Skip to content 3. Biblical Identity: Who Am I? Sep 7 · 27 min ...more
September 7, 2023 · 27 min · Life Redefined
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Rev. Paul Jeyachandran leads the Intentional Disciple Making Church (IDMC) Movement, which is all about calling churches back to its disciplemaking roots. Visit us at idmcmovement.com
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0:00 This morning we are going to continue in our sermon series on Life Redefined. Today we are talking about the third question: Who am I?0:12 Who am I? These are the 8 key questions for spiritual formation. Biblical theology: Who is God? And Biblical allegiance:0:24 Who is truly my Master in life? Thirdly, Biblical identity Who am I? Now, why are these questions important? These are0:36 important because we want to explore how we ought to grow as a disciple of Christ. It begins by acknowledging who God is. Because who0:48 God is determines who is truly the master of my life. I have to examine my heart. Do I know this God of the Bible? And if this God of the Bible1:00 is truly Lord, is He Lord of my life? Is He master of my life? Am I living life on my terms, or am I living life on His terms?1:11 Therefore, if you truly acknowledge who God is, you will ask the question, Who is truly the Master in life? At the same time, when you acknowledge who your Master is,1:24 it leads to biblical identity. Who am I? A story was told of a long line in the check-in counter at the airport.1:36 The passengers have been waiting for hours, and the queue doesn't seem to move. There was 1 businessman dressed in a business suit, carrying his briefcase. He walked straight up1:48 to the check-in counter and demanded to know, What's going on? Do you know who I am? At that moment, the airport staff just turned on the2:00 intercom and announced to everyone who was standing on the queue, Ladies and gentlemen, does anyone know who this man is? He seems to have forgotten his identity. I want2:12 you to listen to me. Do you know who I am? That's what people always talk about when they are talking about themselves their identity. I want to give you2:24 some questions to explore. How would you identify yourself? Am I what I do? Am I what I own? Am I what I want? Am I2:35 my past? Am I what others tell me I am? Think about this. Am I what I do? You know, you are responsible for what you do. But what you do cannot truly2:47 define who you are. Am I what I own? You know, worth is not tied up to your possessions or what you own. Your possessions or your purchasing power2:59 does not define your identity. Am I what I want? You know, many times people think these are my personal ambitions. This is what I'm trying to become. And I'm pursuing my carnal ambitions.3:12 But once they pursue these things, they know that it truly doesn't satisfy. Therefore, these things are fleeting. That's why it cannot define who you are. Am I my past? Yes, you can3:24 be shaped by your past, but you can certainly not be defined by your past. Am I what others tell I am? Can I humbly say this? Your opinion,3:36 what others think of you, will always keep changing from time to time. That's why you and I cannot base our identity on these things that are fleeting and doesn't satisfy.3:48 So what is biblical identity? Who am I? That question can only be addressed in our relationship to Jesus. You know, biblical identity is based on knowing4:00 Jesus and being known by Him. Let me give you a principle. Our identity is defined by our relationship to Jesus. It is not about who we are. It's4:12 always about whose we are. Let me say that again. It's not about who you are. It is about whose you are. In other words, your identity is defined by4:24 your relationship to Jesus. Hallelujah. I want to take you to a passage of Scripture. It is a very familiar passage, and it's a passage that's very close to my heart. And I want to show you from Galatians4:36 chapter 2 and verse 20, how Apostle Paul identified himself. Because in this passage, he actually shares about the radical reorientation of his4:47 identity. And from this study, I want you to discover how relationship with Jesus defines our identity. Let's look at it. Galatians4:59 2 20 says this: I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the5:10 flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. Let me give you the background of Paul. Paul was a Pharisee. He was a5:22 Roman citizen by birth. Now, how did he get his Roman citizenship? Maybe his parents or his grandparents were bestowed, were conferred this citizenship. Maybe they did5:34 something great, or maybe they had a great benefactor. Whatever it is, they were conferred Roman citizenship. So he must have come from a very wealthy family.5:45 Now, even though he was born in Tarsus, we can clearly tell that he was raised in Jerusalem, because he must have had some sort of family connections because he studied5:57 under the famous Gamaliel, the Rabbi Gamaliel. Now, Paul defines himself like this in Philippians, I'm the Hebrew of Hebrews. In other words,6:09 he adhered to the Judaistic rituals, Judaistic way of life very strictly. And therefore he gained that thing Hebrew of Hebrews. At the same time, you and6:21 I, we need to understand that Saul was treated special in Jerusalem. He might have had familiarity with the high priest in Jerusalem through family6:32 connections. So I would even imagine that Paul may have been there on the day of crucifixion. He might have been there on the trial and the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. So in Paul's mind, Jesus6:45 was an apostate. He was a Jewish criminal, and He needed to be dealt with, and He needed to be crucified. But only on the way to6:56 Damascus, on the road to Damascus, Paul encounters this Jesus, whom he thought was a crucified criminal. He only realized that7:08 day that he is the exalted Messiah. As a result, the Bible says his life was radically changed. I want you to think about how radically his change was because he not7:20 only acknowledged Jesus, who this man who is an apostate and a crucified criminal, from crucified criminal, he became the exalted Messiah, the Lord of Paul's life. Not only that,7:32 he not only became Paul's Lord, but he also changed his view about himself. He says, I am a servant of Christ, a bondservant, a slave of Christ.7:44 So I want you to take you to Galatians 2 20 for this study, and look in detail how he identifies himself. I want to give you 3 principles that pertain to7:56 biblical identity. Number 1: Our identity in Christ, living the distinct life. Paul says, I have been crucified. No longer I8:08 who live. You look at that in Galatians 2 20. I have been crucified with Christ. Circle that word crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives8:20 in me. In other words, Paul had this view of himself. My identity changed the day I encountered Christ. The day I encountered8:32 Christ, my identity no longer belonged to me. It was in association with Christ. See, human beings naturally attach their identity to what they8:43 do, what they have, all these things. But Paul says, my identity is tied up with Christ. See, in Paul's mind, Christ is His Messiah. And8:55 Christ being his Messiah, He's not only the Messiah, but He's also the Creator. I'm created for Him. I am redeemed for Him by His blood. Therefore, I'm owned by Christ.9:07 So, my identity is tied with Christ. And the language Paul uses, it is a definitive word that Paul uses, is crucified. He says, I have been9:19 crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. I want you to think about that word crucified. It is a compound word in the Greek.9:31 It actually denotes 2 things. It denotes union with Christ, a complete full union with Him. But it also denotes a communion with Christ. It also denotes the9:42 oneness. In other words, togetherness. I'm together co crucified with Christ. That's why Paul uses this term, no longer.9:54 See, whenever you think about this, Christian life is a life that is a before and an after. Why do we ask new believers to share their testimony? They usually share, Before I met Christ10:06 and After I met Christ. Why? Because when I met Christ, or when Christ found me, there was a decisive change in my life. There was a10:18 definite change. There was a transformation. In other places, Paul actually uses that word, I have been delivered from the domain of darkness into the kingdom of His Son. In other10:30 words, when I met Christ, I have been delivered. When I met Christ, I have been totally transformed. I'm saved. Old is gone. The new has come. That's why Paul highlights here10:42 by saying no longer. I want you to circle those 2 words no longer. Can you definitely say about your Christian life that there was a before and an after? There is a10:53 distinctiveness about your Christian life. I lived like this. I used to live like this. But now I live like this. And they both are very separate. I want you to think about this.11:05 Because 1 of the things that burdens our life, 1 of the things that burdens my heart as a disciple making pastor is this: that carnality has robbed the church of its power.11:18 Carnality has robbed the church of its distinctiveness. See, only when we are separate from the world, only when our life is distinct, then we can be the church.11:30 You know, like 1 this theologian said, When I was looking for the church, I found it in the world. When I was looking for the world, I found it in the church. How sad is that?11:43 That the church is full of the world. That means worldliness have crept in. See, Jesus said to us that you are the salt of the earth. You, plural, collectively, the church11:54 is the salt of the earth. Why does he say salt? Because salt is unique. He wasn't just thinking about the usefulness of salt, but he was thinking about the uniqueness of salt.12:06 There's nothing like salt. And he says you are unique. That means you are distinct. He was talking about the distinctiveness of church. But today, when you see the global church,12:19 the global church is losing that distinctiveness. You know, many people will look at the church and say the church has a lack of depth. I agree, the church has a lack of depth. That's why in our12:31 conferences, we always keep calling the church to come back to deepening their life in the Word of God. Deepening the church through the Word of God. There is a lack of depth. But can I humbly say12:42 this? Much more than the lack of depth, there is a lack of distinctiveness. You and I, we need to understand. Paul says, No longer. I used to12:54 be that way, but when I met Christ, I have been crucified with Him. I no longer live. But Christ now lives in me. Hallelujah. You know, when I visited13:06 London, I had the privilege of visiting George Mueller's home in Bristol. George Mueller was a man who God used mightily. In his13:17 journal, George Mueller writes like this: There was a day when George Mueller died. He submitted his will to God.13:29 His agenda changed from self to God. His ambition was transformed, And as a result, he could no longer live the way he used to live. But there was a definite13:41 change. Look at how he wrote about himself in this book. Let's read it. Now my life became very different, though not so that my sins were all given up at once. My wicked13:53 companions were given up. The going to taverns was discontinued. The habitual practice of telling falsehood was no longer indulged in, but a few times more I spoke an untruth. I now14:05 no longer lived habitually in sin, though I still often overcome and sometimes even by open sins, though far less frequently than before and not without sorrow of heart. I read the14:17 Scriptures, prayed often, loved the brethren, went to church from right motives and stood on the side of Christ, though laughed at by my fellow students. Can you see the picture? There was a14:29 definite change in his life. It's like this. When you walk on the road and you're hit by a truck, an 18 wheeler comes and hits you. When you wake up from14:41 that, your life is no longer the same. You can never go back to business as usual. Why? Because something has happened. The same thing can be said of salvation.14:52 You are now translated from death to life, from error to truth. There is something fundamentally shifted about you. The old is gone and the new has come. And Paul identifies himself as15:04 someone who has been crucified with Christ. So my question to you this morning is this: Are you identified with Christ or just interested in15:16 Christ? Would you be able to say boldly, Pastor, I no longer live. It is Christ who lives in me and through me. My identification is15:28 with Christ. You know, that being crucified is almost like saying, I am pregnant. You cannot be a little bit pregnant. Either you're pregnant or you're not pregnant. You15:40 cannot be a little bit pregnant the same way. Either you're crucified or you're not. You cannot be a little bit crucified. That's why you and I, we need to understand this question. Are you interested in Christ? Or are15:52 you truly identified in Christ? The second thing that we can learn from this passage is our imitation of Christ. Living the directed life. The life I16:04 now live, I live by faith, Paul says. See, you and I got to think about the life. The moment a person comes to faith in Christ, that person dies together16:16 with Christ, They're crucified with Christ. Their identity is now tied up with Him. And Paul says, my identity is I'm a servant of Christ. I'm a slave of Christ. That means16:27 I want to be directed by Him. That's why he says in Galatians 2 20, the second part, and the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of16:39 God. Hallelujah. The life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God. Hallelujah. You know, Paul is like this, just like the16:51 apostles when they were called by Jesus. The Bible says they left everything. Immediately, they left their nets and followed Him. I shared with you in the first lesson that they17:03 followed Christ fully. They followed Christ gladly, and they followed Christ only. In the same manner here, Paul immediately chooses to follow Him, to be directed17:15 by Him. See, this is what you and I, we need to understand. See, Christian believers, many will say, many people, many Christians will say, I like Jesus.17:26 But many people may not. They are not like Jesus. Let me say that again. Many Christians may like Jesus, but they are certainly not like Jesus. In other17:38 words, there is something about their life that hasn't been transformed. You know, 1 of the core things is to be like Jesus, to become more and more like17:50 Him, and to ultimately become Christ like. That's the end goal of discipleship. That I just not just follow Christ, but I'm continually being mastered by Christ until I become Christ18:01 like. And the way you now do that is when you become determinate. When you now tie yourself within your identity with Christ, and now you say, I'm not only18:14 identified with Him, I want to imitate Him. I want to live a directed life, not only a distinctive life, but a directed life. And the Bible says here, I18:26 now live. Look at that verse. I want you to circle those 3 words. I now live. In those 3 words, there is a determination. There is a decisiveness that he18:37 says, I cannot go about business as usual because my life no longer belongs to me. My life belongs to the 1 who was crucified together with me. I was crucified with Him. Therefore, the life I now18:49 live, there is a determination, there is a decisiveness. And you know what is the defining mark of that decisiveness? It is a life of faith. That's why he says, I live by19:01 faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me. Now, how do you define faith? If that is the defining mark of a Christian, the Bible says in the Old Testament, by faith, the just shall live by faith.19:14 How do you define faith? Faith is this to hear God and to obey Him. Whenever you hear Him, you obey Him. In other words, when you know that He is your master, when you know that you are19:26 truly identified with Him, you put aside your own perceived personal rights, your personal ambitions, and you now die to yourself and you embrace His vision, His mission for19:38 your life. Therefore, what happens? He directs your life. Hallelujah. It involves laying down our life completely for19:49 Him. Laying down our heart completely for Him. To love what He loves, to hate what He hates, to go after things that He goes after, to do what He has called you to do. That20:01 is being directed by Him. You know, when I think of this, I think of the testimony of Adoni Ram Juddson. Adoni Ram Juddson was a missionary to20:13 Burma. At the age of 25, he left North America to actually be a missionary to India, but he ended up, by divine appointment, in Burma.20:26 Now, before he left for Burma, actually, he stayed there for 40 years. And before he left, he fell in love with a girl named Anne. So he wanted20:38 to propose to her and bring her along with him in this missionary journey. And this is how he proposed to her. Give me your hand to go with me to the jungles of Asia, and20:50 there die with me for the cause of Christ. I want you to let that sink in. Give me your hand to go with me to the jungles of Asia, and there die with me for the21:01 cause of Christ. Anne eventually said yes, and they got married. They sailed together, and they ended up in Burma. When they came to21:12 Burma, there were no other believers. So the first communion they ever had, it was twosome. Just the 2 of them had communion break bread before the Lord. Now, that21:24 Anne did eventually die, and not only Anne, even Adoni Ram Jutson's second wife, along 6 out of their21:36 13 children died. I want you to listen to me. Judson suffered illness, imprisonment, chains and filth. And this is what they say.21:48 He was actually thrown in a prison that was vermin ridden. It was called a death prison, and he was held there for 17 months during22:00 the Anglo Burmese War. And 1 of the fellow prisoners looked at him and asked him this question. So what's the prospect of conversion of this heathen? You know what he said? He22:12 instantly replied, The prospects are just as bright as the promises of God. Now, that is faith. In the throne in prison, lost wife,22:23 even the second 1, lost 6 out of 13 children, and yet he kept his faith because he knew God had called him and directed him to be there. Now,22:36 when he died, there were 7000 baptised believers in 63 churches. That is his legacy. And today there are more than22:47 3000000 Burmese Christians as a result. That's the life that is directed by Jesus. He identified himself with Christ, crucified with Him,22:59 therefore now being directed by Him to do His will. I want you to listen to me carefully. Faith sometimes is seen as, Oh, I believed God for an airplane. Oh, I believed God for23:11 this. I believed God for that. Faith is taught in many circles as something that you give to God to receive from Him. Listen carefully. Faith is holding on23:23 to Him. Faith is trusting in Him and believing in Him and having a confidence in His word that He will stay true to His word, that when you step out and do His will,23:35 that He will look after you. And that is faith. And even when things don't go the way you want it to go, you still hold on to Him and say, Lord, I hold on to You.23:46 That's faith. I want you to listen to me carefully. Let me ask you this reflection question. How crucified are you to follow Christ in faith? How23:58 crucified are you to follow Christ in faith? In other words, what is he asking you to step up and do in this season? What is it that you have been procrastinating? What is it that you have been shunning? What is that 124:09 area that where he says, I want you to let go and let God and trust me and step out in faith and do this for me? And you have been holding back. Ask God. Because if you are24:21 identified with Him, you are crucified with Him, you live your call to live a distinct life, call to live a directed life. Thirdly, our indebtedness to24:32 Christ living the devoted life. Who loved me and gave Himself for me. I want you to think about this. Paul writes in Galatians chapter 2 and verse24:43 20, the last part, he says, The Lord who loved me and gave Himself for me. The life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God,24:55 who loved me and gave Himself for me. How good is that? He recognises that not only he is crucified with Christ, that his25:07 identity is in Christ, not only that he is called to live a directed life, to imitate Christ, to be Christ like in the day to day life. But he also recognized that he25:19 is the beloved of God, that God has given him the love of God. The Bible says he loved me, Christ loved me and gave himself for me. See,25:31 Christian life begins by this, not what I can do for Him, but what He has done for me. To recognise that He has given Himself for me, that He has given all25:43 of Himself. Therefore, in return, I give all of myself to Him. Listen carefully. Many times, we have received from God,25:55 but then we forget God. We are taken by the gifts He gives, and we forget the giver. We seek after the blessing of God, but we forget the 1 who26:07 blessed us. That's the human nature. The human nature is always self seeking, self preservation. It's always about self preoccupation. That's the narcissistic way of26:18 life. But what God is inviting us to is to recognize that our identity is tied up with Him. You are crucified with Him. Now you are directed by Him. You are a servant of Christ. That's your26:30 identity to do His will to do the Master's will. And now He's saying, it's not just that you are a servant, but you are a beloved. That the more you recognize who He is and26:42 what He has done, automatically you will come to Him. But as I said before, many times believers fall in love with what God has given them rather than falling in26:54 love with Him. It's almost like this. See, if I go and buy a very expensive diamond ring,
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Paul Jeyachandran
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