Archive for the ‘identity in Christ’ Tag
“Who Is Jesus? God and Man Revealed!” Pt 1
Part 1A:
Part 1B:
Full Message:
Scripture: John 1
Summary:
The sermon by Pastor Timothy Brassell, titled “Who is Jesus? God and Man Revealed,” proclaims The Father-Son-Holy-Spirit-God revealed in Jesus. It explores the nature of Jesus Christ as both divine and human. He discusses Jesus embodying complete godliness and humanity without compromising on either aspect. The sermon emphasizes the importance of understanding this union of natures to grasp the full identity and work of Jesus Christ, particularly how this relates to Christian faith and salvation.
Context:
It emphasizes Christian doctrinal teachings about Jesus’s nature as both divine and human – deepening their faith understanding. The teachings are rooted in traditional Christian orthodoxy, reflecting ongoing discussions within theological circles about the nature of Christ and its implications for faith and practice. The emphasis on historical and scriptural validation seeks to ground contemporary faith practices in early Christian teachings.
These are some highlights:
📖 Trinitarian Framework: The pastor emphasizes the Trinitarian view of God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—as fundamental to understanding Jesus’s identity.
👨👦 Divine and Human Nature: Jesus is presented as both fully God and fully man, a theological stance that underscores his unique role in salvation history.
📚 Scriptural References: Extensive scripture references, particularly the New Testament, highlight how biblical texts assert Jesus’s dual nature.
⛪ Historical Creeds: The significance of historical creeds like the Nicene Creed is discussed, stressing their role in defining orthodox Christian beliefs about Jesus.
🙏 Practical Implications: The sermon connects these theological points to practical Christian living, urging believers to align their lives with the truth of Jesus’s nature.
Photo Credit:
worldchallenge.org
“A Divine Calling!”
Word of Life Devotional by Sherwin Scott
Therefore, holy brothers [and sisters], you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession…
Hebrews 3:1 (ESV)
Many people consider themselves to be called to a specific profession or service. They believe that they have been called to be doctors, lawyers, and teachers, or to serve in the armed forces or the local or national government of their country. Maybe they feel they are called to be the leader of a nation as president or prime minister.
Believers in Jesus Christ have received a specific and definite calling into his fellowship. The Apostle Paul explains in 1 Corinthians 1:9: ‘God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.’ What exactly is ’the fellowship of his Son’? It is the holy, loving relationship of God the Father, Jesus the beloved Son and the Holy Spirit – a divine relationship that has existed from eternity and will continue forever!
Believers are blessed, privileged, and honored to be called to participate or share in this wonderful relationship. It doesn’t get any better – it is finding the pearl of great value (Matthew 13:45-46), the ultimate calling! And an amazing truth about this special calling is that it cannot be revoked as explained in Romans 11:29: ‘For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.’
Relationships are very important to God, for God is in relationship: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, a communion of love. And he wants us as his children to participate in the divine relationship, which will continue forever. With this divine calling there is no going back, for God takes no pleasure in anyone who draws back (Hebrews 10:36-38). There is only one way – marching forward into the fullness of God’s glorious kingdom.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank you for the invitation to participate in your beautiful relationship. Please help me to respond in a manner that is pleasing to you. In Jesus’s name I pray, Amen.
Study by Sherwin Scott
Photo Compliments: WorldChallenge.org
“Who is The Father Revealed in Jesus?” Pt. 2
Part 2A:
Part 2B
Full Message:
Scripture:
2 Cor 13: 14, Matthew 23: 8-11, John 17
Summary and Goal:
This sermon discusses the importance of understanding the relationship between God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. It emphasizes the deep love and joy that comes from being united with the Father through Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
“What I mean is this. An ordinary simple Christian kneels down to say his prayers. He is trying to get into touch with God. But if he is a Christian he knows that what is prompting to pray is also God: God, so to speak, inside him. But he also knows that all his real knowledge of God comes through Christ, the Man who was God—that Christ is standing beside him, helping him to pray, praying for him. You see what is happening. God (THE FATHER) is the thing (ONE) to which he is praying—the goal he is trying to reach. God is also the thing (ONE) inside him which is pushing him on—the motive power. God is also the road or bridge along which he is being pushed to that goal. So that the whole threefold life of the three-personal Being is actually going on in that ordinary little bedroom where an ordinary man is saying his prayers. The man is being caught up into the higher kind of life—what I called Zoe or spiritual life: he is being pulled into God, by God, while still remaining himself.” (P.163) – Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
Highlights:
👨👦👦 The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are distinct persons in the Godhead.
👻 The Holy Spirit is not a commodity, but a person who hears, speaks, sees, inspires, and moves.
🎁 Everything we receive and do comes from the Father through Jesus and in the Holy Spirit.
😇 Joyous days in the Father surpass mere happiness and can be experienced even in affliction and distress.
❤️ The love of the Father is deep and unbreakable, even in the face of trials and persecution.
✝️ The Father’s love was demonstrated through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, which reconciled and saved humanity.
🤝 The relationship with the Father is shared through the participation in the Holy Spirit’s fellowship.
“Who Is The Father Revealed In Jesus?” Pt. 1
Pt 1A:
Pt 1B:
Full Message:
Scripture: Isaiah 40: 18-31, Isaiah 46: 3-13, Hebrews 1: 1-3, 1John5, Mark 12, John 17
Summary and Goal:
This sermon is about the importance of knowing and understanding the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. The speaker emphasizes the supreme advantage and relevance of having a relationship with the Father-Son-Holy-Spirit-God as Revealed in Jesus Christ the God/Man.
Highlights:
🙏 Praying to the Father before the message
🌟 The twin doctrines of faith: Who is the Father? What is He doing?
👨👧👦 Father’s Day celebration and addressing everyone
🏛️ The foundation of Jesus Christ and the importance of building on it
📖 Scripture references and teachings on the Father
🌍 The Importance of God the Father for every family
💞 Implications of understanding and relating to God the Father
💡 Knowing the Father gives supreme advantage and relevance in life.
Photo compliments: smoodock45.wordpress
Toward An Enduring Identity!
Part A:
Part B:
Full Message:
Main Bible Verses: 1 Peter 2: 1-17
Introduction:
We are each a part of the body of Christ. Chosen by God, receivers of great mercy, we have been given a new identity that we are to work out in our lives. With Christ as our foundation and example, we’ve also been given a new purpose and calling to be set apart for the work and glory of God.
Theological Theme:
The church is a sign and instrument of the kingdom of God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, constituted and commissioned by Jesus Christ.
Each of the four preceding descriptions of the church—a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, and a people for God’s possession— reminds us that we are fundamentally different from the world. We are, as Peter put it, strangers and exiles in this world. This is our new identity in Christ, and it is from this identity that our changed behavior should flow. Who we are should always be the root of our behavior.
Christ Connection:
The early Christians faced persecution and experienced suffering for their faith in Christ. Peter reminded them of their identity as God’s people—formed by Christ and sent out on His mission. United to Christ, the One who suffered for us on the cross, Christians can expect God to use suffering to make us into the image of His Son.
God has graciously provided a solid foundation for us to experience His goodness for eternity. That foundation was laid through Christ’s obedient life, sinless sacrifice, and powerful resurrection, and by faith in Him, we can stand firm on it……Peter teaches about the enduring, living hope we have through Christ. He records glorious truth after glorious truth about the gospel—the work of Christ on our behalf so that we might enter into a permanent relationship with God…..Since the great mercy of God has rescued us and given us a living hope and an imperishable inheritance, therefore, we take action. It’s important to understand that if the sole purpose of salvation were to rescue you from eternal damnation, there would be no reason for you to continue to exist in this world. Our lives are about more than our individual deliverance. We remain on this earth to be stones of grateful testimony who declare the salvation of our glorious Lord to every one who will hear.
Missional Application:
God, through his Holy Spirit calls us to be an otherworldly people for the good of this world, to stand against the world for the sake of the world.
One key to living out our new identity and purpose is to understand our new citizenship. We cannot live out the call to be holy with one foot immersed in the patterns and conduct of the world and another in the lifestyle of Christianity. This is a false reality for the two are incongruent with one another. Even the goodness of the world and the social norms that might jive with our biblical worldview cannot be our goal. The world does good in order to be seen as good. The Christian does good in order to point to our good God.
“Advance in the Christian life comes not by the work of the Holy Spirit alone, nor by our work alone, but by our responding to the grace the Holy Spirit initiates and sustains.” –Donald S. Whitney
Conclusion:
We have been saved with a great purpose. Yes, we personally benefit from the rescue we’ve received, but ultimately, our salvation is not about you and me. The glorious reality of our redemption is to be proclaimed for the sake of those who still yet need it, all for the glory of our Redeemer. Therefore, we must take seriously our calling to live an otherworldly life. With our feet firmly planted on the bedrock of Christ’s character and provision, we get to live out our calling as a child of God, with all the hope of an eternal future with our glorious King.
Contending For The Faith Delivered To The Saints! – Part 12
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fCnlbFY-m0
Audio: Part 12a: 32 min
Audio: Part 12b: 30 min
Audio: Full Message:
This Specific Message Concludes the Series of 12 messages addressing today’s big questions regarding relationships, race, marriage, love, gender/sexual identity, politics, and worship and witness as it relates to the Christian God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Photo Compliments: http://www.lifeassuranceministries.org/proclamation/2010/4/Resources/octnovdec2010fea.jpeg
So Why Not Say You’re Gay, or…?
…Black, White, Asian or Hispanic??? Or Republican, or Democrat? Or why not say you’re a Millennial, Boomer, or a Gen X’er??? (After all everyone else calls themselves by their age, too?) Why not call yourself ESFJ, or INTJ – for those familiar with the Myers Briggs personality inventory?
Because, simply put but complexly true, according to Jesus Christ and the God Revealed in Him, you are not any of those things! You certainly may exhibit some of those traits but…
“Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life—even though invisible to spectators—is with Christ in God. He is your life. When Christ (your real life, remember) shows up again on this earth, you’ll show up, too—the real you, the glorious you. Meanwhile, be content with obscurity, like Christ.
– Colossians 3:3-4 (The Msg)
According to Jesus, from the Father and through the Holy Spirit in the Apostle Paul, that’s why you shouldn’t identify as just any old “thing”, or even as your own thing! So if you’re struggling with your identity, it is probably because you’ve forgotten, or never knew the Truth God points out through this scripture:
1.) Your identity is not in some thing (your sexual attraction, your skin color, your political party or age), it is in Someone outside yourself, namely, in Jesus Christ, in God. You’re going to have to look outside yourself in the first instance to discover your identity! You should receive and look to Jesus because your real life is hidden in him. Your true humanity is hidden in him. He is your life! (By the way, what largely remains hidden to you now is the glorified humanity Jesus has for you; the humanity that will never die and is incorruptible. What isn’t hidden is all of the other stuff revealed and witnessed to about Jesus in the bible!)
2.) If you’re going to receive who you really are, you’re going to have to follow Jesus and let him show and tell you. Because he is a Person and you are a person, that means discovering your identity is not static but dynamic, or relational and active. Identity is not a thing that can be discovered in isolation from others (as in “I’m a hermit”). Your identity is a discovery that comes in relationship with Jesus and the God Revealed in Him.
3.) One of the greatest and common places Jesus is pleased to meet you is in the scriptures! Perhaps you, personally, are having more clarity about your identity through the scripture just quoted. It wouldn’t surprise me! This Relational God – Father, Son and Spirit is the one who inspired and left us these books we call the bible through which he would encounter us and witness to himself! If you like reading books, he left you quite a few to catch up on! Lol! If you are getting clarity about your identity through the scripture notice that we went to a passage through which God has been pleased to witness to himself (though He’s NOT the bible!) Through that passage he was pleased to speak to you not only about who he is but also about who you really are!
4.) Notice also that this isn’t a scripture only about you, it’s about every one of us! Because of who we are speaking of, Jesus, the God/Man and One who created and sustains every single person, your fellow human beings also have their identity in Him! Jesus is literally the One Human for all! Pointedly, this means you should seek to see your neighbor also for who they are in Jesus who represents all humans in his humanity, namely, your brother or sister, or neighbor in Christ!
Imagine for one moment how transformed our world would be if we referred to all others as “brother” or “sister” or “neighbor” “in Christ” rather than the things I noted in my first few sentences? Can you see the difference that would make in our treatment of each other? Can you sense the other-centered love in humility that could thrive, and the self-centered pride that could die? Wow!!!
By the way, none of this means that you become Jesus or that he becomes you! No! He will still be Jesus and you will still be distinctly you. It does mean that Jesus intends to share with you his awesome and glorified human nature so you can relate with God and each other in a way that partakes of the divine nature, as one made in the image of his image in Jesus (2 Cor 4:4)! His life reveals what it really means to be human and those who trust him get to participate in that!
Here’s the link to a GREAT read through which I was encountered by God – Father, Son and Spirit and got stirred to write this article: http://www.livingout.org/why-not-say-you-re-gay-
As author Jonathan Berry writes in his last paragraph:
“We’re often warned of the dangers of identity theft in an increasingly digital age. As a Christian I feel passionately that I don’t want to allow myself to be robbed of the enjoyment of these great blessings, by falsely embracing any other identity. In his letter to Christians in Rome, Paul urges his readers not to “conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2). For me, a really important aspect of that mind-renewal process involves ditching any unbiblical labels and securing my true identity as being in Christ.” (underline emphasis mine!)
Amen!
– tjbrassell
*photo courtesy of rhemafromgod.blogspot.com
The Triune God Whose Plan Involves Suffering
Theological Theme: God is sovereign over our lives, and He uses suffering and injustice to accomplish His plans in and through us.
Christ Connection: Joseph suffered unjustly and was later exalted to a place of prominence. In a similar manner, Jesus suffered unjustly and was later raised from the dead and exalted as Lord of the world.
Missional Application: God calls us to trust Him to fulfill His promises because when obstacles appear to thwart His mission, God is faithful to use even the obstacles as part of His plan to bring glory to His Son.
The Triune God Who Gives New Names!
Theological Theme: Encountering God leads to a fundamental change of identity and purpose.
Christ Connection: God’s renaming of individuals in the Old Testament reflects both privilege and responsibility. As Christians, we bear the name of Christ. We receive both the privilege of salvation and the responsibility of mission.
Missional Application: God calls us to live in a manner worthy of the name we have received so that others may praise God for His transforming power.