We’ve been learning for some time now all about who we are in Christ.  We are looking at several identity crises that exist surrounding who we truly are when everything else is stripped away; our true identity.

In Christ, we become so many new things!  Born again, children of God, free indeed, temples filled with the Holy Spirit, overcomers, equipped with spiritual gifts, and unconditionally loved.  Today, we are closing up the series with this general, but incredibly awesome reality.  We are God’s people.

Unfortunately, that means so many things to so many people.  To some it is a close-knit group of elites shaming sinners for their sinful and shameful ways.  To some, it means that we are set free to do whatever we want floating in the ocean of God’s grace that will just wash away any wrongdoing so that we don’t even need to think about right living or holiness.

What it really means is neither of these things.  What it means to be God’s people is tremendous!

Sure, we are all brothers and sisters in Christ, but we’re even more than just a family.  We’re part of an international and eternal faith community; God’s People! 

We’re the result of the ministry of those who have gone before us going back thousands of years and we are continuing their ministry forward for even more generations yet to come!  We are a part of something so much bigger than ourselves!

There are several cathedrals across the world that are a great physical representation of what we are spiritually.  Some took literally hundreds of years built by generations of people.  The Milan Cathedral in Italy was built over the course of 577 years and the Cologne Cathedral in Germany was built over the course of 632 years.  Both took more than twice as long as our nation has even existed!

We are God’s people working together over the centuries with the same goal and for the same purpose.  With every loving act of service, with every promise of God shared, with every move in the spiritual gifts, with every prophetic word of encouragement given, we are doing our small part to build something huge; God’s Kingdom!

Hebrews 11 goes through a huge list of the great people of faith throughout the centuries and ends with this:

Hebrews 11:39-40

39 These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, 40 since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.

Paul also wrote using this same building analogy to help us to understand our role as God’s people:

1 Corinthians 3:5-16

5 What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe – as the Lord has assigned to each his task. 6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. 7 So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. 9 For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.

10 By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. 14 If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. 15 If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.

16 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?

Though our roles may seem small and insignificant, together, we are bu