Identity: Now What
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Wrapping up Identity
Wrapping up Identity
Tonight we are going to finish our series on Identity. We have learned a lot about what we are and what we aren’t according to God. Lets look at a few things that we aren’t.
We aren’t failures, we’re not stupid, we’re not abandoned, we’re not alone.
We are CHOSEN. We are hand picked. We are heirs. That’s what we are. So what do we do with that. What happens when we are dealing with something that challenges our identity.
Lets take a look at some things that will happen on your journey:
Spiritual Battle
says this:
Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.
Who is your great enemy. That’s right the devil. Now I want you to notice something here. What Peter is saying is he prowls around like a roaring lion. Nothing he is doing is a secret. He is using the same strategies and tactics he’s used from the beginning. If you are staying in God’s word and in relationship with Him....Standing firm in your identity his attacks won’t be a surprise.
Now these attacks are going to be vicious and will target your identity. That’s the first the enemy wants to take away from you is who you are. So he is going to try to tell you things like your not good enough. Are you really saved? God doesn’t really love you. You need to forget you even though you knew him.
See that’s his ultimate goal is to make you forget or walk away from God. To deny Him and what He has done for you. Look at Peter. He walked with Jesus, he ate with Jesus, learned directly from Jesus. Then check this out in
So they arrested him and led him to the high priest’s home. And Peter followed at a distance. The guards lit a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat around it, and Peter joined them there. A servant girl noticed him in the firelight and began staring at him. Finally she said, “This man was one of Jesus’ followers!”
But Peter denied it. “Woman,” he said, “I don’t even know him!”
After a while someone else looked at him and said, “You must be one of them!”
“No, man, I’m not!” Peter retorted.
About an hour later someone else insisted, “This must be one of them, because he is a Galilean, too.”
But Peter said, “Man, I don’t know what you are talking about.” And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed.
At that moment the Lord turned and looked at Peter. Suddenly, the Lord’s words flashed through Peter’s mind: “Before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you will deny three times that you even know me.” And Peter left the courtyard, weeping bitterly.
I don’t even know Him. That’s what Peter said. I don’t even know Him. And that is what the enemy is trying to get some of you to say. He’s cranking up the heat, pressing the battle and you are beginning to forget your identity. Your beginning to question the things you know are true and for some of you, you have already said I don’t even know Him.
And for some of you....You don’t know Him yet. You don’t know what it’s like to be called child by the creator of all things. You don’t know the feeling of peace in the storm, the gentle whisper of great job, and the guiding hand. Most of all you don’t know the feeling of shame and sin and guilt being washed away. The freedom true freedom of Jesus. You see people that you know have something you don’t have and you wonder what it is. You work and you work and you work some more and you just cant get it. The key is they didn’t work for it either. They found their identity, their home, and their savior. You can to.
Look at how Jesus restores Peter....
After breakfast Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”
“Yes, Lord,” Peter replied, “you know I love you.”
“Then feed my lambs,” Jesus told him.
Jesus repeated the question: “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
“Yes, Lord,” Peter said, “you know I love you.”
“Then take care of my sheep,” Jesus said.
A third time he asked him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
Peter was hurt that Jesus asked the question a third time. He said, “Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Then feed my sheep.
He asks this to peter 3 times. 1 time for each denial to wash it away. To erase it from Peter’s memory. Now when peter thinks of three times he will remember Jesus asking him the same question and his answer....Jesus you know I love you.
How do we go forward then. What do we do to be ready to fight the battle....The first thing is to understand that the battle has already been won.. Victory has already been claimed..
In it says this:
For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead.
You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross.
He has disarmed the spiritual rulers and shamed them publicly. You can look at the devil in this face and say your gun is empty…you have no power..no authority…I KNOW MY IDENTITY.
So tonight there is a calling....a challenge....For some of you…you have lost your identity..you have denied knowing HIM. You need to rededicate your life....reclaim your identity and walk in that peace. For some of you…you’ve been saved but have not followed Jesus example in Baptism. Let’s get that figured out tonight. For some of you…you are in the heat of the battle…in the fire....you need to pray for help and maybe you need someone to pray with you. And for some of you and I know it’s a little awkward and it makes you nervous but you’ve never accepted Christ as Lord of your life and your savior. Tonight is the night to get that settled. Tonight is the night to CLAIM YOUR IDENTITY.