secret Service. Apparently, no one was in any real danger, but these White House party crashers quickly learned the consequences of their actions.

There was no one in Israel’s recorded history that ever decided one night to sneak into (“crash”) the Temple to do some exploring and get a few minutes with one of the Priests.

Even more significant is the fact that no ordinary citizen of Israel ever dared enter the Holy Place, let alone the Holy of Holies. Why not? Because God was in there! To do so would have been an immediate death sentence.

I imagine that even the High Priest prepared for days in advance for the rituals of this holy day. He would have been prayed-up, read-up, and studied-up on every detail of his approach to God.

The significance of all this is that mankind could not come close to God (the symbolism of the Temple curtain) in the OT and only those prescribed to be intermediaries (High Priest & priests) could represent God to man and man to God.

Stop for a moment and consider what Jesus did in His death on Calvary to this Temple curtain.

And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split... (Matthew 27:50-51)

The death of Jesus opened the way for men to approach God because once for all, Jesus paid the penalty of mankind’s sin in full on Calvary.

...then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.” He takes away the first that He may establish the second. By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. (Hebrews 10:9-14)

Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:14-16)

There are no more barriers keeping you from being reconciled to God. Jesus will make you a new creation, forgive your sins, make you His child, give you life from above, impart the presence of the Holy Spirit into your life, if you’ll only come to Him and trust Him as your Savior.

Now, here’s an incredible truth about who you are in Christ Jesus. Since you trusted Jesus you are now “the temple of the Holy Spirit.” That’s what Paul was saying in 1 Corinthians 6:15-20. Everywhere you go, He goes! Think of it this way...after you finish your morning coffee and head out the door to your day’s assignments, you are God’s “sacred mobile home” everywhere you go. I’ll bet you that will affect the way you live your life each day!

You might not feel as if He’s always at home in you or that He’s entirely happy with all He finds in His new dwelling place. But, the scripture is clear that each and every believer is His new Holy of Holies in which He dwells.

In other words, He has made you an excellent place in which to live. “He that has ears to hear let him hear...” If you are a child of God through faith in His Son, the Temple where God lives today is listening to this message right now. That means God has made you compatible with His presence. I know, I know! That’s hard to get your mind around, but it’s biblical truth, nevertheless.

If you’ve ever worked with computers you know how frustrating it is to find out that something you already own is INCOMPATIBLE with your new hardware. You can tinker with it and try to make it work, but it’s never right or able to do what it’s supposed to do. God didn’t just tinker with the old hardware of your life to force it to be compatible with His holy presence. He totally replaced the old hardware with new components that will always be up-to-date and never need replacing again. He made you holy in your standing before God so that practical holiness could be worked out in your life.

Listen to some additional scriptures that teach that each of God’s children are His holy dwelling place.

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)

I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God, the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:24-27)

What we have to do is what God taught Peter to do. We have to stop calling unclean what God has called clean! Peter was given a dream filled with non-kosher creatures, which he refused to eat. God quickly corrected him and said, “...What God has cleansed you must not call common.” (Acts 10:15) Regardless of your attitude, look, or actions, if you are God’s child you have been cleansed and made compatible with the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.

Satan doesn’t want you to believe God’s description of you. He only wants you to see your failures, struggles, and shortcomings. If you believe those things define who you really are then you will become fixated and fascinated with something other than God!! Don’t let him cheat you out of your spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus!

Your Spiritual Identity (#3)

John 3:1-16

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. (Romans 12:2 NLT)

Sometimes we allow our spiritual identity to be stolen or masked by shame or memories from our past. We wear labels like...I’m too tall, I’m too short, I’m too fat, I’m too skinny, I’m too ugly. Or, I feel like a loser or a lost cause. Even though we’re converted to Christ we continue to think of ourselves as addicts, drunks, thieves, liars, and cheaters. In essence, we fail to embrace the benefits of our spiritual inheritance and identity in Christ.

Bob George has written a book entitled, Classic Christianity, which includes an illustration that can help us understand how knowing our spiritual identity can change our lives.

He writes, “Let’s imagine that a king made a decree in his land that there would be a blanket pardon extended to all prostitutes. Would that be good news to you if you were a prostitute? Of course it would,” he says. “No longer would you have to live in hiding, fearing the sheriff. No longer would you have a criminal record; all past offenses are wiped off the books. So the pardon would definitely be good news. But would it be any motivation at all for you to change your lifestyle? No, not a bit.”

He continues, “Let’s say that not only is a blanket pardon extended to all who have practiced prostitution, but the king has asked you, in particular, to become his bride. What happens when a prostitute marries a king? She becomes a queen. Now would you have a reason for a change of lifestyle? Absolutely.” (Bob George, Classic Christianity: Life’s Too Short to Miss the Real Thing [Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 1989], p. 71-72).

The point is that preaching forgiveness without also explaining a Christian’s new spiritual identity won’t help him change the way he is living.

It’s important to note that in scripture the indicatives always precede the imperatives. Indicatives show a truth we must know. Imperatives are commands we must obey. And, too often we get them reversed.

Consider an example of how devastating it can be to reverse the order of these two things.

Suppose a parent sees his son hitting his sister. If the parent  follows the biblical pattern of indicatives before imperatives, he will say something like, “Son, as a member of our family I cannot allow you to continue this behavior. I love you too much to let you keep hitting your sister. You must stop now.” Since he is a member of the family (indicative---his identity), he must not behave in such a destructive manner (imperative---his obedience). The reverse approach would go something like this, “If you want me to love you and allow you to stay in this family, then you better quit hitting your sister!” This approach, however, makes both love and identity conditional and contingent on proper behavior, which can easily lead to legalism.

When God deals with His children it’s according to their identity first (indicatives)...out of which He expects their obedience to flow (imperatives).  

I love the way Theologian J.I. Packer puts it. He writes, “When a Christian sins he is momentarily suffering from an identity crisis.” (J.I. Packer, Knowing God Through the Year [Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 2004], p. 221).

Exposition of John 3:1-16...."born again." 

We have been “born again” or “born from above.” We are not of this world alone. Our natural birth has been overcome by a supernatural birth. The first birth was of this world, but the second is of another world. Satan doesn’t want you to believe what God says about you! You are a child of the Living God!

Illustration: Dealing with the misuse of terms...“The January 21, 1980 issue of Forbes magazine carried a feature article entitled ‘Born-again Companies,’ describing businesses that were experiencing new prosperity. The Los Angeles Times has also printed an article on the sports page captioned ‘The Steeler Who Was Born Again,’ about a player who had made a comeback. And the Chicago Tribune once told about a starlet who was changing her image so she could become the sex symbol of the eighties. It mentioned incidentally that she was born again...” (Hughes, R. K., John: That you may believe [Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1999], pg 73–74).

Quote: Author D.A. Carson writes, “Predominant religious thought in Jesus’ day affirmed that all Jews would be admitted to that kingdom apart from those guilty of deliberate apostasy or extraordinary wickedness (e.g. Mishnah Sanhedrin 10:1). But here was Jesus telling Nicodemus, a respected and conscientious member not only of Israel but of the Sanhedrin, that he cannot enter the kingdom unless he is born again.” (Carson, D. A. (1991), The Gospel according to John. The Pillar New Testament Commentary [Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; W.B. Eerdmans, 1991], p. 189).

Quote (John 3:3): The scholar R.C.H. Lenski wrote, “Jesus’ word regarding the new birth shatters once for all every supposed excellence of man’s attainment, all merit of human deeds, all prerogatives of natural birth or station. Spiritual birth is something one undergoes not something he produces. As our efforts had nothing to do with our natural conception and birth, so, in an analogous way but on a far higher plane, regeneration is not a work of ours. What a blow for Nicodemus! His being a Jew gave him no part in the kingdom; his being a Pharisee, esteemed holier than other people, availed him nothing; his membership in the Sanhedrin and his fame as one of its scribes went for nought. This Rabbi from Galilee calmly tells him that he is not yet in the kingdom! All on which he had built his hopes throughout a long arduous life here sank into ruin and became a little worthless heap of ashes. Unless he attains this mysterious new birth, even he shall not ‘see’ (ἰδεῖν) the kingdom, i.e., have an experience of it...” (Lenski, R. C. H. (1961), The interpretation of St. John’s gospel, [Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Publishing House, 1961], p. 234–235).

Closing Illustration: Her name is Sheila and she never heard her mother say, “I love you.” As a child she learned how to put in stitches because her mom brutally beat her dad (yep...her mom beat her dad). When she was fifteen her house burned to the ground with her mom inside. Because her mother never said anything nice to her it shaped her emotionally in some devastating ways. She started drinking alcohol at seven years of age. Sometimes she drank until she was sick just to mask her pain. By the age of ten, she was addicted to a list of drugs. She had her first child when she was just twelve years old. Her daily life was filled with promiscuity, drugs and other destructive behavior. She eventually married a drug abuser, neglected her children, and was in and out of the prison system on several occasions.

During one of her incarcerations she decided to go to the prison church service primarily because she liked the sound of the music she heard. She said the ladies there seemed happy, peaceful and they treated her nicely. It was the first time she had ever felt kindness shown toward her. After nineteen months she was paroled and was able to stay clean for awhile. But, after trying some Bible studies and different religious groups she gave up and went back to her old way of life. That only made her hate herself all the more and though she had heard about God’s forgiveness she never embraced the new identity Christ was offering her.

It didn’t take long, after returning to her old ways of life, to end up back in jail where she started to church again. This time there were some Christian women that shared the same cell with her. When she asked them about their joy and peace they kept bringing the conversation back to Jesus Christ. God put other women in Sheila’s life that had been changed and they kept telling her that God loved her unconditionally. During one of these conversations at the Florence McClure Women’s Correctional Center, Sheila received Christ as her Savior and for the first time she had a new identity in Christ that gave her hope.

Over the following months God continued to shape and change her a little bit at a time. She went from being a person who didn’t care about anything or anybody to being someone who showed others true compassion. God took away her shame and self-hate, as she embraced her new Christ-centered identity.

Today, Sheila is no longer in a prison: physically or spiritually. She serves in a local church, using her experiences to help others find hope in Jesus Christ. She is contributing positively to her community as a good citizen. And, she’s discovering daily what it means to live according to her new identity in Jesus Christ.

10 Things You Can Do to Make Your Pastor’s Sermons Better

I read these ten points from Jared Moore and thought I'd share them with my friends. I don't want to be self-serving with this post, but I do want people to understand preaching from the other side of things. When the preacher AND people work together everyone hears better messages. --David Lemming

1. If your pastor is currently doing something ministerial that is not biblically pastoral in nature (primarily praying and teaching), then either you do it, or find someone else who will. Imagine if your pastor had five or ten more hours to prepare each of his sermons per week. Of course they will be better! You will be amazed.

2. Listen attentively as if your listening is an act of worship, because it is. When you listen to God’s Word in submission, you are worshipping God. Whenever you don’t, you’re not worshipping God; and yes, it is sinful for you to ignore the Word of God when it is being preached or taught regardless of whether he is keeping your attention or not.

3. Remember that the sermon is not another media outlet for you to feed your thirst for entertainment.  Don’t “turn the channel” because you’re not being entertained. Furthermore, don’t expect your pastor to do in 10 or less hours of preparation a week what television stations spend millions of dollars on, and hire teams to accomplish: keeping your attention.

4. If possible, get a good night's sleep on Saturday night. Do you know how hard it is to engage a zombie?

5. Pray for your pastor periodically. Let him know on a regular basis that you pray for him. It will encourage him.

6. Don’t keep looking at the cute baby while your pastor is preaching. Don’t you know that a baby is less interesting than the Word of God? Can you not play with the baby after worship? Your pastor can see you! Furthermore, don’t be talking during the sermon; and if someone walks in late, don’t look at them! Focus on the Word of God.

7. If you have an issue with your pastor, or another issue that he will not enjoy, then wait until after he is finished preaching before you bring it to his attention. He needs to focus on his most important task: feeding Christ’s sheep.

8. Evaluate the sermon based on the Bible’s criteria for a sermon, not what your criteria or someone else’s criteria might be. Share with your pastor if you believed that he faithfully preached the Word; it will encourage him. If your pastor is like me, he will feel like a failure over 90% of the time that he steps out of the pulpit and the other 10% of the time that he feels good is because of arrogance.

9. Attend church consistently. Whenever you miss church, even periodically, the thought crosses your pastor’s mind that you are not there because of him or his preaching. If you know that you will miss a Sunday beforehand, let him know. It will help him focus more on preaching instead of considering thoughts crossing his mind concerning why you’re not at church.

10. Don’t go to sleep. Get up and leave before you go to sleep if you cannot stay awake. Your pastor can see you, and the people around you can see and hear you.

Your Spiritual Identity (Message #2)

2 Corinthians 5:14-17

On a hillside in California, Leonard Knight's message is simple, "God is love."

Knight is the creator of Salvation Mountain, located about an hour and a half from Palm Springs, California. The mountain includes Christian scripture such as the Lord's Prayer and the Sinner's Prayer as well as flowers, waterfalls, bluebirds and other brightly colored objects.

One visitor, Chris Epting, said, "From a mile or so away, it looks like a candy-colored explosion against the side of a mountain."

An online history of Salvation Mountain claims it's Knight's second attempt after his first creation, made of too much sand, crumbled. The first mountain took four years. When he started on his second he decided to use a native adobe clay that he coats with paint.

Until recently, guests were likely to see Knight still painting when they visited. He asked visitors for donations of paint to continue fixing up his masterpiece, which along with the hill was to include a museum made out of scavenged wood, old tires and adobe.

Knight said, "I just meditate about God and Jesus mostly," when asked what keeps him going. "I think about what the world will be like when everyone knows God loves them."

Kevin Eubank, a nearby resident, helps take care of Knight. He said his "faith, dedication and just basic sense of goodness are something to behold...That's what draws people out here."

I guess it’s true that beauty really is in the eye of the beholder, especially when it comes to what is considered a masterpiece. Interestingly, God refers to each of His children as being unique masterpieces of His own making.

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship [masterpiece], created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:8-10)

Let’s consider a portrait given of us in scripture that reflects what He has made us through faith in Jesus Christ.

Christians are called...
Portrait #1: A New Creation (portrait #2...next week)
For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again. Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. (2 Corinthians 5:14-17)

Paul had a struggle in the first century similar to the one we face in the twenty-first century. People have a tendency to evaluate others primarily on the basis of the externals of life and that’s at the heart of what Paul is discussing here. For instance, we are prone to look at wealth, intelligence, racial heritage, accomplishments, social status, fame, position, political power, connectedness, etc., to form our opinions of others. We are more often interested in a person’s public persona than in the substance that lies behind that persona. Judging people by the externals is what dominates our perception because in today’s world “it’s all about image.”

This was powerfully illustrated in “The Great Debate” that took place in 1960 between Senator John F. Kennedy and Vice President Richard Nixon. It was the first presidential debate ever to be televised to the nation.

Journalist Erika Tyner Allen writes, “The Great Debates marked television's grand entrance into presidential politics. They afforded the first real opportunity for voters to see their candidates in competition, and the visual contrast was dramatic. In August, Nixon had seriously injured his knee and spent two weeks in the hospital. By the time of the first debate he was still twenty pounds underweight, his pallor still poor. He arrived at the debate in an ill-fitting shirt, and refused makeup to improve his color and lighten his perpetual ‘5:00 o'clock shadow.’ Kennedy, by contrast, had spent early September campaigning in California. He was tan and confident and well-rested. ‘I had never seen him looking so fit,’ Nixon later wrote....In substance, the candidates were much more evenly matched. Indeed, those who heard the first debate on the radio pronounced Nixon the winner. But the 70 million who watched television saw a candidate still sickly and obviously discomforted by Kennedy's smooth delivery and charisma. Those television viewers focused on what they saw, not what they heard. Studies of the audience indicated that, among television viewers, Kennedy was perceived the winner of the first debate by a very large margin.” --- (Article saved in Evernote)

Another journalist writes, “Nixon's television appearance was less than flattering. His grey suit blended into the background. Not having worn any makeup, he appeared to perspire heavily on camera, giving the impression that he was being pressed hard on issues which were easy for him to handle. He favored his injured knee and often focused on Kennedy when answering questions. Many TV viewers felt Kennedy was a runaway winner.” (Article saved in Evernote)

At one time Paul formed his opinions of others in a similarly unacceptable fashion...by evaluating people “according to the flesh” (5:16). This is a favorite phrase of the Apostle occurring 20 times in his letters. In this setting it means that Paul formed his estimation of people on the basis of human standards. His perspective was superficial at best and prejudicial at worst. His misplaced perception is the reason he viewed Christ as nothing more than an itinerant Galilean rabbi, a self-appointed messianic imposter, a human blasphemer, a heretical teacher, and an enemy of God. He failed to look past the surface (Christ...born into relative poverty, without the comeliness of Messianic royalty, conflicting with the religious authorities, violating man-made Sabbath rituals, etc.) to see the real person of Christ.

We also do this all the time and it’s a terrible mistake because it’s not the outer image of a person that is most important. It’s the change that happens in the inner spiritual lives through faith in Jesus Christ that matters most.

Paul indicates that it’s not what can be seen visibly that is primary, but what is invisible that’s most valuable in God: “a new creation” (5:17). There is no subject or verb in this final clause, though it is supplied by the translators (“he is”). Actually, you could simply say that “if anyone is in Christ, [poof] a new creation.” There is an instantaneous change in our position before God that is ultimately to be worked out in our practice on a daily basis. It’s a brand new portrait of who we are (“a new creation”) and it’s one that bears His image and likeness!

This “new creation” can be understood in two different ways: “a new creation” or “a new creature.” The difference between these two is that the first speaks of the dawning of a new age (i.e., the body of Christ/church age), while the second speaks of the new life created within each individual believer. Because the previous verses are dealing with the evaluation of individuals, not things/ages, it is probably best to understand this “new creation” as the “new” life created in each believer.

And, be reminded that all of this happens because we are placed “in Christ” (in union with Christ).  Commentator Philip Hughes writes, “The expression ‘in Christ’ sums up as briefly and as profoundly as possible the inexhaustible significance of man’s redemption. It speaks of security in Him who has Himself borne in his own body the judgment of God against our sin; it speaks of acceptance in Him with whom alone God is well pleased; it speaks of assurance for the future in Him who is the Resurrection and the Life; it speaks of the inheritance of glory in Him who, as the only-begotten Son, is the sole heir of God; it speaks of participation in the divine nature in Him who is the everlasting Word; it speaks of knowing the truth, and being free in that truth, in Him who Himself is the Truth. All this, and very much more than can ever be expressed in human language, is meant by being ‘in Christ.’” (Philip Edgcumbe Hughes, Paul’s Second Epistle to the Corinthians (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1962), p. 202.

As part of being “in Christ,” Paul continues to explain that this means, “...old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (5:17b). “Passed away” literally means “to go out of existence—to cease to exist...to cease.” (Louw Nida) Like an old suit of clothes is removed, so our “old man” (what we were without Christ) is removed from us and we are dressed in the “new suit” of Christ's righteousness.

Paul uses this imagery elsewhere to describe the change that happens when we are converted to Christ.

“...that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:22-24) (These are not imperatives to be obeyed, they are facts to be acknowledged.)

“Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him...” (Colossians 3:9-10)

There are at least five things that Paul says have “passed away” as a result of our being “a new creation:”
1. Our legalistic motives for serving (5:14).
2. Living life primarily for self (5:15).
3. Our old way of evaluating people (5:17).
4. Living in isolation and alienation to others (5:18).
5. A meaningless life without purpose (5:19).

And, what replaced the old that has been removed from us is described as being totally “new.” This doesn’t indicate something that is new in sequence, as if you’ve just upgraded to a newer version of an older product. It means it is new in “quality” and unlike anything you’ve ever had. In other words, part of being “a new creation” is that you receive a totally new nature with inherently new desires, loves, and inclinations. While it is true that we have to live in the old creation around us, we must do so with a “new creation” perspective (Galatians 6:14).

And the “new” we experience never gets old and is forever perpetually “new.” The Greek perfect tense indicates something that is a past action with continuing results. And, that’s how God wants us to view ourselves as His child. We’re not a “bunch of junk” that’s been refurbished and recycled into usable materials. We are brand new creations in Christ Jesus made in the image of Jesus Christ that is always new and never old.

Why is it so important that we know what God has made us to be in Christ? It is because what we believe about ourselves ends up affecting how we conduct our lives. Christians too often end up living according to the lies they’ve accepted rather than according to the truths God has revealed. Nobody lives well in a lie!

I recently read about a young Russian boy by the name of Andrei Tolstyk that used to lived in a remote and unpopulated region of Siberia. Before his first birthday Andrei was abandoned by his parents in a crude home, but amazingly the boy survived. His only known companion for the next seven years was the family dog. When he was finally discovered by regional authorities, he was running on all fours and growling like a dog. Because of his neglect, He now faces years of difficult training just to learn how to speak (he didn’t know a single word), use utensils (he used his mouth alone), relate to people (he bit nearly everybody that approached him), use the restroom, sleep in a bed, and more. Some of the doctors and psychologists that have seen him are uncertain whether Andrei can ever be taught human behavior and lead a normal life. Unfortunately, the underlying problem is that Andrei believes he is more dog than human. He may eventually adopt manners and customs that allow him to fit in with others and survive. But, until he can accept that he is fully a human being, Andrei is lost.

A similar type thing happens in the Christian community, too. Because we don’t know who we are or what we have become in Christ, we live more like the world around us than the “new creation” God has made us.

You can’t look in the mirror on the wall of your house and see the reflection of your true identity. You have to look in the mirror of God’s Word to see the reflection of who God has really made you to be in Him. And, you are a masterpiece of His own making! A new creation in Christ Jesus!!

Your Spiritual Identity (Message #1)

The Spiritual Blessings of God
Ephesians 1:3-14

The book of Proverbs makes an astute comment when it says, “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he...” (Proverbs 23:7) In other words, what you think...you are. Part of the struggle we experience in living out the Christian life is in not seeing ourselves as God sees us. Many of us will spend our entire lives living out our old identity in Adam, rather than living out our new identity “in Christ.” It’s been said, “If you don’t believe right, you’ll never behave right.” And that’s true! In Paul’s epistles right doctrine is usually up front followed by the practical applications based on that truth. In other words, he demonstrates in his letters that we have to believe right in order to behave right.  

What lies behind many of our spiritual failures is simply that we don’t know who we really are in our new relationship with Jesus Christ. We don’t see ourselves the way God sees us and consequently, we don’t tap the resources available to help us live the victorious Christian life. Ask the average church member to describe his relationship with Christ and he might respond with something like, “I’m just a sinner saved by grace.” While that’s a true statement, probably motivated by a person’s humility, we are so much more than this description portrays. Actually, before you came to Jesus Christ you WERE a sinner in need of grace. But, now you ARE a saint and a child of the living God. If it wouldn’t be received as being proud, we could accurately say about ourselves, “Hello, my name is...Saint David, Saint Katie, Saint Mark, Saint Linda,” etc., etc.

Someone might argue, “Well I’m not living much like a saint, therefore, I don’t think I should call myself a saint.” Is there a greater motivation to live like a saint than to believe you are a saint? The lowest form of motivation is rules/regulations and the highest form is living out your identity in Christ to the praise of His glory. Until we recognize who we are in Christ and acknowledge the blessings He has bestowed upon us, we will never experience the passionate desire to become all that God has made us to be. We don’t want to live for Christ primarily driven by the fear of punishment. We want to live for Christ because we’ve been privileged to be called “the sons of God!”

This series of messages will expose us to some of the blessings God has given to us and help us to see more clearly our true identity in Jesus. Today we will start with the simple truth that we are a blessed people. We don’t have to manipulate God to bless us; we are already blessed. In Ephesus peopled lived superstitious lives thinking they had to manipulate their false gods into favoring them. Before we get too critical of first-century Ephesus, the truth is we find people doing exactly the same thing today. By repeated promises, self-denial, large contributions, sacred pilgrimages, etc., many people believe they are convincing God to bless them. One of the most freeing thoughts comes when you realize you are ALREADY blessed...because of God’s grace!

To be blessed (1:3) is “to bestow a favor, provide with benefits,” which Christ has done for all of His children. (Walter Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, [Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000], 408) Before Paul launches into telling us what we need to do in this epistle, he first tells us what has already been done (blessings) for us by Jesus Christ (right doctrine then right practice).

Ephesians 1:3-14 is one long sentence in the Greek text that contains 202 words. It is one of the most succinct declarations in scripture of the riches that God has already bestowed on His children in Christ. A key phrase in Paul’s writings is, “in Christ.” And, we find this phrase, or something equivalent, eleven times in these twelve verses alone. One theologian writes about the importance of this phrase, “The diversity of expressions to describe being in Christ in this one long sentence (Eph. 1:3-14) is astonishing, and the sheer repetition of the formula indicates that it is crucial.” (Thomas R. Schreiner, Paul, Apostle of God’s Glory in Christ: A Pauline Theology [Downers Grave, IL: Intervarsity Press, 2001], 156)

Of course, the point is that all of these blessings are the result of being “in Christ” (1:3) and the only way to be “in Christ” is to trust Him as your Savior (1:13; cf. 2:8-9).

Of the many blessings we might consider, there are six we will discuss.

1. The blessing of holiness. (1:4)
The idea of holiness has two aspects: one relates to our position (standing) and the other to our practice (state). Paul has in mind here our positional holiness and the fact that we stand before God “without blame.”

The only reason this can be true is because of the finished work of Jesus Christ on Calvary’s cross. The moment a person places his/her faith in Jesus the great exchange takes place. Our sins (and their penalty) are removed and we receive the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Consequently, God now sees us as being righteous and holy before Him because we are robed in the perfect righteousness of His Son. Recognizing this truth enables us to move away from performance-based Christianity where we are constantly trying to appease God and earn His favor. It allows us to rest in our relationship with Him without fear of losing that relationship because of some unholiness in our lives.

Knowing our standing before God in holiness should also lead to the practice of holiness in our daily lives. We will never be perfect or sinless in our obedience. But, we should increasingly reflect our actual standing in Christ, which is a standing of holiness.

“...because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16; cf. Leviticus 11:44, 45; 19:2; 20:7).

2. The blessing of adoption. (1:5)
At this point in the text many are drawn into a debate about the Sovereignty of God and the free will of man because of Paul’s use of the words “chosen” and “predestined.” The result is that they often miss the greater blessing of what it means to be adopted into God’s family.

This idea of adoption was drawn from the Roman laws of Paul’s day. This action enabled a person to take into his own family a child not biologically his own with the intent of treating the child as if he was biologically his own. This includes bestowing all the privileges and responsibilities that are associated with the new family relationship. An adopted child had the same rights/responsibilities as a biological son and surrendered all his rights/responsibilities in his previous family. The adopted son enjoyed the exact same privileges as a natural born son. All debts are cancelled, and he is absolutely the son of his new father.

Paul uses this well known custom in the Roman Empire to demonstrate the great truth that the believing sinner, who is not God’s natural child, has been given an unchanging eternal position as an adult child in the Father’s family. This is now their new legal standing as God’s adopted “sons.”

Because we are “adopted as sons” we have a new relationship with God and a new standing before Him. He deals with us differently than He does with the rest of the world. Being “adopted” in Christ through faith is the source of our hope, the security of our future and the motivation to “walk worthy of the calling with which you were called” (Ephesians 4:1).

Because of this new relationship we are given the privilege of calling God our Father. We are even encouraged to refer to Him as, “Abba Father.” The word “Abba” is an Aramaic word that could be translated as “Daddy.” It was a common term that children used to address their fathers. It signifies the close, intimate relationship of a father to his child, as well as the simple trust a child puts in his “daddy.”

For further discussion: “Election is the corporate choice of the church ‘in Christ.’ Before the foundation of the world God made his choice: Those in Christ would be his people.” (William W. Klein, The New Chosen People, A Corporate View of Election, [Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 1990], 180)

“Paul’s concern in predestination is not how people become Christians nor who becomes Christians, but to describe what God has foreordained on behalf of those who are (or will be) Christians. Predestination pertains to God’s causative action in marking out the present and future benefits and the priorities which accrue to those who are his children.” (William W. Klein, The New Chosen People, A Corporate View of Election, [Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 1990], 185)

3. The blessing of redemption. (1:7)
This blessing deals with our freedom in Jesus Christ! We were once slaves to sin, but Jesus paid the price to set us free. The imagery of redemption comes from the OT when the nation of Israel was in bondage to the Egyptian Pharaoh. After repeated attempts to get the Pharaoh to release the Jews from their cruel enslavement, God sent death into every household that did not apply the blood of a lamb to the doorpost of their houses. As a result, Israel was delivered from the Egyptians and set free.

Jesus, the spotless Lamb of God, applied His blood to our lives and He sets us free. “...the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:28) Christ’s sacrifice is sufficient for all, but it is only efficient for the “many” that believe. (cf. 1 Timothy 2:4, 6, 4:10; Hebrews 2:9; 2 Peter 3:9; 1 John 4:14) “Many” is not used for a definite number, but for a large number set against the backdrop of the ONE sacrifice that saves.

The word translated “ransom” in Matthew 20:28 "is the one commonly employed in the papyri as the price paid for a slave who is then set free...Jesus gave his own life as the price of freedom for the slaves of sin" (A. T. Robertson).

The Lamb of God shed His blood and applied it to our lives when we believed in order that we might go free. There is no more fear of death or enslavement to sin for the Christian. Whatever has kept us in bondage no longer holds sway over us, except what power we give it. We can now put to death our old way of life and live in a brand new way.

4. The blessing of forgiveness. (1:7)
Guilt is a hard taskmaster, but for the ones that are “in Christ” God has taken away their sins forever and promised never to remember them again.

Of what deeds are you ashamed in your life? What are the regrets from which you can’t escape? What words haunt you when you let your mind think on them? What motives do you know have never been right? What lies have you believed that cost you daily? What actions do you wish you could do over? What do you keep excusing by blaming someone else? What are you hiding, praying that no one ever discovers about you? 

Of the two words in the NT translated as “forgive,” one means, “to send forth, send away,” and denotes “to remit or forgive” debts (Matthew 6:12; 18:27, 32), or sins (Matthew 9:2, 5, 6; 12:31-32; Ephesians 1:7-8; 1 John 1:9; 2:12). It is used for deliverance of the sinner from the penalty, and the complete removal of the cause of offence based on the death of Christ for the sinner. The other word literally means, “to wipe away,” “to rub out,” or “to turn one’s back on”(cf. Colossians 2:13). It is primarily about God restoring the relationship between Himself and the sinner who believes on Jesus Christ. The blessing is that “in Christ” we are totally, completely, and eternally forgiven forever. No matter what you have done or will do, Jesus paid it all.

5. The blessing of inheritance. (1:14)
Knowing the fullness of our inheritance is not possible until we see Jesus face to face in Heaven. It is beyond our ability to fully comprehend all that God has prepared for us as His children. The riches of glory, the presence of God, our eternal home – these don't even begin to describe all of the blessings that belong to our inheritance.

In this life we struggle and hurt awaiting our deliverance. But, we must stay focused on the blessing of our future inheritance that will be a reward beyond our present comprehension.

Paul uses the metaphor of the believers “inheritance” more than any other NT writer (ex. Acts 20:32; 26:18; Ephesians 1:14, 18; Colossians 3:24). This inheritance is described as eternal and joyful existence with God. All believers are promised “an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you...” (1 Peter 1:4).

6. The blessing of sealing. (1:13)
I reversed the order of these last two only for the purpose of emphasis.

Is it possible that we could somehow lose these beneficent blessings? The answer is an emphatic “NO!” The reason is because we have been “sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.”

The practice in the ancient world was to affix a seal to personal possessions, thus demonstrating authenticity and ownership of the possession. God has imparted to each of His children the Holy Spirit that marks us as His own and secures us until the “redemption of the purchased possession...”

When recently renewing my driver’s license I was required to bring several items of proof with me. These documents included items showing that I was a U.S. citizen, that I lived in the State of WV, and that my taxes were paid. Included in the necessary documentation was my birth certificate with the official seal affixed proving it was authentic.

God has guaranteed that we are His and our blessings secure because of His authenticating  mark on us (the Holy Spirit).

With His presence comes not only the blessing of authenticity and security, the Holy Spirit also empowers us, enlightens us to His Word, enhances our worship, and brings us into relationship with other believers.

Conclusion:
All of these benefits are given to us because we are “in Christ.” They are not the result of any goodness in us, but are displays of the grace of God in Whom we should glory. One of the tests as to whether somebody’s theology is good or bad is to ask who is magnified through it: God or man (1:6, 12, 14).


Application:

• Regularly recount the blessings of God so you can give praise to Him.
• Periodically relate the blessings of God so others can join you in praise to Him.