WEBVTT 00:00:03.679 --> 00:00:06.799 Hey all, Pastor John here. Thanks for tuning 00:00:06.799 --> 00:00:09.980 in to the weekly sermon podcast. We pray this 00:00:09.980 --> 00:00:12.740 message encourages you, strengthens your faith, 00:00:12.900 --> 00:00:15.359 and helps you to take your next step with Jesus. 00:00:16.079 --> 00:00:18.359 If this content blesses you and you'd like to 00:00:18.359 --> 00:00:20.500 be a part of helping us continue to bring the 00:00:20.500 --> 00:00:22.960 gospel to life, we'd love for you to consider 00:00:22.960 --> 00:00:26.079 supporting the ministry of village. Your generosity 00:00:26.079 --> 00:00:28.579 makes it possible for us to keep creating and 00:00:28.579 --> 00:00:31.670 sharing resources like this podcast. You can 00:00:31.670 --> 00:00:35.770 give safely and easily by visiting sacvillage 00:00:35.770 --> 00:00:39.390 .org slash give, or by heading to our website 00:00:39.390 --> 00:00:43.350 at sacvillage .org. Thanks again for listening. 00:00:43.670 --> 00:00:54.590 Now let's dive into this week's message. The 00:00:54.590 --> 00:00:59.289 question, who am I? Who am I? Well, in this moment 00:00:59.289 --> 00:01:04.780 in our culture, spiritually, emotionally, that 00:01:04.780 --> 00:01:08.000 question has become one of the most central, 00:01:08.719 --> 00:01:12.239 powerful, and most contested questions there 00:01:12.239 --> 00:01:17.819 is. We live in a time that talks constantly about 00:01:17.819 --> 00:01:22.379 identity. We are told to find ourselves, express 00:01:22.379 --> 00:01:25.859 ourselves, to be true to ourselves, and yet for 00:01:25.859 --> 00:01:29.000 all the language about authenticity, people are 00:01:29.000 --> 00:01:33.799 more anxious more fragmented and more unsure 00:01:33.799 --> 00:01:38.019 of themselves than ever before. The truth is 00:01:38.019 --> 00:01:41.359 most of us aren't actually discovering who we 00:01:41.359 --> 00:01:44.980 are. What we are doing is we're trying to construct 00:01:44.980 --> 00:01:48.280 a self that we then have to work really hard 00:01:48.280 --> 00:01:52.840 to hold together. Most people are not out discovering 00:01:52.840 --> 00:01:56.060 themselves. Discovering would imply finding something 00:01:56.060 --> 00:01:59.840 out there in order to find myself in it. But 00:01:59.840 --> 00:02:03.299 most people are being driven to look inward and 00:02:03.299 --> 00:02:06.719 construct their own identity, construct their 00:02:06.719 --> 00:02:11.300 own way of understanding themselves. And then 00:02:11.300 --> 00:02:13.580 they have to work really hard to hold it all 00:02:13.580 --> 00:02:19.800 together. You know what I mean? A self that can 00:02:19.800 --> 00:02:24.099 explain and justify us. A self that can survive 00:02:24.099 --> 00:02:27.900 disappointment or failure, criticism or loss. 00:02:28.080 --> 00:02:31.780 and this idea of constructing a self and trying 00:02:31.780 --> 00:02:34.159 to work to hold it together, it's exhausting. 00:02:36.500 --> 00:02:39.500 And if we're honest, a lot of what we call identity 00:02:39.500 --> 00:02:46.500 today really feels fragile. It is so easily threatened. 00:02:47.340 --> 00:02:51.000 It's so easily shaken. It's so easily offended. 00:02:53.379 --> 00:02:55.919 And when identity is something you have to build, 00:02:56.110 --> 00:02:58.289 then it's something that you have to maintain. 00:02:58.509 --> 00:03:00.030 And when identity is something that you have 00:03:00.030 --> 00:03:02.849 to build, you're always afraid it will collapse. 00:03:05.030 --> 00:03:07.469 And that's why this series in this year's theme 00:03:07.469 --> 00:03:11.310 is called True and Better. Because the gospel 00:03:11.310 --> 00:03:14.969 offers a true and better identity than any other 00:03:14.969 --> 00:03:18.729 identity that's currently on the market. The 00:03:18.729 --> 00:03:20.830 gospel tells us something radically different 00:03:20.830 --> 00:03:25.840 about who we are. Not something invented or discovered 00:03:25.840 --> 00:03:30.719 inside ourselves, but something received. And 00:03:30.719 --> 00:03:34.139 this series is about identity in Christ, a theological 00:03:34.139 --> 00:03:38.780 reality that reshapes everything. How you see 00:03:38.780 --> 00:03:43.620 yourself, how you interpret your past, how you 00:03:43.620 --> 00:03:47.159 live in your body, how you relate to others and 00:03:47.159 --> 00:03:51.909 how you endure suffering. And our gospel anchor 00:03:51.909 --> 00:03:56.629 for this series is identity is received in creation, 00:03:57.449 --> 00:04:02.849 destroyed by sin, and restored in Christ. Identity 00:04:02.849 --> 00:04:06.569 is received in creation from God, destroyed by 00:04:06.569 --> 00:04:09.210 sin, and restored in Christ. And that sentence 00:04:09.210 --> 00:04:11.629 is going to anchor our next eight weeks in this 00:04:11.629 --> 00:04:13.990 series. Today we're just kind of flying over 00:04:13.990 --> 00:04:17.209 at 30 ,000 feet to get an idea of identity in 00:04:17.209 --> 00:04:22.189 Christ. You cannot understand who you are until 00:04:22.189 --> 00:04:27.310 you understand who God says you are. So this 00:04:27.310 --> 00:04:29.250 morning, we're gonna look at two places in scripture. 00:04:29.310 --> 00:04:30.829 We're gonna go back to the beginning and look 00:04:30.829 --> 00:04:33.449 at Genesis. And then we're also gonna fast forward 00:04:33.449 --> 00:04:37.269 and look at a man whose entire identity was dismantled 00:04:37.269 --> 00:04:40.990 and rebuilt, the apostle Paul in Philippians 00:04:40.990 --> 00:04:46.319 chapter three. The gospel. doesn't just offer 00:04:46.319 --> 00:04:49.800 forgiveness for sins. The gospel offers a truer 00:04:49.800 --> 00:04:53.079 and better answer to the question, who am I? 00:04:54.800 --> 00:04:58.079 If you're taking notes, number one, identity 00:04:58.079 --> 00:05:05.040 is received, not achieved. The Bible starts with 00:05:05.040 --> 00:05:10.399 God speaking. Genesis one opens with divine intention. 00:05:11.579 --> 00:05:14.910 In the beginning, God created the heavens and 00:05:14.910 --> 00:05:19.970 the earth. It begins with God, God who creates 00:05:19.970 --> 00:05:24.189 on purpose. And if we pick up in Genesis chapter 00:05:24.189 --> 00:05:27.470 one in verse 26, it says, then God said, let 00:05:27.470 --> 00:05:30.910 us make man in our own image according to our 00:05:30.910 --> 00:05:33.850 likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea 00:05:33.850 --> 00:05:36.509 and the birds of the sky, the livestock, the 00:05:36.509 --> 00:05:39.569 whole earth and the creatures that crawl on the 00:05:39.569 --> 00:05:42.629 earth. And so God created man in his own image. 00:05:42.810 --> 00:05:45.589 He created him in the image of God. He created 00:05:45.589 --> 00:05:49.170 them male and female. And God blessed them and 00:05:49.170 --> 00:05:52.649 said, be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth 00:05:52.649 --> 00:05:55.269 and subdue it, rule over the fish of the sea 00:05:55.269 --> 00:05:57.889 and the birds of the sky and every creature that 00:05:57.889 --> 00:06:03.410 crawls on earth. Notice that God did not say, 00:06:03.649 --> 00:06:08.250 let them define themselves. And God did not say, 00:06:08.290 --> 00:06:13.350 let them invent meaning for themselves. He said, 00:06:13.370 --> 00:06:18.209 let us make them in our image and likeness. Which 00:06:18.209 --> 00:06:21.810 means that identity begins not with self -expression, 00:06:22.670 --> 00:06:28.370 but as a divine gift. You are someone because 00:06:28.370 --> 00:06:33.220 God made you someone. Before Adam ever did a 00:06:33.220 --> 00:06:35.139 single thing, before he worked the garden, before 00:06:35.139 --> 00:06:38.220 he performed any task whatsoever, he already 00:06:38.220 --> 00:06:43.040 had an identity. He was made in the image of 00:06:43.040 --> 00:06:46.839 God. To be made in the image of God, what does 00:06:46.839 --> 00:06:48.920 that mean? Well, it means at least three things. 00:06:49.279 --> 00:06:52.139 Number one, it means first that identity is relational. 00:06:54.959 --> 00:06:59.959 You exist because God wanted relationship. Your 00:06:59.959 --> 00:07:04.040 life is not an accident. You are not the result 00:07:04.040 --> 00:07:10.100 of chaos and chance. And number two, it at least 00:07:10.100 --> 00:07:14.420 means that identity is embodied. God forms Adam 00:07:14.420 --> 00:07:18.379 from the dust. He breathes life into his body 00:07:18.379 --> 00:07:21.480 from the very beginning. To be human is to be 00:07:21.480 --> 00:07:26.439 a soul in a body created and called very good 00:07:26.439 --> 00:07:32.250 by God. It means at least number three, that 00:07:32.250 --> 00:07:37.089 identity is purposeful. Human beings are created 00:07:37.089 --> 00:07:40.689 to reflect God's character into this world, to 00:07:40.689 --> 00:07:44.149 rule and steward and cultivate and care, which 00:07:44.149 --> 00:07:49.930 means identity comes before function. You are 00:07:49.930 --> 00:07:54.769 not defined by what you do. You do what you do 00:07:54.769 --> 00:08:00.250 because of who you already are. This is where 00:08:00.250 --> 00:08:03.430 so many of us get things backwards. We live as 00:08:03.430 --> 00:08:06.310 if, if I perform well enough, then I will matter. 00:08:06.350 --> 00:08:09.449 If I succeed, then I'm valuable. But Genesis 00:08:09.449 --> 00:08:12.870 says the opposite. Belonging comes first. Value 00:08:12.870 --> 00:08:18.009 comes first. Meaning comes first. Work flows 00:08:18.009 --> 00:08:23.730 from identity, not the other way around. And 00:08:23.730 --> 00:08:25.790 if you miss that, you're gonna spend your whole 00:08:25.790 --> 00:08:28.470 life trying to earn something God already gave. 00:08:31.790 --> 00:08:37.509 In Genesis, God walks with humanity. In Genesis, 00:08:37.629 --> 00:08:42.889 God provides. In Genesis, God names what is good. 00:08:45.029 --> 00:08:50.190 No performance anxiety. No self -justification. 00:08:52.370 --> 00:08:56.289 Just a God -designed, God -approved identity 00:08:56.289 --> 00:09:02.690 that he called good. The opening pages of scripture 00:09:02.690 --> 00:09:05.909 say something that should really free us. And 00:09:05.909 --> 00:09:08.929 that is you don't need to invent who you are. 00:09:10.649 --> 00:09:15.750 You need to receive who you are. And that's why 00:09:15.750 --> 00:09:18.769 this matters for the rest of our series because 00:09:18.769 --> 00:09:22.629 what was given in creation will later be lost 00:09:22.629 --> 00:09:28.250 through sin and then restored in Christ. Which 00:09:28.250 --> 00:09:30.629 means the gospel is not trying to turn you into 00:09:30.629 --> 00:09:34.389 something unnatural The gospel is not taking 00:09:34.389 --> 00:09:36.450 you and trying to twist you and turn you into 00:09:36.450 --> 00:09:39.110 something, you know hideous and unnatural The 00:09:39.110 --> 00:09:43.110 gospel is trying to restore you to what you were 00:09:43.110 --> 00:09:50.909 meant to always be And that's good news When 00:09:50.909 --> 00:09:55.370 we start where the Bible starts we began to discover 00:09:55.370 --> 00:09:58.350 something that is true and something that is 00:09:58.350 --> 00:10:03.210 better. Number two, if you're taking notes, identity 00:10:03.210 --> 00:10:09.210 was fractured by sin. So Genesis one and two 00:10:09.210 --> 00:10:13.570 show us identity received. Genesis three shows 00:10:13.570 --> 00:10:18.669 us identity fractured. Listen to what it says. 00:10:18.889 --> 00:10:21.029 Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the 00:10:21.029 --> 00:10:24.049 wild animals that God had made. And he said to 00:10:24.049 --> 00:10:27.049 the woman, did God really say you can't eat from 00:10:27.049 --> 00:10:30.149 any tree in the garden? And the woman said to 00:10:30.149 --> 00:10:32.950 the serpent, we may eat the fruit from the trees 00:10:32.950 --> 00:10:35.309 in the garden, but about the fruit of the tree 00:10:35.309 --> 00:10:37.730 in the middle of the garden, God said, you must 00:10:37.730 --> 00:10:41.809 not eat it or touch it or you will die. No. You 00:10:41.809 --> 00:10:44.210 will certainly not die, the serpent said to the 00:10:44.210 --> 00:10:48.389 woman. In fact, God knows that when you eat it, 00:10:48.870 --> 00:10:52.490 your eyes will be open and you will be like God, 00:10:52.889 --> 00:10:57.460 knowing good and evil. The woman saw that the 00:10:57.460 --> 00:10:59.799 tree was good for food and delightful to look 00:10:59.799 --> 00:11:02.620 at and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. 00:11:02.860 --> 00:11:05.440 So she took some of its fruit and ate it. She 00:11:05.440 --> 00:11:07.820 also gave some to her husband who was with her 00:11:07.820 --> 00:11:10.320 and he ate it. And then the eyes of both of them 00:11:10.320 --> 00:11:13.120 were open and they knew they were naked. So they 00:11:13.120 --> 00:11:15.820 sewed fig leaves together and made coverings 00:11:15.820 --> 00:11:20.940 for themselves. Notice how the fracture of identity 00:11:20.940 --> 00:11:23.669 happens here in Genesis. Three, the first sin 00:11:23.669 --> 00:11:26.190 in the Bible is not primarily about breaking 00:11:26.190 --> 00:11:29.750 a rule, it's about rejecting a given identity. 00:11:32.070 --> 00:11:35.129 The serpent begins by planting doubt. Did God 00:11:35.129 --> 00:11:40.210 really say? And then he presses it further. God 00:11:40.210 --> 00:11:42.289 knows that when you eat it, your eyes will be 00:11:42.289 --> 00:11:45.529 open and you will be like God knowing good and 00:11:45.529 --> 00:11:47.549 evil. And that phrase, like God, that's interesting 00:11:47.549 --> 00:11:50.149 because Adam and Eve were already created in 00:11:50.149 --> 00:11:54.470 what? in God's image and likeness. They're already 00:11:54.470 --> 00:11:56.450 created in God's image and likeness. So what 00:11:56.450 --> 00:12:00.950 is the serpent offering them? They already had 00:12:00.950 --> 00:12:03.269 identities. They already had meaning. They already 00:12:03.269 --> 00:12:07.669 had purpose. What is he offering them? The temptation 00:12:07.669 --> 00:12:13.970 of the serpent is not become more human. No, 00:12:14.070 --> 00:12:18.250 the temptation of the serpent is to become autonomous. 00:12:20.590 --> 00:12:25.629 Cut yourself off from your creator. Cut yourself 00:12:25.629 --> 00:12:33.750 off from the identity he's given you. It's to 00:12:33.750 --> 00:12:39.250 move from I receive who I am from God to I decide 00:12:39.250 --> 00:12:44.730 who I am for myself. And this is where identity 00:12:44.730 --> 00:12:50.009 fractures. Because sin is not just moral. failure, 00:12:50.330 --> 00:12:55.809 sin is self -definition apart from God. I'll 00:12:55.809 --> 00:12:58.909 say that again. Sin is self -definition apart 00:12:58.909 --> 00:13:03.529 from God. It's the moment we say, I will determine 00:13:03.529 --> 00:13:07.350 what is true and good. I will decide. I will 00:13:07.350 --> 00:13:13.029 name myself. And when that happens, everything 00:13:13.029 --> 00:13:17.210 begins to unravel. Immediately after the fall, 00:13:17.490 --> 00:13:19.929 we see three things enter the human experience. 00:13:20.129 --> 00:13:24.870 The first one is shame. Genesis tells us that 00:13:24.870 --> 00:13:27.690 their eyes are both open and they realize they're 00:13:27.690 --> 00:13:32.590 naked. Nothing about their bodies changed. Nothing 00:13:32.590 --> 00:13:37.389 had changed. Only they had tried to self -define 00:13:37.389 --> 00:13:41.110 apart from God. What would change was how they 00:13:41.110 --> 00:13:44.379 saw themselves. And they move from being at ease 00:13:44.379 --> 00:13:48.779 in their identity to hiding and covering and 00:13:48.779 --> 00:13:53.399 managing. Shame says something is wrong with 00:13:53.399 --> 00:14:00.480 me. Shame is the result of sin. The second one 00:14:00.480 --> 00:14:03.779 is fear. When God comes walking in the garden, 00:14:03.919 --> 00:14:10.740 Adam says, I was afraid, so I hid. Fear reframes 00:14:10.740 --> 00:14:14.039 God not as a loving creator, but as a threat 00:14:14.039 --> 00:14:24.120 to our autonomy. And third, blame. Adam blames 00:14:24.120 --> 00:14:30.960 Eve. Eve blames the serpent. See, when our false 00:14:30.960 --> 00:14:34.539 identity is exposed, responsibility for self 00:14:34.539 --> 00:14:38.769 -definition becomes unbearable. We have to protect 00:14:38.769 --> 00:14:41.809 the self at all costs. Sin doesn't just break 00:14:41.809 --> 00:14:46.309 the rules, it breaks reality. Once identity is 00:14:46.309 --> 00:14:48.970 no longer received, everything becomes unstable. 00:14:49.309 --> 00:14:52.269 Truth becomes negotiable. Meaning becomes subjective. 00:14:52.590 --> 00:14:57.269 The self becomes fragile. And this fracture, 00:14:57.269 --> 00:15:01.370 it hasn't gone away. It echoes through every 00:15:01.370 --> 00:15:04.470 generation. Every time we say, I get to define 00:15:04.470 --> 00:15:07.950 myself, No one can tell me who I am. My feelings 00:15:07.950 --> 00:15:11.250 are my authority. We're replaying Genesis chapter 00:15:11.250 --> 00:15:13.570 three over and over again. We're not inventing 00:15:13.570 --> 00:15:15.389 something new. We're just returning to something 00:15:15.389 --> 00:15:20.950 that is very old. And the result is what we see 00:15:20.950 --> 00:15:23.710 all around us today. People desperately trying 00:15:23.710 --> 00:15:27.669 to anchor identity in performance, in success, 00:15:28.149 --> 00:15:31.950 in pleasure, in affirmation, in power, even in 00:15:31.950 --> 00:15:37.750 despair and nihilism. See, if nothing is given, 00:15:37.750 --> 00:15:41.370 nothing is received, then everything has to be 00:15:41.370 --> 00:15:45.090 constructed. And if you try to build your identity 00:15:45.090 --> 00:15:48.210 apart from God, you will always feel the need 00:15:48.210 --> 00:15:53.309 to defend it. You will never be at ease in it. 00:15:54.370 --> 00:15:56.710 You will feel threatened by anyone who questions 00:15:56.710 --> 00:16:01.789 it. Because when identity is self -made, it can 00:16:01.789 --> 00:16:07.889 always be undone. Genesis three shows us the 00:16:07.889 --> 00:16:13.269 cost of rejecting a received identity. And it 00:16:13.269 --> 00:16:17.730 sets the stage for why we need restoration. Number 00:16:17.730 --> 00:16:25.409 three, identity is misplaced. Human beings, we 00:16:25.409 --> 00:16:29.230 can't live without identity. If we don't receive 00:16:29.230 --> 00:16:32.269 it from God, we will anchor it somewhere else. 00:16:33.259 --> 00:16:36.480 And the apostle Paul is really honest about his 00:16:36.480 --> 00:16:38.600 life and his experience in Philippians chapter 00:16:38.600 --> 00:16:41.019 three. Paul gives us what you might call his 00:16:41.019 --> 00:16:47.299 identity resume. He says, if anyone else thinks 00:16:47.299 --> 00:16:50.039 he has grounds for confidence in the flesh, I 00:16:50.039 --> 00:16:54.039 have more. circumcised the eighth day of the 00:16:54.039 --> 00:16:57.500 nation of Israel, of the tribe of Judah, Benjamin, 00:16:57.639 --> 00:17:01.200 I'm sorry, born of Hebrews, regarding the law 00:17:01.200 --> 00:17:04.059 of Pharisee, regarding zeal, persecuting the 00:17:04.059 --> 00:17:06.259 church, regarding the righteousness that is in 00:17:06.259 --> 00:17:11.440 the law, blameless. But everything that was a 00:17:11.440 --> 00:17:14.319 gain to me I have considered to be a loss because 00:17:14.319 --> 00:17:17.200 of Christ. More than that, I also consider everything 00:17:17.200 --> 00:17:20.180 to be a loss in view of the surpassing value 00:17:20.180 --> 00:17:23.740 of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of him 00:17:23.740 --> 00:17:26.680 I have suffered the loss of all things and consider 00:17:26.680 --> 00:17:30.079 them as dung so that I may gain Christ and be 00:17:30.079 --> 00:17:32.819 found in him not having a righteousness of my 00:17:32.819 --> 00:17:35.319 own from the law but one that is through faith 00:17:35.319 --> 00:17:38.619 in Christ the righteousness from God based on 00:17:38.619 --> 00:17:42.039 faith. My goal is to know him and the power of 00:17:42.039 --> 00:17:44.619 his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings 00:17:44.619 --> 00:17:47.650 being conformed to his death. assuming that I 00:17:47.650 --> 00:17:50.950 will somehow reach the resurrection from among 00:17:50.950 --> 00:17:58.009 the dead. Paul lists out, circumcised on the 00:17:58.009 --> 00:18:00.750 eighth day, people of Israel, tribe of Benjamin, 00:18:01.089 --> 00:18:05.609 Hebrew of Hebrews, a zealot, a Pharisee persecuting 00:18:05.609 --> 00:18:07.710 the church, a righteousness based on the law 00:18:07.710 --> 00:18:11.589 that was blameless and faultless. And Paul's 00:18:11.589 --> 00:18:14.990 not bragging here. What he's doing is he's showing 00:18:14.990 --> 00:18:20.490 us where his confidence used to live. Where he 00:18:20.490 --> 00:18:23.509 drew meaning, where he drew worth, where he drew 00:18:23.509 --> 00:18:27.970 identity from. And you notice something important 00:18:27.970 --> 00:18:30.750 about what he lists there. They're not bad things. 00:18:33.130 --> 00:18:36.910 Ethnicity, religious faithfulness, moral discipline, 00:18:37.809 --> 00:18:41.910 passion, achievements. If Paul was here today, 00:18:42.119 --> 00:18:45.279 He'd probably be wearing one of those 49er jerseys 00:18:45.279 --> 00:18:49.319 too, right? And he'd be like, and a 49er fan, 00:18:50.160 --> 00:18:55.299 right? Chargers, yeah. Then you really would 00:18:55.299 --> 00:19:01.619 be righteous. You know, we hear his pedigree, 00:19:01.720 --> 00:19:03.519 we hear his resume and we go, that sounds like 00:19:03.519 --> 00:19:07.839 a pretty good person. Like, I don't know. And 00:19:07.839 --> 00:19:12.279 that's exactly where the danger lies. His misplaced 00:19:12.279 --> 00:19:15.559 identity is often rooted not in rebellion, but 00:19:15.559 --> 00:19:20.259 in good things that become ultimate things. And 00:19:20.259 --> 00:19:23.539 Paul is saying, if anyone had reason to feel 00:19:23.539 --> 00:19:28.519 secure in who they were, it was me. And yet, 00:19:29.019 --> 00:19:36.599 Paul later calls it all a loss. Why? Because 00:19:36.599 --> 00:19:39.420 identity anchored in anything other than Christ. 00:19:39.579 --> 00:19:44.299 will eventually fail you. We do the same thing 00:19:44.299 --> 00:19:47.519 today. We may not list our tribe or religious 00:19:47.519 --> 00:19:51.200 pedigree, but we all have our own resumes, every 00:19:51.200 --> 00:19:58.019 single one of us. I am what I do. I am how successful 00:19:58.019 --> 00:20:02.859 I am. I am how needed I am. I am how others see 00:20:02.859 --> 00:20:09.980 me. I am how I feel about myself. Some of us 00:20:09.980 --> 00:20:13.119 anchor identity in performance. Some of us in 00:20:13.119 --> 00:20:17.480 morality. Some of us in victimhood. My identity 00:20:17.480 --> 00:20:20.779 is in being the victim. And I've anchored my 00:20:20.779 --> 00:20:23.779 life to that. Some of it is in achievement. Some 00:20:23.779 --> 00:20:26.240 of it is in sexuality. Some of it is in despair. 00:20:26.559 --> 00:20:30.019 Even nihilism becomes an identity. Nothing matters, 00:20:30.319 --> 00:20:35.640 so nothing can hurt me. And then you add to it 00:20:35.640 --> 00:20:38.359 a digital age that we all live in, and this gets 00:20:38.359 --> 00:20:41.619 amplified. We curate a version of ourselves that 00:20:41.619 --> 00:20:45.420 looks competent, looks happy, sounds thoughtful, 00:20:45.839 --> 00:20:48.920 appears unbothered by the world, and never, ever, 00:20:48.940 --> 00:20:54.339 ever gets corrected. A self that always needs 00:20:54.339 --> 00:20:57.440 affirmation and cannot tolerate being challenged. 00:20:57.779 --> 00:20:59.900 But friends, an identity that needs constant 00:20:59.900 --> 00:21:07.660 validation is not secure. If your identity is 00:21:07.660 --> 00:21:12.019 rooted in performance, rest will be threatening. 00:21:13.400 --> 00:21:15.960 I can't rest, I can't stop, I can't stop, I gotta 00:21:15.960 --> 00:21:19.619 keep performing, I gotta keep up. If your identity 00:21:19.619 --> 00:21:24.200 is in success, well failure will feel like soul 00:21:24.200 --> 00:21:29.859 crushing. If in sexuality, then any disagreement 00:21:29.859 --> 00:21:32.400 feels like an attack on your very existence. 00:21:35.860 --> 00:21:38.259 Misplaced identity doesn't just disappoint us, 00:21:38.359 --> 00:21:44.019 it enslaves us. It turns good gifts into cruel 00:21:44.019 --> 00:21:49.000 masters. And it sets us up for a collapse when 00:21:49.000 --> 00:21:51.000 those things are taken away from us. And Paul 00:21:51.000 --> 00:21:53.440 is preparing us for a shift because what Paul 00:21:53.440 --> 00:21:55.380 doesn't say in the next part, he doesn't say, 00:21:55.500 --> 00:21:58.599 I found a better version of myself. Here's my 00:21:58.599 --> 00:22:02.420 pedigree and I just found a better me. What Paul 00:22:02.420 --> 00:22:07.369 says is, I lost myself and I found something 00:22:07.369 --> 00:22:11.069 better. So if you're taking notes, number four, 00:22:11.069 --> 00:22:18.309 identity is restored in Christ. Notice how Paul 00:22:18.309 --> 00:22:20.589 begins verse seven of Philippians chapter three, 00:22:20.589 --> 00:22:23.269 three, but everything that was a gain to me, 00:22:23.269 --> 00:22:26.829 I have considered to be a loss because of Christ. 00:22:27.930 --> 00:22:34.089 And that word, but matters. because it signals 00:22:34.089 --> 00:22:38.269 a complete reorientation of his life, of his 00:22:38.269 --> 00:22:41.089 self. Paul is not saying I added Jesus to my 00:22:41.089 --> 00:22:43.650 existing identity. He's saying my entire way 00:22:43.650 --> 00:22:47.670 of understanding myself has been overturned. 00:22:48.730 --> 00:22:51.410 Everything I spent years and years of my life 00:22:51.410 --> 00:22:54.769 building my life on and constructing and trying 00:22:54.769 --> 00:22:57.809 to hold together with all of the energy and effort 00:22:57.809 --> 00:23:01.180 that I had in my bones everything, I now consider 00:23:01.180 --> 00:23:08.759 it all a loss. I want to build my life on something 00:23:08.759 --> 00:23:18.140 secure, not something constructed. More than 00:23:18.140 --> 00:23:21.660 that, I consider everything to be a loss. So 00:23:21.660 --> 00:23:23.640 Paul just goes further and he's like, yeah, all 00:23:23.640 --> 00:23:26.799 of my resume, loss. And then everything else, 00:23:27.039 --> 00:23:31.559 loss too. And not only is it a loss, it's dung. 00:23:32.740 --> 00:23:40.000 It's poop. Really, it's one of the times that 00:23:40.000 --> 00:23:41.799 Paul is a little vulgar in the scriptures right 00:23:41.799 --> 00:23:44.960 here, right? Because of him, I have suffered 00:23:44.960 --> 00:23:48.880 the loss of all things and consider them dung 00:23:48.880 --> 00:23:58.980 so that I may gain Christ. That I may gain Christ, 00:23:59.420 --> 00:24:02.680 I'd make a good tattoo. That's the heart of the 00:24:02.680 --> 00:24:05.819 Christian identity. I knew that would divide 00:24:05.819 --> 00:24:10.619 this room. Tattoo, huh, what? Now there's like, 00:24:10.759 --> 00:24:17.480 I need another tattoo. Now go to war. Yeah, that 00:24:17.480 --> 00:24:22.480 I may gain Christ is at the very heart of a Christian 00:24:22.480 --> 00:24:28.420 identity. Listen to what Paul does not say. He 00:24:28.420 --> 00:24:31.599 doesn't say, I set all those things aside so 00:24:31.599 --> 00:24:37.900 I could gain peace. Or he doesn't say, I set 00:24:37.900 --> 00:24:41.720 all those things aside so that I could gain purpose 00:24:41.720 --> 00:24:46.839 for my life. Or that I could gain fulfillment 00:24:46.839 --> 00:24:49.960 in my life. He says, I set them all aside that 00:24:49.960 --> 00:24:55.799 I could gain Christ. In other words, Paul's identity 00:24:55.799 --> 00:25:00.299 is no longer centered in, found in something 00:25:00.299 --> 00:25:04.960 he possesses. His identity is shifting to a person, 00:25:05.160 --> 00:25:09.920 someone he is united to now. And this is what 00:25:09.920 --> 00:25:12.619 theologians call the union with Christ that believers 00:25:12.619 --> 00:25:15.339 experience. It means that Christ's life becomes 00:25:15.339 --> 00:25:18.119 your life. Christ's righteousness becomes your 00:25:18.119 --> 00:25:21.160 righteousness. Christ's story becomes your story. 00:25:23.950 --> 00:25:26.690 to be found in him, not having a righteousness 00:25:26.690 --> 00:25:29.390 of my own from the law, but one that is through 00:25:29.390 --> 00:25:32.089 faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based 00:25:32.089 --> 00:25:34.049 on faith. In other words, I no longer have to 00:25:34.049 --> 00:25:36.789 build an identity that justifies myself. I no 00:25:36.789 --> 00:25:38.730 longer have to prove myself. I no longer have 00:25:38.730 --> 00:25:41.589 to explain myself. I no longer have to hold my 00:25:41.589 --> 00:25:47.150 construction project altogether. I don't have 00:25:47.150 --> 00:25:51.829 to save myself. My identity is now received again. 00:25:53.279 --> 00:25:56.920 This time not through creation, but through redemption. 00:26:00.119 --> 00:26:05.779 Identity in Christ is death and resurrection. 00:26:07.819 --> 00:26:12.740 What do I mean by that? It's not a fun sentiment. 00:26:14.559 --> 00:26:17.720 Identity in Christ, identifying with Christ is 00:26:17.720 --> 00:26:23.069 identity in his death and his resurrection. If 00:26:23.069 --> 00:26:25.150 you're going to identify with Christ, if you 00:26:25.150 --> 00:26:28.930 are going to follow Christ, something has to 00:26:28.930 --> 00:26:35.390 die in order for the new life to be resurrected. 00:26:36.730 --> 00:26:41.289 And that something that has to die is the self 00:26:41.289 --> 00:26:44.230 that you have been curating and creating and 00:26:44.230 --> 00:26:55.319 constructing. tweak his resume. He doesn't slip 00:26:55.319 --> 00:26:59.299 Jesus in on the fourth line. He throws it out. 00:27:01.119 --> 00:27:03.700 He doesn't try to refine himself or make himself 00:27:03.700 --> 00:27:06.619 better. He surrenders his life and in losing 00:27:06.619 --> 00:27:13.420 it, he finds something better. My goal is to 00:27:13.420 --> 00:27:16.160 know him and the power of his resurrection and 00:27:16.160 --> 00:27:18.990 the fellowship of his. suffering, that's identity 00:27:18.990 --> 00:27:21.309 language. Paul is saying my life is now shaped 00:27:21.309 --> 00:27:24.589 by Christ's life, resurrection power, cruciform 00:27:24.589 --> 00:27:28.630 suffering, a hope beyond death. And this is why 00:27:28.630 --> 00:27:31.710 Christian identity is so different from every 00:27:31.710 --> 00:27:35.849 other identity that's on the market. Because 00:27:35.849 --> 00:27:40.950 it's not fragile. It doesn't have to be constantly 00:27:40.950 --> 00:27:44.269 propped up. It's anchored in something that has 00:27:44.269 --> 00:27:47.990 already happened when someone, Jesus, went and 00:27:47.990 --> 00:27:50.390 died for our sins and was resurrected to life, 00:27:50.569 --> 00:27:53.549 which means when you fail, your identity doesn't 00:27:53.549 --> 00:27:57.710 collapse if you're in Christ. When you suffer, 00:27:57.910 --> 00:28:00.509 your identity still has meaning. When you're 00:28:00.509 --> 00:28:07.069 misunderstood, you're secure. This is the restoration 00:28:07.069 --> 00:28:10.390 that Genesis was pointing to. What was lost in 00:28:10.390 --> 00:28:14.450 Adam is restored in Christ. And it's not restored 00:28:14.450 --> 00:28:18.690 by self -expression, but by self -denial and 00:28:18.690 --> 00:28:23.589 union with Christ through faith. And so in conclusion, 00:28:23.710 --> 00:28:28.430 I'll say the gospel tells us to look to Christ. 00:28:30.089 --> 00:28:34.519 Christianity says, die to self. and live new 00:28:34.519 --> 00:28:41.559 life in Christ. And I don't know about you, but 00:28:41.559 --> 00:28:47.680 we want affirmation, not a cross. We want validation, 00:28:47.960 --> 00:28:52.740 not surrender. But friends, self -definition 00:28:52.740 --> 00:28:58.359 cannot heal you, only Jesus can. And he's calling 00:28:58.359 --> 00:29:05.150 right now. If you can hear him, he's calling. 00:29:12.170 --> 00:29:15.029 Jesus isn't here to help you manage your identity. 00:29:16.150 --> 00:29:19.170 He's not here to show up with some super glue 00:29:19.170 --> 00:29:21.970 to help you keep it together. He's not here to 00:29:21.970 --> 00:29:24.589 put a Band -Aid on it and say, go get them, tiger. 00:29:24.809 --> 00:29:32.029 You've got it. No. Jesus is here. to wrap you 00:29:32.029 --> 00:29:37.890 up and bring you in so that who you are and who 00:29:37.890 --> 00:29:43.769 he is are united. United to Christ, his life, 00:29:44.029 --> 00:29:47.809 his resurrection, his power. And you know what 00:29:47.809 --> 00:29:52.750 that means? If you're united to Christ, then 00:29:52.750 --> 00:29:56.210 he's doing all the heavy lifting. He carries 00:29:56.210 --> 00:30:00.460 the whole identity. No weight left for you to 00:30:00.460 --> 00:30:04.980 carry. No weight left for you to manage. He carries 00:30:04.980 --> 00:30:11.079 the whole thing. And he says, hey you, come and 00:30:11.079 --> 00:30:16.380 I will give you rest. And we talked about that 00:30:16.380 --> 00:30:18.700 a little bit last week, but I want to go a little 00:30:18.700 --> 00:30:21.400 deeper on that word rest. He does say, come to 00:30:21.400 --> 00:30:25.019 me all you who are heavy laid and burdened. Come 00:30:25.019 --> 00:30:28.329 and I will give you rest. What is the rest that 00:30:28.329 --> 00:30:30.230 Jesus is offering? Well, the rest that Jesus 00:30:30.230 --> 00:30:33.349 is offering to us is a rest from the exhausting 00:30:33.349 --> 00:30:39.049 project of self -creation. He's offering us a 00:30:39.049 --> 00:30:41.730 rest from the exhausting project of trying to 00:30:41.730 --> 00:30:44.690 build a self that we can manage and hold on to 00:30:44.690 --> 00:30:47.250 as long as possible so that we feel meaning and 00:30:47.250 --> 00:30:51.440 hope. And the city's saying no. Come be united 00:30:51.440 --> 00:30:53.839 to me come have my righteousness come have my 00:30:53.839 --> 00:30:57.000 life come live united to me, and I'll carry the 00:30:57.000 --> 00:31:04.259 weight and you you rest Lay down the fragile 00:31:04.259 --> 00:31:07.359 self that you've been trying to hold together 00:31:07.359 --> 00:31:15.220 And Paul says you know what Having gone through 00:31:15.220 --> 00:31:17.619 this process having done this I actually consider 00:31:17.619 --> 00:31:22.180 everything a loss because of the surpassing worth 00:31:22.180 --> 00:31:24.640 of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord. And when Paul 00:31:24.640 --> 00:31:26.339 says, I consider everything a loss, he's not 00:31:26.339 --> 00:31:28.539 saying, oh man, I lost a whole lot. Like, you 00:31:28.539 --> 00:31:30.380 know, if my house burned down, that would be 00:31:30.380 --> 00:31:32.440 a loss, right? And I, oh, I lost a lot of things 00:31:32.440 --> 00:31:34.500 in that fire, right? That's not what he's talking 00:31:34.500 --> 00:31:39.519 about. He's saying like loss, like worthless, 00:31:40.539 --> 00:31:45.940 like dung. I consider it all loss. Put it all 00:31:45.940 --> 00:31:49.200 behind it, put it out of my way for the surpassing 00:31:49.200 --> 00:31:55.680 worth of knowing the someone who stepped in my 00:31:55.680 --> 00:32:02.420 place. This is not ultimate loss, is it? This 00:32:02.420 --> 00:32:09.339 is ultimate gain. To have Christ is true and 00:32:09.339 --> 00:32:09.920 better, amen.