Preacher: Jeremy Herbert

Text: Ephesians 2:

Theme: Our Identity In Christ

Notes:

Finding our identity in Christ allows us to relate to others around us in a Christ-like way.

Three Truths:

*

Rooting our identity in Christ releases us from our past

* “…you were dead in trespasses and sins in which you once walked….”

* “…among whom we all once lived….”

* “…even when we were dead in trespasses and sins….”

* Our past reminds us that:

* We can’t earn God’s love

* “I know God loves me–but I don’t think He likes me”

* It can be tempting to think that we can do something to “earn” grace

* “I did these things, so God kind of owes me a good day”

* “This bad thing happened, I must not have done enough to please Him”

* If we think God treats us this way–offering grace provisionally or based on works

(i.e., not grace), we will relate to others in this same way

* How can you reflect God’s grace if you don’t feel God is full of grace–

but that He is severe and usually disappointed?

* God loves us, not because we are intrinsically or potentially lovely

* God makes lovely that which He chooses to love, i.e.,

He loves us because of of what He has done, not because of what we have done

* Growing up in a Christian home you often are protected from committing certain sins that unbelievers harm themselves and others with

* “The big ones”

* But the closer you grow to Christ, the darker you understand your own sins to be–no matter how socially acceptable those sins might be

* God’s desire for us to mourn over our sin is not a call to wallow in shame–it’s a call to accept His offer of grace, repent of our sin, and be made new

* At salvation you have been given the resources to be free from sin

* It doesn’t mean that some sins may take more time and effort than others to be free from

* Sins you are painfully aware of

* Sins you are unaware of

*

Rooting our identity in Christ allows us to rest in His present grace

* The call of legalism is often harsh and unforgiving

* “This bad thing happened, I must not have displeased God.”

* It can also be seductive

* “This good thing happened, I must be really righteous”

* But the truth is that God loves us with a covenantal love–where God loves us because He has promised to love us–based on the merits of Christ–not because of how you have performed.

* Q: Won’t people just feel a license to live as sinful as they want, penalty-free?

* A: People truly saved by grace will be transformed by grace.

* You need not be pulled here and there by the exhausting sins of:

* pride (look what I have done for God)

* despair (look what I have done to God)

* We must remember that God has entered into a covenant with His people:

* By His own initiative

* Utterly aware of every one of our sins

* And God is for us!

*

Rooting our identity in Christ restores us to purpose

* Graces:

* imago dei (ih-MAH-go DAY) — “the image of God”

* Every human is made in the image of God

* Common grace

* Redemptive grace