Know who you are…

God has a great future for you – Jer 29:11. A lot of people have identity crises. Who you are will determine what you accomplish. Your opinion of yourself will determine what you will achieve. 2 Corinthians 5:16-21 16 Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer.17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 18 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

20 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. 21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Question #1: What do you think the Apostle Paul meant when he said that we must no longer regard anyone according to the flesh? Prov 23:7 You can no longer look at yourself according to things that has happened to you, or things you have done! You have to look at yourself and others the way God looks at you. You are now ambassadors for Christ – you are not an ambassador of your mistakes and your failures. When does your life start? – When you are in Christ. Everything before this does not define you – you are now defined by what Jesus did for you.    Judges  6:11-­‐16  

11 Now the Angel of the LORD came and sat under the terebinth tree which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from the Midianites. 12 And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him, and said to him, “The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor!” 13 Gideon said to Him, “O my lord,[a] if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the LORD has

Recap  on  last  week  You cannot fulfill your destiny if you don’t look at yourself the way God looks at you. Ephesians  2:10  10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.  

• Your are defined by the way God sees you. You will NEVER fulfill your destiny if you can’t see yourself the way God says you.

• To conquer your world – you have to have the

mind of a conqueror.

• You are not the product of happens to you, but the product of your response to adversity.

• You have to let go of your past and press on to what lies ahead.

• Embrace what God says about you.

• You are what God says about you.

forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.” 14 Then the LORD turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?” 15 So he said to Him, “O my Lord,[b] how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.” 16 And the LORD said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man.”

Question #2: What was Gideon’s perspective of himself? How did God’s perspective differ from Gideon’s perspective?

The greatest crisis most people face is an IDENTITY CRISIS!

They don't know who they are in Christ! Too many people allow their self-image to be tainted and effected by:

• their past • their failures and mistakes • their shortcomings • their circumstances • other people’s opinions

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Question #3: What does it mean to be a “new creation?”

• It means you have no past – only a future! Question #4: According to 2 Corinthians 5:17 what influence should your past lifestyle, experiences and circumstances have on your “new creation” reality? Ephesians 2:1-10

2 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.

4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

When you receive Jesus you come alive to whom God created you to be! You receive new life with new:

• Ability • Liberty • Identity

• Victory • Equality

Colossians 3:1-3

3 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

Hebrews 10:14

14 For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.

Galatians 2:20 New King James Version (NKJV)

20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

Question #5: What do these verses say about this new life we have found in Christ? In Christ – I’m whole, complete! You can’t add to what Jesus did: “It is finished!”

Prayer of Paul: That we can see what Christ did for us so that we can understand and comprehend the power God has given us! Ephesians 1:15-19 New King James Version (NKJV)

Prayer for Spiritual Wisdom

15 Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16 do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, 18 the eyes of your understanding[a] being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power