good morning everybody would you turn
with me to first Corinthians chapter 15
first Corinthians chapter 15 and we'll
read from verse to verse 10 first
Corinthians 15 moreover brethren I
declare unto you the gospel which I
preached unto you which also you have
received and wherein you stand by which
also you're saved if you keep in memory
what I preached unto you unless you've
believed in vain for I delivered unto
you first of all that which I also
received how that Christ died for our
sins according to the scriptures and
that he was buried and that he rose
again the third day according to the
scriptures and that he was seen of
Cephas then of the twelve after that he
was seen of above five hundred brethren
at once of whom the greater part remain
unto this present but some are fallen
asleep after that he was seen of James
then of all the apostles and last of all
he was seen of me also as of one born
out of due time for I am the least of
the Apostles that I'm not meet to be
called an apostle because I persecuted
the Church of God but by the grace of
God I am what I am and His grace which
was bestowed upon me was not in vain but
I laboured more abundantly than they all
yet not i but the grace of God which was
with me I mean me the Lord at his
blessing to that reading of His Holy
Word
I'm sure many of you have heard these
names protect my ID a trust guard ID
watchdog d flock they are adverts their
commercials full of us wherever we go
whether we're on the radio or turning on
the internet that ads are continually
popping up and warning us of the
terrible dangers of identity theft and
all the dreadful consequences that could
follow if we have our identity stolen
our personal details stolen many
financial consequences may be many
reputational consequences the fact is
though there are far more dangerous
identity thieves than Nigerian scammers
and Chinese hackers and Russian fighters
far more dangerous identity thieves
because they're far more difficult to
detect even though they have been
stalking us from the moment we were born
talking of forces like trade commercials
the media social media our friends our
family maybe our church our successes
our failures and of course that greatest
identity thief of all the devil
these are far more dangerous to us and
as I've said far more difficult to
detect why are they so dangerous well
it's because these identity thieves
steal the answer to the second most
important question in the universe
the most important question of course is
who is God but the second most important
question is Who am I Who am I that is
the second most influential question
that we can ever ask or answer dr.
Thomas touched on that a number of times
in the last address effects of our view
of ourselves our self-image affects our
relationships I think even homey drapes
it affects our view of the past of the
praising of the future affects how we
view other people how we view this world
it affects my review god
it has a massive influence upon us Who
am I
how do you answer that question I want
to give you today or help you get today
to a short answer and a long answer to
that question I want to do the short
answer first of all because I want to
try and really convince you of how
influential your answer to this question
is so if you had a piece of paper and a
pain I would ask you to write down it
one simple phrase that you feel really
defines you so just one word two words
three words just a very short sentence
if if you're to think of what's the
pop-up picture that appears in your mind
when you think Who am I what would that
be
let me give you some examples to to help
you get to that short answer and also
show you how influential this question
is I'm thinking of first of all let's
call her Fiona the failure for you
another failure that's how Fiona views
herself I am a failure now this was a
kid all who had a really good school
record very high GPA but towards the
very end of her school
year high school career her her results
dipped a little and it made that
although she failed she was destined for
medical school
she just failed to gain admission and
after some months of moping around she
applied for other courses and she got
into an excellent college and did a very
hard course and biology and they and
ended up in the field of science doing
wonderful work but for the rest of her
life she was to herself Fiona the
failure didn't matter how many other
successes or achievement she had in her
life in this one area at this one time
she failed and therefore I am a failure
impacted everything or think of another
one I knew so let's call him Simon the
strong Simon the strong he had a very
successful father a very high achieving
father very driven father and in fact
Simon wasn't allowed to be ill when he
was a youngster if he ever fell sick his
dad really said well just suck it up and
get out there and you just keep going
and cyber took that sort of driven hyper
achieving attitude and to the rest of
his life and that was fine when he was
twenty and thirty and forty just has
well drove him on through many
difficulties but when he reached his
late forties fifties his body started
breaking up and all the hours and all
the effort over so many years eventually
took at all
I start getting shortness of breath
chest pain times a terrible anxiety pain
all over his body at times nothing was
ever found and scans and yet he wouldn't
compensate for this change in his
physical abilities or inability to keep
driving
he kept pushing himself he wouldn't
accept the effects of age and all they
done in his life and therefore his
health got worse and worse and the
stray ssin that he was feeling over not
being able to be what he used to be and
do but he used to do spilled over into
his relationships with his family with
his children and with his wife because
he was simon the strong
he couldn't be weak he couldn't admit
frailty and vulnerability and he
wouldn't let any of his children do so
either Simon the strong then there's
there's Paula the perfectionist Paula
had him
high expectations imposed on her by her
parents if she came home with 95% and
her exams the first question would be
what happened to the other 5% and that
carried on into Paula's life and it made
it very difficult for her to actually
find a husband because there was never
any one perfect enough and eventually
when mr. perfect was phoned the
honeymoon soon revealed that he wasn't
and the same with her attitude towards
her children nothing less than
perfection would do resulted in her
being a hyper critical person and even
in her work no matter how good her
presentations at work quaint if there
was one flaw one mistake and what she
did it was just another disaster even
though all her colleagues and customers
told her how wonderful it was
she was Paula the perfectionist and her
perfectionist and really just a bit ruin
to her life then the Sid the sinner said
the sinner was brought up in a church
that very rarely preached upon
forgiveness justification adoption the
love of God he heard a law of
condemnation lot the conviction of sin a
lot about judgment and and hail and he
was terrified really of God most of his
life and even even when he was converted
this twenty thirty years of
indoctrination with this imbalanced
presentation of
gospel resulted in him never really
getting to the point I am a I'm a child
of God I am a I'm a I'm a son of the
king no it was I am said to the sinner I
am said to the sinner I am said to the
sinner and and I again carried into his
family in fact is his children noted
that whenever there was family worship
me read a passage of Scripture since
we'd always find the negative side of
the passage and highlighter in his
communist as children so much so that
they eventually started calling family
devotions family decorations then
there's a Justin the just star I've made
a lot of these people oftentimes people
will come up to me and I'm sure many
pastors here will see the same and
they'll hear this person behind hi I'm
Jocelyn I'm just an accountant I'm just
a plumber I'm just I'm just a homemaker
I'm just uh just uh just what do you
mean by just uh this pure Justin had
been raised in the church for the only
calling worthwhile in life was a
ministry or a missionary calling and
everything else was even if it made
second base that was sake and based at
the highest and therefore even though he
was doing a wonderful work and
glorifying God and his daily job yeah he
could never escape from the Saints that
he wasn't really like a an a-list
Christian in a service of God he was
just always secondary he was always
never good enough
he was Justin the Justin obviously
that's a huge impact and how you view
yourself and how you view God's calling
or view in life I'll give you one more I
hope these little short answers are
showing you how you just two or three
words if you let them define you just
has massive influence and consequence
think of Francis the face Booker
if Francis has multiple identities ever
since she signed up to Facebook
those who follow her feed they've lost
count of how many different identities
she is hard and it really is all
determined by how many likes or
followers or comments she gets all your
awesome or no comment okay try that one
we'll leave it we'll try another image
in fact those who know our best when
they look at for photos she posts and
Facebook and Pinterest and the meals
those even who live with ardor
recognized as women
her whole images is a Sharad this is a
fall suit it's a Facebook identity but
it doesn't match her real identity you
see do you see how this question so
important this answer to so influential
we could talk about more we could talk
about Val the victim many other
identities that just really dominate a
person's life and and in many ways ruin
them and these examples are just
examples of it probably everyone here
could stand up and give a quick I'm a
such-and-such and here so it's affected
my life for good and vanilla but these
people are people who have substituted
their true identities with a false
identity for an identity that's a
misrepresentation of who they are
they've had that identity stolen by
various choices decisions events other
people's actions and they are suffering
greatly as a result it's a very short
and simple question a very short and
simple answer but the consequences are
long and deep Who am I
the short answer so I hope I've
convinced you this is an important this
is an influential question no one want
us to dig a bit deeper because none of
us can be defined by just one short free
or even one sentence we're all far more
complex than that
and so again I would encourage you if
you have time and inclination know just
know maybe but when you get home another
time you sit down and and you Rea know
Who am I the long answer and just write
down every word that sort of pops into
your mind that that would define you and
I want to give you an example of that
I'm using myself as an example it's not
something I particularly enjoy doing but
um I suppose that's part of the American
influence upon me the Scottish reservist
kind of eventually so let me try and be
a wee bit vulnerable here yeah you make
your things about me you never to
believe but try to be as honest as I
could in order to try and be as helpful
as I could and I haven't tried to give
the right answer I just tried to give
the honest answer to this question Who
am I let me give you and then I want to
try and again just use my own example to
show you how the Bible helps us recover
and rebuild our true identity in eight
steps first of all Who am I well let me
give you some words that come to mind a
preacher pastor professor sinner
productive father husband son brother
Christian skinny good soccer player
impatient Scottish introvert reformed
ill take no file political junkie a
warrior tired family centered and a
failure so that's me
there's more than that but that's the
kind of PG version okay
I want to show you how a lot of this is
wrong according to the Word of God I
want to show you in 8 steps I'll take
from the Bible how to rebuild my true
sense of identity may God give an
identity and hopefully be an example for
the rest of you to do the same the first
thing I do here is I reorder priorities
now notice the first words that came out
of me when I asked myself Who am I
notice preacher pastor professor right
why is that a problem it's because I'm
defining myself first of all by my work
a common male problem with women it's
more commonly their children or their
husband their family and this is a
problem because what happens when I lose
my job hopefully won't happen but just
what just what if if what happens when I
retire if I've defined myself by my job
what happens if I'm no longer enjoying
my job
then my central part of my identity is
cracked and begins to crumble and it's
also a problem because this is not how
God prioritizes Christian identity where
did I pick Christian here 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8 9 10 I do hope I still got job but it
did come in at 10th and you think well
that's got to be number one surely I am
a Christian because when God defines as
in and gives us an identity he starts
first of all with our with our spiritual
state saved or unsaved Christian or
non-christian that's the that's the most
important distinction in any person's
identity and I said that's the question
you've got to answer first and forms
am i a Christian or a non-christian
nothing matters until you've settled
that question but then the second way he
defines us as by our know our spiritual
status but it'll see us first our
spiritual character comes second what he
is making us by grace what grace is he
has given to us then thirdly he defines
us us by our relationships when you look
at the Bible that's what you see you see
spiritual state spiritual character
relationships with others and only then
does our work
come into the picture you can imagine
what a difference that would make to us
on a daily basis if we got that right
that reordering of priorities and it's
here in first Corinthians 15 verse 10
notice that by the grace of God I am
what I am you see it I just put all
answer you I am what I am by the grace
of God that's the first thing in Paul's
life God's saving grace so the
priorities of our identity what comes
into our mind first of all is going to
have the most influence on who we see
and who we think we are and therefore
Lace reordered our priorities again I
noticed so go through that list father
came just before husband that's wrong
isn't it should be husband first
father second so go through your own
list and try and begin to order this
according to how God reigns our
priorities second step is expand in
completes expand and completes let's
just go back to that word that should be
first in the list Christian that's not
enough in the sense that that can be
hugely expanded God doesn't just
describe his people by
one word in the Bible he supplies
multiple enumerable words to define who
we are you can go through justified
forgiven adopter sanctified but the
chapter I often like to go to as
Ephesians chapter 1 Ephesians chapter 1
we often say well my identity is in
Christ again that's not enough we can
see far more than my identity is in
Christ and Paul doesn't this is one of
the wonderful things with the Apostle
Paul he takes this Christian identity
and it's like he he puts a prism on it
and and that this prism just breaks his
word up into multicolored descriptions
of who the Christian is and just one
chapter tells us in Ephesians 1 verse 3
blessed in Christ verse 4 chosen in
Christ there's four again holy in Christ
verse five adopted in Christ verse six
accepted in Christ verse seven redeemed
in Christ verse 14 13 sealed in Christ
you see how if I think of myself and you
think of yourself in all the ways that
that God describes us what an impact
that would have upon us day by day by
day these are the first things that come
to my mind when I wake up when I face a
problem when I'm criticized or when I'm
suffering keep these things in the front
of your mind expand this incomplete
description so that it expands your
sense of identity and so that these most
important things are not just upfront
but made much bigger in our perspective
expanding completes third area third
step is fill in the gaps
in the gaps and again we can look at
first Corinthians 15 there's 10 for this
let me go to that just a second in most
of us are inclined to do two things when
we write who we are the first is we
leave out our weaknesses we leave our
weaknesses we focus on our strains and
of course that's what the Waddell tales
to do you focus on your sins ignore
where you're where you're weak or where
you've sinned or where your faulty and
just just focus on your strengths and if
you do huh then that will give you a
certain identity but it's false it's
it's it's good gaps it doesn't reflect
reality and so we must admit our
weaknesses for example for myself I have
to admit it wasn't here it's not in my
description but if I'm to be honest and
fill in the gaps then no time to pretend
weaknesses like I am oftentimes
pessimistic I'm Scottish even although I
spent so many hours at Angel Becky I am
still pessimistic by default cynical at
times defensive when criticized I don't
recognize these things I won't take
steps to change them
the Apostle Paul recognized weaknesses
flaws and faults in himself repeatedly
he saw himself as a chief of sinners and
even here in verse 9 he says I'm I'm the
least of the Apostles I'm not meat to be
called an apostle because I persecuted
the Church of God we ignored our
weaknesses our flaws our feelings but we
can also ignore our strengths and we
call it humility but it's actually
dishonesty because any strengths we've
been given our gifts of God and to deny
them or ignore them as to deny God's
work in our lives no again it's kind of
hard for a Scottish guy to do this and
we were all brought up with our like a
kill
at haggis on our shoulder sing don't
talk about yourself okay today we've
gone to the other extreme
everyone just boosts everything on
Facebook you know I am awesome
everything but you know we can also go
to the other extreme and we we ignore
God's gifts and God's graces and God's
goodness in our lives and therefore we
don't worship Him and glorify Him for it
so we've got to to fill in these gaps to
to recognize our weaknesses and our
strengths and make them part of our
conscious identity both for repentance
and for praise for step as prosecute
falsehoods prosecute for sirs we're all
telling ourselves lies all the time
about who we are it's not easy to detect
because we've been tailing ourselves
these lines for so long some maybe maybe
somebody can come alongside us and help
us understand you where are we telling
ourselves lies and and when we identify
a lie we we want to prosecute it to the
fool bring evidence against the lie they
find the lie guilty condemn it sentence
it to exile and banish it so that it
never comes back into our sense of self
again the Apostle Paul does this again
if you go through most of his epistles
he is fighting against forces
prosecuting falsehoods that were being
told about himself and various church
Satan's he doesn't lay these lies lie he
goes after them he denies them he brings
evidence against them and we can do the
same internally when we are telling
ourselves why I don't know if you
noticed one of the descriptions I put in
my own identity was ill sick and
this was really related to a period in
my life a few years ago or over that
number of years really had a slip disc
and I had four surgeries in the space of
a few years one of them being a double
hernia which is like being guillotine
while you're still alive a - pulmonary
emboli blood clots in my lungs
diverticulitis
more recently arthritis that shattered
one of my tours and you know when this
comes one after another after another in
a short space of time
you really do begin to get pretty
depressed about it and you you know you
begin thinking I'm just amazed we all
get the coffin ready yeah I just I'm
well over the hill and just accelerating
out of life and into eternity and and
because I had that and I mean it
affected my behavior and my family and I
remember one time my wife sure when I
came to me and said to you know you're
awfully morose you know you're just you
just hanging around you don't seem too
much enthusiasm and what's going on and
what we talked usually takes over three
days to get things out of me but they
they do come eventually and you know as
I thought about it I thought well yeah
I'm just you all these things have
happened and I've laid these things
defying me and then I just see myself as
a sick old man and so as I told her she
had David okay you've been ill but
you're no longer ill you're healthy
again and even although some things
remain just quite a few parts of you
that are still working and you know and
you know as we talked and takes a few
days a few weeks to try and correct this
and begin to recognize yeah I can still
go to the gym I can still run again then
I stopped playing with my kids again
start going out and playing sport again
and so there's this falsehood that I've
been tailing myself
it's banished and sent to excel through
evidence being brought against turd
so try in fact what lies are you tailing
yourself what lie
is someone tailing you're the devil
telling you prosecutor
you've got to go to war against these
lies and drive them out they're not
gonna go of their own three well you
have to go after them and let me go to
next step step five which is add balance
add balance no notice here I put down
sinner that came wanted to be 4/4 and my
sense of identity and that's always
going to be part of my identity if I
ever take that out then I'm no longer a
Christian really am i I mean the
Christian is a sinner we are sinners and
being saved does not change the fact
that we are still dinners and therefore
requiring constant repentance and
self-examination and repentance but
though that's a truth it's not the whole
truth it's one side of the bounce but we
need another side and that is I'm not
just a sinner
I am also dead to sin that's another
truth of Scripture doesn't turn I am
dead to sin how does that impact as well
talking to somebody quite recently and
they fall into some alcoholism a
Christian and they had been going to EE
and they had absorbed this I am an
alcoholic I'm an alcoholic
I'm an alcoholic it may be true that
this person now has an addiction to
alcohol therefore it's good for him to
recognize I have this problem and I am
an alcoholic I am a sinner but if that's
all he has as his saints of it indeed
what happens the next time he's tempted
okay let's drink that's what I drink
that's what was happening we've got a
balance out with I am dead to alcohol
its dead to me
so that plane the temptation comes
whatever our own weaknesses that we view
that say no that's over that's finished
I am dead to that the more that we can
make that part of our lives the more sin
will die in our lives we have to add
bounce the apostle as an expert at
adding balance it's one of the most
balanced men you could ever imagine if
you look for example at second
corinthians chapter 6 verses 9 and 10 as
unknown and yet well known as dying and
behold we live as chastened and not
killed assort aful yet all we rejoicing
as pure yet making many rich as having
nothing and yet possessing all things
you imagine if you only had one side of
all these pairs whether it's the
positives or the negatives if you have
only one side you're in trouble a large
part of the Christian life is finding
that balance between two truths six step
is reframe failure reframe failure again
I go back to my own identity notice the
last word I put there was a failure a
failure
no there were times in my life for that
would have been the first word in my
identity because I failed I filled it in
work I failed in ministry I failed in
parenting I failed in being a husband
yeah I couldn't look especially to
earthly changed my life I just felt from
me for a long enough time I am a failure
that's that's pretty devastating to
Christian health spiritual health and I
still feel so I want to keep that here
but it's last it's not first and we make
it last by reframing failure by taking
the ugliness of failure and putting a
gold frame around a gold frame provided
to us by Scripture
for example all things work together for
good god sovereignly overrules our
failures and makes them into something
helpful to us my feelers have taught me
to be more dependent on God that's a
beautiful thing it's told me to be more
compassionate to other people who feel
it certainly helped me to be more
compassionate to parents who are feeling
when I see I'd been a failure in my own
parenting has helped me to worship
Christ more because I think here is
someone who came to this earth and lived
33 years and never failed once how is
that possible I think I was shaken with
a feeling you feel here summoned 33
soldiers in the midst of the most
horrendous provocation not one failure
not one second of failure does I know
when we see our own failures draws to
worship this man Christ Jesus and and
see how his successes are credited to us
too blotto our failures as well when we
can do that then we can reframe feel
your beautifully feel your redirects us
when we try something we go down one
road and we feel at it that's good that
means I'm no man to go down that road
may be God's redirecting me along
another path where maybe I'm more gifted
and able reframe failure step 7
accept change accept change our
identities are not static and unchanging
we change circumstances change God's
providence on thoughts in such a way
that we change ourselves our identity
changes what we would Rea as a as a 15
year olds different 232 62 to an 80 year
old and yet one of the things we tend to
do
we want to cling to our past identity
especially as we grow older we want to
be what we used to be and we can't
accept that things are changing in our
lives changes in our age and our
abilities our status our relationships
probably when I was twenty or something
I would have to if not number one
certainly talked the soccer player
that's how I wanted to be viewed as I
wonder view myself I want to be a
professional soccer player and I tried
to do that today I would either be lying
or dying we're going to leave these
dreams these fantasies behind and
unaccept changes in our lives and maybe
the one I've come across most in
pastoral ministry as young women
struggling to accept this maybe young
women have done really well and school
done really well and college and maybe
started a career and again done really
well and they're organized they're very
systematic they're very efficient they
capable and talented and all they do
then they get married and then come
children and then comes being a mom and
a homemaker and everything has changed
there's new efficiency there's no order
there's no structure there's no sense of
progress or accomplishment it just feels
like you're running in the sand and
going deeper and deeper every day and
this can be extremely difficult for
capable young women to accept and often
those are rebellion against resistance
to it a fight against it
therein lies disaster doesn't it and so
we need God's grace to accept these God
ordained changes in our lives to embrace
these new identities he is giving us in
His grace and stop looking back with
regret and stop looking at others with
envy but look at God who has given
what is best for us at this time last
step anticipate the future you know one
of the saddest things I think to see him
maybe the younger people wouldn't
realize it so much but you know those of
us are just a wee bit older we we grew
up and there were celebrities in our day
and age you don't know any of their
names but you know they were the
beautiful people of the day they were
the people everyone wanted to be I want
to be like I won't say the names but I
mean you know we're 50 and known again
you see them pop up and the internet
newspapers whatever you see their faces
you see their lifestyles you see wow
this still trying to live as if they're
20 they're still trying to they're
trying to relive and recapture their
past why because their best days are
behind them but as Christians our best
days are ahead of us so why try and
recapture the past why try and relive
the past why be reluctant to let go of
past identities when the greatest
identity possible is ahead and there's
no there's no better verse that brings
us before us then first John chapter 3
first John chapter 3 and again it's just
you start looking for an identity in the
Bible you find it everywhere it's like
dr. Thomas said in the last address you
know who you are
it's the primary determinant of what you
do in the Christian life and you see
here first first John 3 he says behold
what manner of love the father has
bestowed upon us that we should be
called the sons of God there's praise an
identity therefore the world knows us
not because it knew him not that
identities got an impact impact how
others viewers and treat us beloved no
present team
no are we the sons of God it would be
it'd be wonderful if there was a fuel
stop they are it's enough isn't it No
are we the sons of God but there's a
coma there's something after it because
it doesn't just stay in the praising and
it does not yet appear what we shall be
but we know that when he shall appear we
shall be like him for we shall see him
as he is you see that we're not just in
Christ in the present we will be like
Christ in the future and that's not just
a sterile truth but it's a productive
truth because notice his next verse and
every man the hath this hope in him
purifies himself even as he is pure if
we could anticipate our future identity
I will be like Jesus
how much more like Jesus would we be in
the present let's not look back
let's look forward don't look back with
regret I look forward with anticipation
the best truly is yet to be the best you
that is is yet to be imagine being in
heaven with a perfect identity we won't
all be clones we will all still be
different in many beautiful ways and yet
every single difference will be a
perfect difference perfect diversity in
unity so there you go
eight steps to begin recovering and
rebuilding your sense of identity
reorder your priorities expand and
completes fill in the gaps prosecute
falsehoods add balance reframe failure
accept change and anticipate the future
let's pray
Oh Lord we can face that we are mixed up
we are confused as to who we are we are
so thankful that the Word of God gives
us so much help to rebuild our saints of
identity it gives us such a clear path
to begin to recover our true self in
Christ and by Christ we pray that each
one of us here would be able to to
embrace this world view of human
identity and therefore change the whole
way we view this world and the world to
come in Jesus name we pray I mean