WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.339 You are listening to a message from Southwood Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Alabama. 00:00:06.339 --> 00:00:10.519 ! Our passion is to experience and express grace. Join us. 00:00:10.519 --> 00:00:24.240 ! Father, could it really be true that here's a room full of princes and princesses, children 00:00:24.239 --> 00:00:33.719 of the King of Heaven, the God of the universe? We don't feel like that often. We often don't 00:00:33.719 --> 00:00:44.200 live like that. But God, you are the one who decrees all things as they will be. You speak 00:00:44.200 --> 00:00:51.759 and it comes to be. And so, would you make it so that we would be your children, that 00:00:51.759 --> 00:00:59.339 we would live as your children? Would you even now shape us by your Word the way you would 00:00:59.339 --> 00:01:04.519 have your children to be? We ask in Jesus' name. Amen. 00:01:07.939 --> 00:01:14.439 That is, that's really my heart for us this morning as we open God's Word together, that 00:01:14.439 --> 00:01:24.599 we would see the wonder, the joy, even the freedom of finding our identity in union with 00:01:24.599 --> 00:01:31.959 Christ. That instead of having to go out on an exhausting search for our sense of self 00:01:31.959 --> 00:01:40.799 and worth, like nearly everyone has to do these days, that we would say, hallelujah, we are who 00:01:40.799 --> 00:01:51.379 you say we are. God, you're the one who defines us. Last week we started a summer series on this 00:01:51.379 --> 00:02:00.379 inseparable relationship, the relationship we have with God by faith in Christ. Not just admiring 00:02:00.379 --> 00:02:08.560 Jesus from afar, but so close to Him moment by moment. We said the Bible talks about union with 00:02:08.560 --> 00:02:20.599 Christ largely as you in Christ, like being on an airplane, and also as Christ in you, like being a 00:02:20.599 --> 00:02:29.120 part of the house where God lives. And today we're going to look at multiple passages that show us that 00:02:29.120 --> 00:02:37.060 this reality is to be what defines us. What ultimately gives us our sense of self when you ask, 00:02:37.060 --> 00:02:45.900 who am I? Or your sense of worth, am I valuable? Really important questions that we find the answer to 00:02:45.900 --> 00:02:56.800 in Christ. Before we get there, I want to reflect for a few minutes on how we often define our own 00:02:56.800 --> 00:03:02.500 identities. And I just want to warn you up front, I'm so thankful that many of you will start to feel 00:03:02.500 --> 00:03:09.319 uncomfortable with how long it is taking us to get to God's Word. That's a good thing. We want to go 00:03:09.319 --> 00:03:14.460 there first. So I'm asking for you to be a little bit patient with me. It's a bit unusual for me too, 00:03:14.539 --> 00:03:20.099 how long it will take. But will you trust me that we're going there and that we will find the solution 00:03:20.099 --> 00:03:28.659 to our struggle in God's Word? Okay? When you think of other ways that we define ourselves, what am I 00:03:28.659 --> 00:03:33.659 talking about? What I'm getting at is when someone says to you, tell me a bit about yourself. 00:03:34.900 --> 00:03:41.759 Where do you start? What's the first things you go to? Biblical writers rarely say, I'm a Christian, 00:03:42.519 --> 00:03:51.519 but they did often say, I'm someone in Christ, referencing this defining relationship that they 00:03:51.520 --> 00:04:00.800 have with God. If you asked me when I was a kid, I would have referenced baseball very quickly. When I 00:04:00.800 --> 00:04:08.640 was seven, I was a great baseball player to the extent you can be as a seven-year-old. By the time I 00:04:08.640 --> 00:04:16.900 made it to high school, I was a good baseball player. And as a freshman, when you win the state championship 00:04:16.899 --> 00:04:24.239 and you feel unbeatable, that becomes a significant part of your sense of being valuable to other 00:04:24.239 --> 00:04:32.239 people around you, especially at school, right? For those of you who are baseball fans, the rest of my 00:04:32.239 --> 00:04:40.839 career, after my freshman year, my ERA went steadily up and my batting average went steadily down. For 00:04:40.839 --> 00:04:46.759 those of you who are not baseball fans, that is the opposite direction of where you want them to head. 00:04:46.759 --> 00:04:54.139 The trajectory of my career was such that I went from great baseball player to good baseball player. And 00:04:54.139 --> 00:05:02.740 by the end of high school, colleges assured me I was not a baseball player at all. That was problematic 00:05:02.740 --> 00:05:09.339 for me. Some of you have had an experience like that, perhaps. I was a great engineer somewhere else. 00:05:10.000 --> 00:05:16.240 I came to Huntsville, I was a good engineer. And then I got laid off. And suddenly, 00:05:16.240 --> 00:05:23.519 when I didn't even see it coming, I was not an engineer. That can be really unsettling. 00:05:24.480 --> 00:05:30.879 Thankfully for me, I had started diversifying my investments, so to speak. I knew I was desperately 00:05:30.879 --> 00:05:38.660 sensitive that I needed to be worthwhile to others, especially to colleges and girls. I needed them to 00:05:38.660 --> 00:05:49.280 think I was worth something. I better be a smart kid or a good church kid, not just an athletic kid. I need 00:05:49.280 --> 00:05:55.180 enough options that I'll have something to hold on to. Maybe you've done something similar in an effort 00:05:55.180 --> 00:06:06.300 to be a good mother or friend or elder or volunteer. See, in my generation and those older than me, 00:06:06.300 --> 00:06:14.860 we have a tendency to find our sense of self from the roles that we fill and achieving some level of 00:06:14.860 --> 00:06:21.900 success in them. Achieving that identity. I'm a husband. I'm a pastor. I'm a father of three. 00:06:22.439 --> 00:06:30.080 My identity is achieved. And someone loves me for what I've done. So I'm worthy. 00:06:30.079 --> 00:06:38.099 Right? You see this in movies from around the time that I was born. Chariots of Fires Olympic 00:06:38.099 --> 00:06:45.879 sprinter Harold Abrams talks about being scared before the hundred meter dash. And he says, quote, 00:06:46.139 --> 00:06:56.620 I'll have ten lonely seconds to justify my whole existence. Forever in pursuit of being worthwhile. 00:06:56.620 --> 00:07:01.439 Not sure if even winning will secure that for him. 00:07:04.000 --> 00:07:11.560 This is the classic American perspective voiced by Rocky in a movie that I must confess I have only 00:07:11.560 --> 00:07:21.019 watched clips of. Sorry. But the night before his showdown with Apollo Creed, Rocky walks into the 00:07:21.019 --> 00:07:28.000 empty arena and he stands in the ring thinking about the match the next day. And later he says to Adrian, 00:07:28.399 --> 00:07:37.159 all I want to do is go the distance. If I can go that distance, I'm going to know for the first time 00:07:37.159 --> 00:07:45.359 in my life that I weren't just another bum from the neighborhood. Can you feel that longing to achieve 00:07:45.360 --> 00:07:52.780 an identity? I want to know I'm not just another bum from the neighborhood. I want to be somebody. I want to 00:07:52.780 --> 00:08:02.439 prove to myself and to others that I'm somebody. Now, if you're younger, you may think that's all crazy. 00:08:04.520 --> 00:08:10.060 Increasingly, you don't achieve your sense of identity that way. You do it differently. Nowadays, 00:08:10.060 --> 00:08:17.019 what our culture tells you is don't wear yourself out like Abrams or Rocky, being what other people 00:08:17.019 --> 00:08:23.840 want you to be, filling some role that they've got for you, that identity. No, no, no. No, you do you, 00:08:24.300 --> 00:08:33.679 right? I mean, live your own truth. You're free to discover, to create even your own identity. 00:08:33.679 --> 00:08:42.539 I think the best word today may be to customize your identity. It's what we do with everything else, 00:08:42.620 --> 00:08:49.819 right? Drop a filter on that picture. Substitute a little bit of this and add some of that. And you 00:08:49.819 --> 00:09:01.240 do you. And the result will be you'll be you. You'll be somebody, right? And you'll be free is the 00:09:01.240 --> 00:09:08.139 promise. Sounds really good, doesn't it? There's actually a lot of truth there. It gets a lot right. 00:09:09.919 --> 00:09:17.299 But what we're finding, the longer we live in it, is that it can be just as empty and just as 00:09:17.299 --> 00:09:24.379 exhausting as the classic version of achieving your own identity. I won't explain all the reasons, but 00:09:24.379 --> 00:09:31.179 many of you have experienced it. See, if you don't know who you are, then there's a lot of pressure 00:09:31.179 --> 00:09:40.639 to customize really well. And then to curate that identity that's really fragile. Because when you 00:09:40.639 --> 00:09:47.679 open up every possibility, all the choices in the world before you, where to go to school, whom to love, 00:09:47.679 --> 00:09:57.039 whether to work, it can be overwhelming. To the point that young people increasingly face crippling 00:09:57.039 --> 00:10:05.179 anxiety about their identity. How do you know when it's good enough? And even when you're sure it is, 00:10:05.299 --> 00:10:13.519 if you're the only one who told you that it was good enough, how do you keep it that way? If the good 00:10:13.519 --> 00:10:17.319 enough was only made up by you, how do you know it will be tomorrow? What are you going to feel when 00:10:17.319 --> 00:10:27.139 you wake up? We start to feel anxious. We start to feel trapped, like Elsa. Elsa wasn't the first 00:10:27.139 --> 00:10:35.419 princess to throw off the expectations of her parents and her community, but she took what Ariel and 00:10:35.419 --> 00:10:42.879 Rapunzel and many others had started to a new level, didn't she? In a movie that I have seen, 00:10:42.879 --> 00:10:51.799 Frozen, count on me for the animated ones. Elsa tells herself, quit being the good girl that everyone 00:10:51.799 --> 00:11:02.019 tells you you always have to be. Uncover your true self and do what? Let it go. Let it go. But don't 00:11:02.019 --> 00:11:11.320 miss this. Look at the cultural honesty in this film. In that triumphant moment, she is actually building 00:11:11.320 --> 00:11:21.740 her own ice prison, isn't she? I mean, sure enough, she's got an identity, but she's distant from 00:11:21.740 --> 00:11:27.740 everyone else. She's trapped. Does anybody believe she's really going to find joy and peace there? 00:11:28.180 --> 00:11:35.660 No, we know she's not. Increasingly, we see how putting myself at the center to achieve or to 00:11:35.659 --> 00:11:42.559 customize my own identity that I find somewhere deep within. It actually distances me often from others 00:11:42.559 --> 00:11:50.179 and consistently from God. So on top of that, we end up with young and old people asking, 00:11:50.740 --> 00:11:58.279 who am I? And looking up years later after trying to answer that question and feeling unfulfilled 00:11:58.279 --> 00:12:10.959 and exhausted. Anyone relate? Is there an alternative? Is there any other way? Wouldn't you like another 00:12:10.959 --> 00:12:18.899 option from one of those? Even if you don't like this idea at first that God's going to show us in His Word, 00:12:19.620 --> 00:12:26.139 will you listen to the difference that it may make from the struggle that you feel? Maybe the place you're 00:12:26.139 --> 00:12:39.120 still living right now. God says He defines our identity for us so that it is received, not achieved. 00:12:40.500 --> 00:12:46.139 Think back to Adam. All the way back in the garden, Adam, with no other source of validation, 00:12:47.419 --> 00:12:55.480 gets his sense of self, his sense of worth from his relationship with God, right? God who finds 00:12:55.480 --> 00:13:03.960 his identity solely in himself, gives Adam an identity as his image bearer in relationship to God. That's 00:13:03.960 --> 00:13:14.620 the design for us to find our identity in God. But starting with Adam at the fall, we've decided we're 00:13:14.620 --> 00:13:20.639 going to look for our worth in other places. We're going to find it somewhere else, longing to be more 00:13:20.639 --> 00:13:27.399 in control, to be more impressive to others. And so what happens is that in Jesus, in Christ, God moves 00:13:27.399 --> 00:13:33.960 toward us to bring us back from the idols that we've chased after to that primary identity we've 00:13:33.960 --> 00:13:40.819 received from Him. That's what He's calling us back to. That's what Galatians 2 and Colossians 3 00:13:40.819 --> 00:13:48.019 are describing. Told you we were going to get to the Bible, okay? Here we are. In context, 00:13:48.019 --> 00:13:53.879 these passages are actually addressing our two different ways of achieving identity. 00:13:55.340 --> 00:14:02.319 See, in Galatians, Paul's talking to people being told they need to do enough, to be good enough 00:14:02.319 --> 00:14:13.000 religiously, and Paul says, no way! Galatians 2, 20, I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer 00:14:13.000 --> 00:14:22.659 I who live, but Christ who lives in me. In the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of 00:14:22.659 --> 00:14:34.519 God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. By faith, I'm in the Son of God. United to Jesus is the only 00:14:34.519 --> 00:14:42.579 life that I have now. Gone is every achieved identity. The good enough baseball player, the good enough 00:14:42.579 --> 00:14:50.100 father, the good enough pastor. Those versions of me don't live any longer because I've died and been 00:14:50.100 --> 00:14:57.159 raised in union with Christ. See what he's saying? Christianity is not self-improvement. It's not. 00:14:57.159 --> 00:15:04.399 It is a new self. I live in Him. If anyone is in Christ, He is a new creation, not just a little bit 00:15:04.399 --> 00:15:12.319 better version, keep trying harder, a new creation. Colossians 3 is going to say the same thing. 00:15:13.419 --> 00:15:18.919 But there's a different situation in Colossae when Paul writes to them. Here Paul writes to people who 00:15:18.919 --> 00:15:24.079 are being told, Jesus is fine, you can have Him as a piece of your identity, that's kind of cool, 00:15:24.080 --> 00:15:30.980 maybe in some circles. But what you really need is something a bit more, something more unique, 00:15:31.120 --> 00:15:39.280 something special, something secret, if you're really going to be fulfilled. And Paul's been telling 00:15:39.280 --> 00:15:50.759 them that's not it. You have fullness in Christ, chapter 2, verse 10. You've got it. Now Colossians 3, 00:15:50.759 --> 00:16:01.340 at verse 3. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your 00:16:01.340 --> 00:16:11.019 life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. Your life is hidden with Christ. In fact, 00:16:11.439 --> 00:16:18.439 Christ is your life. That's very straightforward. There's no other version of you living. You died, 00:16:18.440 --> 00:16:25.040 right? The one where you customize your identity, where you sought to find worth in the uniquely 00:16:25.040 --> 00:16:35.760 curated version of yourself. It's gone. You don't need it. Christ is your life. You are hidden in Him. 00:16:37.360 --> 00:16:40.440 That's the picture I want to give you today for union with Christ. 00:16:40.440 --> 00:16:46.440 Christ is your life. You are hidden in Him. You are hidden in Him. You are hidden in Him. You are hidden in Him. 00:16:46.440 --> 00:16:51.760 Rather than a tiger or an elephant, let's pick one we can all cheer for. 00:16:52.900 --> 00:16:57.760 Sprocket, the beloved trash panda. Okay? 00:16:57.759 --> 00:17:06.119 Imagine at the end of a long day, you drive out to the trash panda's game. You go to the dressing room, 00:17:06.339 --> 00:17:14.579 and you get in costume, in sprocket. Okay? That's your job. Just imagine that's what you do 00:17:14.579 --> 00:17:22.200 every night that there's a home game. When you do that, you pull up the outfit, you put the head on. 00:17:22.200 --> 00:17:30.539 You are hidden in sprocket, aren't you? Nobody sees the guy who yelled at his kids earlier in the day. 00:17:31.220 --> 00:17:35.299 The guy who messed up the presentation at work, they don't know that's you. 00:17:36.680 --> 00:17:42.960 They see the same big smile on your face, even if you don't feel like it and you're not smiling at all. 00:17:43.519 --> 00:17:49.700 Still looks the same to them. You have a new identity for the night, don't you? 00:17:49.700 --> 00:17:57.480 You don't live anymore on your own. You are in sprocket. In fact, many people have said this 00:17:57.480 --> 00:18:02.319 who've served in roles like this. They've found themselves struggling to think that others like 00:18:02.319 --> 00:18:08.880 them and are excited to be with them, and they have this almost out-of-body experience of kid 00:18:08.880 --> 00:18:14.700 after kid running up to hug you and want to have pictures taken with you, and they wonder, 00:18:14.700 --> 00:18:24.680 is that what it's really like to be loved? This is a picture of what God wants you to experience 00:18:24.680 --> 00:18:33.580 when he unites you to Christ, covered, hidden in Christ. Your primary identity is not what you do, 00:18:34.299 --> 00:18:39.900 your performance. It's not how you feel, your passions. 00:18:39.900 --> 00:18:51.820 It's who you are, united to Christ. Now, that is so countercultural. It is hard for us to imagine 00:18:51.820 --> 00:18:59.800 what that would really mean. Not what I do. Not what I feel that I think must define me. 00:18:59.799 --> 00:19:08.419 But it's who I am in Christ. This is how you're loved. This is where you belong. 00:19:11.200 --> 00:19:15.680 Identity received rather than achieved. 00:19:15.680 --> 00:19:25.060 What is that identity? How are we defined in Christ? Who does God say we are? If we're going 00:19:25.060 --> 00:19:30.420 to listen to him, we're going to keep unpacking this in the weeks ahead, but we'll notice briefly 00:19:30.420 --> 00:19:38.140 three things that these verses highlight. First, you are defined permanently in Christ. 00:19:38.539 --> 00:19:45.380 Colossians 3 says you are not merely hidden in Christ now, but at the end of time when Jesus 00:19:45.380 --> 00:19:53.780 returns, you'll still be with him. You are Christ's. You two are inseparable. You are not just hidden 00:19:53.780 --> 00:19:58.980 in Christ for one night until the game is over and you take off the costume and put your real clothes 00:19:58.980 --> 00:20:09.640 back on. No, no, no. This is your true identity. The old me is gone, Galatians 2 says, right? 00:20:09.640 --> 00:20:21.580 So this new identity is permanent. And you're defined perfectly in Christ. Both these passages are trying 00:20:21.580 --> 00:20:30.160 to tell us how to live in right relationship with God. And they say by being in Christ. You are right 00:20:30.160 --> 00:20:38.259 with God, not through your hard work, not through your special creativity, but through the only person, 00:20:38.259 --> 00:20:47.140 whoever got it all right, whoever achieved enough, Jesus. So listen again, I hope to say this every 00:20:47.140 --> 00:20:52.180 week this summer so that we start kind of thinking what it would mean. You and Jesus are so united 00:20:52.180 --> 00:21:00.519 that whatever happens to him happens to you and vice versa. Listen to 2 Corinthians 5. 00:21:00.519 --> 00:21:07.799 For our sake, God made him to be sin who knew no sin. That's Jesus, the one who knew no sin. 00:21:08.660 --> 00:21:19.819 So that in him we might become the righteousness of God. God made Jesus to become sin where? On the cross 00:21:19.819 --> 00:21:27.480 specifically. And we say, how is that? How can God just do that? How can God give Jesus what sin 00:21:27.480 --> 00:21:35.799 deserves when Jesus had no sin? Well, the trick is he connected Jesus to us, didn't he? So Jesus gets 00:21:35.799 --> 00:21:46.400 what our sin deserved. And then God gives us what Jesus deserved. In him, you become the righteousness 00:21:46.400 --> 00:21:53.740 of God. Perfect, pure, wearing Jesus's righteous robes. All that God requires of you to be in close 00:21:53.740 --> 00:21:57.500 relationship the way. And you become the way. And you become the way that he made you to. When you are hidden in 00:21:57.500 --> 00:22:06.579 Christ, in his son, listen, God delights in you the way those kids run up to sprocket and give him a big hug. 00:22:06.740 --> 00:22:19.279 And they don't even know you. But you're in his son. And then third, you are defined personally in Christ. 00:22:19.279 --> 00:22:24.920 Personally in two ways that I think are really encouraging. Colossians says, 00:22:25.279 --> 00:22:33.619 Christ will appear and you will appear with him in glory. Eternally, perfectly, there will be a distinct 00:22:33.619 --> 00:22:40.819 you. You don't just meld into Christ. That's not what union with Christ means. You are never separated 00:22:40.819 --> 00:22:52.460 from Jesus, yes, but you don't become Jesus. You still live forever, personally. And then back to 00:22:52.460 --> 00:23:06.159 Galatians 2, I am in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. Man, there's a verse to spend 00:23:06.160 --> 00:23:15.000 the rest of the rest of the day marveling at, isn't there? Who loved me and gave himself for me, for you 00:23:15.000 --> 00:23:27.100 personally, singularly, specifically. He loves you so much that he wants you in the family as a child 00:23:27.099 --> 00:23:35.579 of God. You personally are perfect permanently because you're united to Jesus. You don't have to 00:23:35.579 --> 00:23:42.059 pretend. You don't have to put on a show. You don't have to go find yourself. You don't have to. 00:23:44.399 --> 00:23:51.859 This is who you were made to be and now it's who you always are. Could you breathe in? Take a deep, 00:23:51.859 --> 00:23:58.439 deep breath of that grace. Your identity is given to you forever. 00:24:01.299 --> 00:24:09.119 Let me clarify one thing before we move on to the next question. Religious people can have fake masks 00:24:09.119 --> 00:24:19.139 too. The distinction, if you're confused, maybe even in your own life, is that religiosity or performance 00:24:19.140 --> 00:24:27.800 religion, just trying to live better? It's still seeking to achieve an identity. Do you see that? 00:24:29.060 --> 00:24:38.940 Even an identity like Christian, for example, rather than to receive an identity like in Christ. 00:24:38.940 --> 00:24:51.320 I'm valuable when I do enough church things. We sometimes think, y'all, that can't be done. 00:24:51.759 --> 00:24:59.140 It's not how God made us. It's not how we're designed to do enough anything to finally be valuable. 00:24:59.940 --> 00:25:08.220 It's not what he expects from us. Identity achieving you has to die and be hidden in Christ as you receive 00:25:08.220 --> 00:25:14.200 the only mask that is the identity God designed you to have from the beginning defined in relationship 00:25:14.200 --> 00:25:22.299 with him. Think of the difference that makes, by the way. Late pastor Tim Keller says this received 00:25:22.299 --> 00:25:30.500 identity is the only one that allows us to live with appropriate confidence because it, I love how he 00:25:30.500 --> 00:25:37.380 says it, it says it, humbles you to the dust and lifts you up to the sky at the same time. 00:25:38.839 --> 00:25:43.920 Right? Think about it. You can't take any credit for this identity, can you? 00:25:45.720 --> 00:25:52.559 Sprocket? Is that you? You didn't make yourself lovable. You yelled at your kids today, 00:25:52.559 --> 00:26:02.079 but now you're hidden and there's a humble feeling that begins to grow in your heart. Not calling 00:26:02.079 --> 00:26:10.480 attention to yourself, but also now you're so confident, aren't you? Because you're really loved. 00:26:10.700 --> 00:26:16.240 It is really you who is in Jesus, the new you. Y'all are connected. If it's true of him, 00:26:16.240 --> 00:26:28.180 it's true of you. So you cannot say anymore, I am a failure. Why? Because Jesus is not. He's faithful. 00:26:30.079 --> 00:26:39.960 You can't say anymore, I'm worthless. Why? Because Jesus is precious. He is worthy. 00:26:39.960 --> 00:26:52.220 You can't say anymore, no one loves me. Because Jesus is beloved of his father. So are you. 00:26:53.579 --> 00:26:59.299 You see the confidence that it gives you? Those lies that we often believe can no longer be true, 00:26:59.440 --> 00:27:05.600 but now we have this humble confidence that's not disgustingly self-obsessed. Don't you hate people 00:27:05.599 --> 00:27:11.819 like that? And it's not disgustingly self-critical. Don't you want to live like that with that kind of 00:27:11.819 --> 00:27:20.159 joy and confidence and freedom? Well, how do you? I mean, Will, you haven't told me anything I didn't 00:27:20.159 --> 00:27:29.240 already know this morning, and I still sinfully chase after my own identity. I still hate myself when I 00:27:29.240 --> 00:27:36.640 look in the mirror. I still get anxious before the big test and depressed after I fail it. 00:27:38.839 --> 00:27:44.120 We're going to keep talking all summer, especially if you want to get practical. Stay for the discussion 00:27:44.120 --> 00:27:52.220 in the connect hour today. But let me just say it's really good to admit that our hearts still chase 00:27:52.220 --> 00:27:59.860 after idols. Idols. That's what it is when we don't receive our identity from God and live in it, right? 00:28:00.360 --> 00:28:09.200 Everything else we're chasing after. And so how it works is there's a rhythm of repentance and renewal. 00:28:10.500 --> 00:28:16.980 Daily spend time repenting of places that you see this in your heart and life. Besetting sins, 00:28:16.980 --> 00:28:25.880 idols that you frequent, identities that you try to achieve. Repent of them and daily spend time 00:28:25.880 --> 00:28:32.940 renewing your communion with Christ. One little thing that just helps me as I sit at the beginning 00:28:32.940 --> 00:28:40.799 of each day and try to pray through my day is to say to myself, Christ lives in me. I live in Christ. 00:28:41.200 --> 00:28:46.380 So what I've got before me this day is not what I've got, but God, what are we doing, right? 00:28:47.280 --> 00:28:52.820 Jesus and I, I'm not going anywhere or doing anything by myself. What are we doing today? 00:28:55.560 --> 00:29:01.620 If you've often or lately struggled here, try reading this prayer every morning for a couple weeks. 00:29:01.620 --> 00:29:08.700 It will lead you in repentance and renewal. It's called continual repentance from the valley of vision. 00:29:08.920 --> 00:29:14.640 Starts with a reminder of the gospel and a chance to confess your sins. Then let me read you a bit at the 00:29:14.640 --> 00:29:22.700 end. I have no robe to bring to cover my sins, no loom to weave my own righteousness. I am always 00:29:22.700 --> 00:29:29.600 standing clothed in filthy garments and by grace am always receiving change of raiment, new clothes. 00:29:29.600 --> 00:29:36.400 For thou dost always justify the ungodly. I'm always going into the far country and always returning home 00:29:36.400 --> 00:29:43.200 as a prodigal, always saying, Father, forgive me. And thou art always bringing forth the best robe, 00:29:43.820 --> 00:29:50.519 hiding me in Christ's righteousness. So listen, pray this way. Every morning, let me wear it. 00:29:50.880 --> 00:29:56.920 Every evening, return in it. Go out to the day's work in it. Be married in it. Be wound in death in it. 00:29:56.920 --> 00:30:02.500 Stand before the great white throne in it. Enter heaven in it, shining as the sun. 00:30:02.500 --> 00:30:12.579 That's your privilege in Christ. Pray, God, let me live in Christ today. Memorize these verses 00:30:12.579 --> 00:30:19.579 from Galatians 2 and Colossians 3. Repeat them through the day. Ask God to remind you that you 00:30:19.579 --> 00:30:28.660 are who he says you are. Sing that song to yourself. Keep this at the forefront of your heart and mind. 00:30:28.660 --> 00:30:37.880 I want to answer just one last question this morning because many hearing me say this would say, 00:30:38.160 --> 00:30:46.700 I hear you and I am confident I know the problem. This is just another way of capitulating to not 00:30:46.700 --> 00:30:55.080 being enough and giving up on trying hard. And you're giving up twice. You're also giving up on 00:30:55.079 --> 00:31:00.179 having personal freedom. I know it. Well, I heard you just say, give up the things you really want 00:31:00.179 --> 00:31:05.799 and toe the line so you may feel okay, but you will never really be free. 00:31:09.000 --> 00:31:16.639 Listen, identity in Christ accounts for both of these deeply felt concerns. I hear them a lot. 00:31:16.640 --> 00:31:25.200 But here's what it says in Christ. You still work hard, but not in order to be accepted. Rather, 00:31:25.860 --> 00:31:33.700 because you are accepted. So you have worth, purpose in Christ, getting to know the king more, 00:31:34.100 --> 00:31:40.120 laboring for his kingdom to come everywhere. You can now do almost any work and it's significant, 00:31:40.119 --> 00:31:48.699 valuable work, but it's not self-defining. It's not burdensome work. 00:31:51.219 --> 00:31:57.379 And in case you're worried that this whole idea is just submitting to the institution and losing 00:31:57.379 --> 00:32:06.979 yourself, listen, you actually find true freedom in Christ because you're not enslaved any longer to 00:32:06.980 --> 00:32:14.700 yourself, to the conflicting desires in your soul. Have you experienced that? You're not sure which one 00:32:14.700 --> 00:32:20.420 to prioritize when you look in here to customize your own identity, but there's competing desires. 00:32:21.380 --> 00:32:28.039 You're not enslaved to unattainable standards of performance, to outside affirmation for value. 00:32:29.500 --> 00:32:35.140 You already have the affirmation of the one who knows perfection when he sees it. 00:32:35.140 --> 00:32:44.259 God treasures you personally and permanently. Do you see that? If it were true that God were really 00:32:44.259 --> 00:32:50.820 good, that he was the maker and designer of everything, that he had the highest standards 00:32:50.820 --> 00:32:55.960 of anyone in the world, then this would be the only identity that would make sense. Do you see that? 00:32:56.180 --> 00:33:01.800 It'd be the only one you would want to have. It's the one where he values you, where he affirms you, 00:33:01.799 --> 00:33:05.500 where he says you're who you're supposed to be. 00:33:08.059 --> 00:33:09.139 Maybe he is. 00:33:10.680 --> 00:33:18.139 Maybe he's inviting you into the true freedom that you've been trying to demand for yourself by pushing him 00:33:18.139 --> 00:33:19.259 and others away. 00:33:20.919 --> 00:33:23.200 One commentator writes so helpfully, 00:33:23.200 --> 00:33:27.580 when the Spirit comes to us in redemption, uniting us to Jesus Christ, 00:33:27.819 --> 00:33:30.200 we do not lose our true identity. 00:33:30.779 --> 00:33:32.220 Rather, it is restored. 00:33:33.340 --> 00:33:35.559 Since we were not created to be autonomous, 00:33:35.900 --> 00:33:37.000 self-made people, 00:33:37.279 --> 00:33:39.980 but we're created to be in communion with God, 00:33:40.220 --> 00:33:43.480 when the Spirit leads us back into communion with God 00:33:43.480 --> 00:33:44.420 in Christ, 00:33:44.740 --> 00:33:46.799 we do not lose our true selves, 00:33:46.940 --> 00:33:48.000 we regain them. 00:33:48.000 --> 00:33:52.279 To be fully human is not to be autonomous, 00:33:53.200 --> 00:33:56.200 but to be in communion with God. 00:33:57.480 --> 00:33:57.940 Amen. 00:33:59.500 --> 00:34:04.259 Listen, at some colleges at graduations, 00:34:05.000 --> 00:34:08.400 students who have spent the last year or more 00:34:08.400 --> 00:34:12.460 in costume, hidden, secret, 00:34:12.699 --> 00:34:16.539 as the team mascot for their college that whole year, 00:34:16.539 --> 00:34:17.980 they get to come out, 00:34:18.340 --> 00:34:20.219 and then in front of a huge stadium of people, 00:34:20.340 --> 00:34:21.940 take off the headgear, 00:34:22.039 --> 00:34:23.579 take off the mask, 00:34:23.980 --> 00:34:26.500 as the whole stadium cheers 00:34:26.500 --> 00:34:28.739 and celebrates a person 00:34:28.739 --> 00:34:30.940 that they have cheered with all season, 00:34:31.139 --> 00:34:31.940 all year, 00:34:32.059 --> 00:34:34.199 but never really seen and known, 00:34:34.539 --> 00:34:36.139 and they only see him now. 00:34:36.519 --> 00:34:37.860 What a great moment. 00:34:40.099 --> 00:34:42.159 Because you are in Christ, 00:34:42.679 --> 00:34:44.019 God looks at you, 00:34:44.019 --> 00:34:45.820 and he sees Jesus, 00:34:46.340 --> 00:34:47.400 the one you're covered in. 00:34:47.599 --> 00:34:48.440 What a wonder. 00:34:48.820 --> 00:34:50.820 He looks at you and sees Jesus, 00:34:51.159 --> 00:34:53.119 but you are not erased. 00:34:53.880 --> 00:34:55.179 When Christ, 00:34:55.579 --> 00:34:57.420 who is your life, 00:34:57.639 --> 00:34:58.219 appears, 00:34:59.059 --> 00:34:59.719 he appears? 00:35:00.440 --> 00:35:00.840 What else? 00:35:01.099 --> 00:35:03.019 Then you also will appear 00:35:03.019 --> 00:35:05.320 with him in glory. 00:35:05.559 --> 00:35:06.880 You will be revealed 00:35:06.880 --> 00:35:08.759 with the triumphant celebration 00:35:08.760 --> 00:35:10.260 of the sons of God 00:35:10.260 --> 00:35:11.280 and all of his 00:35:11.280 --> 00:35:12.880 and your glory, 00:35:13.200 --> 00:35:14.040 fully restored 00:35:14.040 --> 00:35:15.340 to the image of his son 00:35:15.340 --> 00:35:17.200 because you're still hidden in him 00:35:17.200 --> 00:35:18.040 and you're fully 00:35:18.040 --> 00:35:20.240 and freely you. 00:35:20.680 --> 00:35:22.080 And God cheers. 00:35:22.520 --> 00:35:23.940 Heaven erupts 00:35:23.940 --> 00:35:25.220 in celebration 00:35:25.220 --> 00:35:27.340 and you get your identity, 00:35:28.160 --> 00:35:29.000 your worth, 00:35:29.420 --> 00:35:29.760 in relationship 00:35:30.380 --> 00:35:31.460 with the God 00:35:31.460 --> 00:35:33.160 who made you to find it 00:35:33.160 --> 00:35:35.480 only in him. 00:35:35.700 --> 00:35:36.500 What a day. 00:35:36.500 --> 00:35:38.820 What a celebration you have 00:35:38.820 --> 00:35:40.599 because you are always 00:35:40.599 --> 00:35:41.360 and forever 00:35:41.360 --> 00:35:43.039 in Christ. 00:35:43.679 --> 00:35:44.679 This table 00:35:44.679 --> 00:35:46.219 is here to deepen 00:35:46.219 --> 00:35:47.280 your awareness 00:35:47.280 --> 00:35:48.739 of your union 00:35:48.739 --> 00:35:49.980 with him. 00:35:50.260 --> 00:35:50.920 By faith, 00:35:51.019 --> 00:35:52.239 you are one with him 00:35:52.239 --> 00:35:54.059 because he came 00:35:54.059 --> 00:35:55.780 to unite himself to you, 00:35:55.880 --> 00:35:57.519 to give himself for you 00:35:57.519 --> 00:35:59.199 in your place. 00:35:59.599 --> 00:36:01.079 Jesus explained it this way. 00:36:01.539 --> 00:36:02.599 The night he was betrayed, 00:36:03.239 --> 00:36:04.340 when he took bread 00:36:04.340 --> 00:36:06.079 and he broke it 00:36:06.079 --> 00:36:07.200 and he gave it 00:36:07.200 --> 00:36:08.079 to his disciples 00:36:08.079 --> 00:36:09.460 as I'm ministering 00:36:09.460 --> 00:36:10.140 in his name, 00:36:10.460 --> 00:36:11.539 give this bread to you. 00:36:12.039 --> 00:36:12.620 He said, 00:36:12.940 --> 00:36:13.300 take and eat. 00:36:13.579 --> 00:36:14.660 This is my body 00:36:14.660 --> 00:36:15.860 given for you. 00:36:16.140 --> 00:36:16.720 Do this 00:36:16.720 --> 00:36:17.980 in remembrance of me. 00:36:19.140 --> 00:36:20.000 And then after supper 00:36:20.000 --> 00:36:20.940 he took the cup 00:36:20.940 --> 00:36:21.360 and said, 00:36:21.559 --> 00:36:22.019 this cup 00:36:22.019 --> 00:36:22.940 is the new covenant 00:36:22.940 --> 00:36:23.940 in my blood 00:36:23.940 --> 00:36:25.100 shed for many 00:36:25.100 --> 00:36:25.940 for the forgiveness 00:36:25.940 --> 00:36:26.680 of sins. 00:36:27.140 --> 00:36:28.000 Drink from it 00:36:28.000 --> 00:36:29.340 all of you. 00:36:29.340 --> 00:36:32.700 If you're united 00:36:32.700 --> 00:36:33.920 to Christ by faith, 00:36:34.200 --> 00:36:35.680 you don't have to be united 00:36:35.680 --> 00:36:37.740 to this specific church, 00:36:37.920 --> 00:36:39.559 just any part 00:36:39.559 --> 00:36:41.200 of his body. 00:36:41.840 --> 00:36:42.800 You come and eat 00:36:42.800 --> 00:36:43.960 with us this morning 00:36:43.960 --> 00:36:44.880 and with him. 00:36:46.360 --> 00:36:47.720 If that's not you, 00:36:47.800 --> 00:36:49.640 if you haven't trusted Jesus, 00:36:49.800 --> 00:36:51.380 if you don't see yourself 00:36:51.380 --> 00:36:52.559 united to him 00:36:52.559 --> 00:36:54.280 and that he gave his life 00:36:54.280 --> 00:36:55.320 in your place, 00:36:55.720 --> 00:36:57.160 then he's here this morning 00:36:57.160 --> 00:36:58.220 to offer himself 00:36:58.219 --> 00:36:59.099 to you again. 00:36:59.379 --> 00:37:01.059 To say there is an identity 00:37:01.059 --> 00:37:03.139 that will be given to you 00:37:03.139 --> 00:37:04.419 as a gift 00:37:04.419 --> 00:37:06.279 and he offers it to you 00:37:06.279 --> 00:37:07.639 in himself. 00:37:08.419 --> 00:37:09.980 Don't come today 00:37:09.980 --> 00:37:10.919 to the elements 00:37:10.919 --> 00:37:11.799 at this table. 00:37:12.199 --> 00:37:13.299 You can come 00:37:13.299 --> 00:37:14.319 and observe. 00:37:14.599 --> 00:37:15.059 You can come. 00:37:15.159 --> 00:37:16.439 We'd love to pray with you. 00:37:16.759 --> 00:37:17.299 You're welcome 00:37:17.299 --> 00:37:18.480 to stay where you are, 00:37:18.779 --> 00:37:19.779 wherever you're comfortable. 00:37:20.159 --> 00:37:21.500 What's more important to us 00:37:21.500 --> 00:37:23.059 is that you see here 00:37:23.059 --> 00:37:23.859 the God 00:37:23.859 --> 00:37:24.799 who gives himself 00:37:24.799 --> 00:37:25.639 for you 00:37:25.639 --> 00:37:27.159 so that you can be 00:37:27.159 --> 00:37:28.179 fully free 00:37:28.179 --> 00:37:29.579 and fully his 00:37:29.579 --> 00:37:30.539 forever. 00:37:31.940 --> 00:37:33.139 That's what he offers you 00:37:33.139 --> 00:37:34.219 and I offer to you 00:37:34.219 --> 00:37:35.059 in the name of Jesus. 00:37:35.279 --> 00:37:35.699 Let's pray 00:37:35.699 --> 00:37:36.960 and then we'll celebrate together. 00:37:39.420 --> 00:37:39.859 Jesus, 00:37:40.039 --> 00:37:40.940 what a great gift 00:37:40.940 --> 00:37:43.339 and we need it 00:37:43.339 --> 00:37:43.940 and we struggle 00:37:43.940 --> 00:37:44.599 to believe 00:37:44.599 --> 00:37:45.960 that we are actually 00:37:45.960 --> 00:37:47.199 connected to you 00:37:47.199 --> 00:37:49.839 so much so that it could be 00:37:49.839 --> 00:37:51.500 our true identity 00:37:51.500 --> 00:37:53.019 and so as bread 00:37:53.019 --> 00:37:54.699 and wine 00:37:54.699 --> 00:37:55.960 pass our lips 00:37:55.960 --> 00:37:57.559 might we feel 00:37:57.559 --> 00:37:58.199 and taste 00:37:58.199 --> 00:37:58.920 and smell 00:37:58.920 --> 00:38:00.380 the truth of it 00:38:00.380 --> 00:38:02.719 that we're loved 00:38:02.719 --> 00:38:04.340 in Christ 00:38:04.340 --> 00:38:06.400 more than we can believe. 00:38:08.599 --> 00:38:10.019 Use common elements 00:38:10.019 --> 00:38:11.139 for a holy purpose 00:38:11.139 --> 00:38:11.860 in our hearts. 00:38:11.980 --> 00:38:12.519 We need it 00:38:12.519 --> 00:38:13.800 and we ask you 00:38:13.800 --> 00:38:14.639 in Jesus' name. 00:38:15.460 --> 00:38:15.719 Amen. 00:38:15.719 --> 00:38:15.880 Amen. 00:38:15.880 --> 00:38:18.800 For more information 00:38:18.800 --> 00:38:20.039 visit us online 00:38:20.039 --> 00:38:21.119 at southwood.org