So, how do you feel about yourself?...Probably much better now that you have seen some of those awkward family photos. or…Maybe worse because yours isn’t much better! btw…What is wrong with people? Monkeys? seriously?
How do you feel when you look at the person in the mirror? Self-esteem or a good self image is a crucial part of a healthy life.
· A bad self-image…whether it comes from the way you grew up, the way you look, or what’s happened to you…a bad self-image can be devastating.
Just ask these well known people:
Oh, God, I struggle with low self-esteem all the time! I think everyone does. I have so much wrong with me, it's unbelievable!
(image of Angelina Jolie)
I don't take compliments very easily. I think most musicians suffer from low self-esteem to some extent.
(image of James Taylor)
Anger is a manifestation of a deeper issue... and that, for me, is based on insecurity, self-esteem and loneliness.
(image of Naomi Campbell)
My insecurities could eat me alive
(image of Eminem)
Funny, isn’t it, that even some people, beautiful and talented, who look like they have the world on a string struggle with a bad self-image.
So, when you don’t like the person in the mirror what can happen?
· it’ll destroy your confidence…you will live with continual hesitation.
· lock you into bad patterns of behavior…cuz that’s just who I am…
o small illustration: When she was a child my wife, Penny overheard her mother day “She’s just like me…not an athlete.
o Penny – “as soon as I heard what she said it became a deep truth in my life. Never even occurred to me that it might not be true.”
· make you constantly envious of everybody else
· turn you into an Eeyore…people love to be around THAT guy!
· warp your view of God…If I don’t like myself then God doesn’t either \
· Cause in you a perpetual state of Freak out that everybody else will think about us they way we think about us.
My biggest fear is that eventually you’ll see me the way I see myself – anonymous
So, you get the point…bad self image can be devastating. So, how good is it then that God is not silent on this topic!
· He has provided for us a game changing opportunity…the beautiful transaction…the offer of a lifetime…which I will return to at the end. but for now let me summarize it this way:
Knowing who you are, in Christ, is a game changer!
Let’s explore that in Ephesians 1
Series review – Dear church – letters written by the Apostle Paul in 1st and 2nd centuries to new Christian churches in the middle east and Europe.
Ephesians:
· Ephesians written while Paul was imprisoned in Rome
· written at the same time as Colossians and Philemon
· probably NOT a specific occasion but a general sermon to a bunch of churches.
§ Topics: Jesus, the church, the Holy Spirit, families, spiritual battle, lifestyle issues
§ and…self-image or identity
Knowing who you are, in Christ, is a game changer!
Let’s begin with a little tour of Ephesians…stopping at a few moments where he addresses this topic…
Ephesians 1:18-19 - I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe.
· 18 - the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know
o heart – the center of your passions and motivation
§ your heart is the engine that drives your life…it is the place of belief and motivation
o I want you to see clearly something about yourself that will fire you up
§ hope, your inheritance and your power
o I’m praying you get it!
Ephesians 4:1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.
· I want you to live suitable to your new identity…new calling
o calling – root word implies a name…a name you have been given
· I “urge” you…come along side you…and coach you to live up to your new name…new identity
o you are not lousy
o you are not stupid
o you are not fat
o you are not skinny
o you are not dumb
o you are not not good enough
o you are loved, liked, a prince or princess of the most high, a highly esteemed brother or sister, forgiven and rebranded, carrier of the Spirit of God, you have the mind of Christ, beautiful in Christ, gifted, you are soldier of the kingdom
Knowing who you are, in Christ, is a game changer!
Ephesians 4:22-24 - You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
· Another way of saying it – old self/new self – old identity/ new identity
· the attitude of your minds – the deepest realest part of you
· old self = corrupted
· new self = created to be like God!
This is who you were…this is who you are…now live based on who you are not who you were!
Knowing who you are, in Christ, is a game changer!
Probably the most significant passage on this subject is back a couple chapters and I want to spend the rest of our time there:
Ephesians 2:1-10 (start with 1-3) As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.
You were: Old Self - Old identity
1. 1- dead in which you used to live
a. that would make you a Zombie!
b. Zombies are a big thing in pop culture but actually a good metaphor for the old identity – mindless wandering in search of something
2. 2 - when you followed the ways of this world
a. you just did what everybody else was doing which would make you a lemming … small furry gerbil like rodent
b. 1958 – Disney studios film depicting lemmings all jumping off a cliff together.
c. since then – lemmings just do whatever anyone else does. No originality… Zombie lemming!
3. 2 - followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air
a. you were a pawn of the devil
4. 3 - gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature
a. self-absorbed addict
5. 3 - were by nature objects of wrath.
a. God was mad at you
THIS is who you WERE!
4 But!!!!!
(Vs 4-10) because of his great love for you , God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made you alive with Christ even when you were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised you up with Christ and seated you with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to you in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourself, it is the gift of God-- 9 not by works, so that you can’t boast. 10 For you are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for you to do. Ephesians 2:1-10
But that’s not who you are
1. 5 - made you alive
a. you are not dead - you are very much alive
b. alert, aware, animated, energized
2. 6 - raised you up with Christ and seated you with him in the heavenly realms
a. this is where you gotta use your imagination
b. picture yourself where you are…seated in heaven beside Jesus and everything is under your feet…sin, habits, pains, frustrations, fears, reputation, enemies…ALL subservient to you and Christ.
3. 7 - expressed in his kindness to you
a. God is not mad at you…he is kind toward you…he likes you
b. 4 - he is rich in mercy to you
4. 10 - you are God's workmanship/masterpiece
a. special to him with a very special calling in this world
b. he has entrusted his heartbeat/his mission/his purposes to you
5. Not so much an aspect of your identity but how you got this new self:
a. you did nothing to earn it 5- it is by grace you have been saved
God took a zombie, lemming, addict, pawn of the devil (with whom he was furious) and turned you into a living, heaven, dwelling masterpiece with whom he has a huge fondness!
Knowing who you are, in Christ, is a game changer!
So then…how do we get from there to here?
From Zombie to masterpiece –
1. you cannot earn it. you cannot buy it. you cannot force it and you cannot make it happen
2. you aren’t going to get a new identity by…
a. self-discipline, self-sacrifice, willpower, goodness, hard work, altruism, or religion
3. you can’t re-invent yourself, build yourself up or turn over a new leaf
There is one way and one way only to completely transform our identity and thus re-establish yourself image.
You must surrender your life to Jesus Christ.
· confess, repent, turn and follow Jesus Christ
· and when you do…you will be forgiven, filled and adopted
This is the game changing opportunity…the beautiful transaction…the offer of a lifetime…I referred to at the beginning.
· you can be a completely NEW person – both here and in the hereafter.
Now, for those of you who have experienced yet you still struggle with the person in the mirror…
STOP! Get it through the eyes of your heart!
· you are no longer THAT guy! THAT girl!
Somebody – a follower of Jesus - stand up and shout this out.
God is not mad at me.
I do have nothing to prove.
I am forgiven.
I am loved.
I am unique.
I have a calling.
I am a masterpiece.
Now go live like it!