Worship Service 08/29/2021

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:

1. 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

2. 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!

3. 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

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