IDENTITY (VALUES 2021)
VALUES (2021) • Sermon • Submitted
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YOUR IDENTITY IS BEST FOUND IN CHRIST
YOUR IDENTITY IS BEST FOUND IN CHRIST
26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
HOW DID THE SENTENCE “I’M A WOMAN TRAPPED IN A MAN’S BODY COME TO MAKE SENSE”?
WHO ARE YOU? WHAT IS YOUR IDENTITY?
WHAT IS IDENTITY?
A SENSE OF SELF AND OF WORTH. UNIQUE AND SIGNIFICANCE.
HOW DO YOU FIND THAT? HOW IS IDENTITY DERIVED?
PHILIP RIEFF
IN HIS BOOK THE TRIUMPH OF THE THERAPEUTIC (1966)
THE POLITICAL MAN: FINDS HIS IDENTITY IN THE ACTIVITIES OF PUBLIC LIFE
THE RELIGIOUS MAN: FINDS HIS IDENTITY IN THE ACTIVITIES OF RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY
THE ECONOMIC MAN: FINDS HIS IDENTITY IN ECONOMIC ACTIVITY: TRADE, PRODUCTION, $$
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL MAN: FINDS HIS IDENTITY IN THE INWARD QUEST FOR PERSONAL PSYCHOLOGICAL HAPPINESS.
MOVE FROM THE EXTERNAL TO THE INTERNAL
TECHNOLOGY HAS PLAYED A HUGE PART IN CHANGING HOW WE SEE THE WORLD
DO WE SEE THE WORLD AS SOMETHING WE MUST DISCOVER AND CONFORM OURSELVES TO OR AS RAW MATERIAL WE MUST USE TO CREATE MEANING AND PURPOSE?
CHANGE OF OUR CORE INSTITUTIONS
EDUCATION: USED TO BEPLACES THAT WOULD EXPOSE STUDENTS TO IDEAS THAT WOULD CHALLENGE THEIR DEEPEST BELIEFS AND HELP THEM FIND THEIR PLACE IN SOCIETY.
NOW THEY MUST BE PLACES WHERE THEY CAN DISCOVER THEIR INDIVIDUAL AUTHENTIC SELVES AND BE AFFIRMED OF THEM AND SOCIETY MUST CONFORM TO THEM.
TIM KELLER GIVES 4 REASONS WHY WE CANNOT LOOK INSIDE OURSELVES TO FIND IDENTITY
TIM KELLER GIVES 4 REASONS WHY WE CANNOT LOOK INSIDE OURSELVES TO FIND IDENTITY
INCOHERENT: OUR FEELINGS CONTRADICT EACH OTHER
“YOU ARE A BEING WHOSE WANTS MAKE NO SENSE. THEY DON’T HARMONIZE. YOUR DESIRES DEEP DOWN ARE DISCORDANTLY ARRANGED SO THAT YOU WANT TRULY TO POSSESS AND YOU WANT TRULY TO NOT POSSESS AT THE VERY SAME TIME. YOU ARE EQUIPPED YOU WILL EVENTUALLY REALIZE FOR FARCE OR EVEN TRAGEDY MUCH MORE THAN YOU ARE FOR HAPPY ENDINGS.”
FRANCIS BUFFARD
9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?
UNSTABLE: OUR FEELINGS CHANGE
THINK ABOUT YOUR 15 YEAR OLD SELF: WHAT AN IDIOT….YOU’RE ALWAYS A FOOL!
ILLUSORY: YOU CHOOSE WHICH FEELINGS TO EMBRACE AND CULTURE GIVES YOU A GRID TO JUDGE
CRUSHING: ANALYSIS PARALYSIS. WE HAVE TO JUSTIFY OUR EXISTENCE.
28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?
JESUS OFFERS US A NEW IDENTITY
JESUS OFFERS US A NEW IDENTITY
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
2 Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh. 3 For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh— 4 though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. 7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—
8 But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.