Message Recap: Identity Theft-Part 1 (Easter)

Kicked off our new series, Identity Theft, on Easter weekend with the question: "Does Easter really matter since we tend to only think about it at two times: Easter and when facing death?"

Colossians 3:1-3
--The Apostle Paul's personalizing the resurrection with the conditional statement, "...IF you have been raised with the Messiah..."
--"Raised" could literally mean "co-resurrected". Clearly, Paul is talking about the resurrection in applicable, personal terms.
--If we have been co-resurrected then we take our cues from Jesus, we focus on heavenly things not earthly ones, and we think differently.  Our lives will be "hidden" with Christ. Paul is teaching that the resurrection matters in how we live our lives on earth.

• Paul is addressing our very identity.


• We all know the power of identity: Identity determines direction. Who we think we are determines where we go and how we live our lives.
  
  
  
  • We all want something to define us and give us a healthy self-concept. We want to be perceived a certain way.
  
  
  • The world offers us a lot of choices: our bodies, our performance, our careers, our houses, our cars, our clothes, our relationships, our pleasures, fitness, etc. The problem is that what the world offers will eventually die, change, wear out, or deceive us and lead us down a dangerous path. Ultimately, our jobs will go away, our bodies will wear out, our car will break down, other people will let us down, etc.
    
    
    
    • Then, the world will condemn us for our "identity choice".
    
    
    
    
  
  
  • We will have no choice but to reconstruct, rediscovery, or redefine our identity. We feel lost because we are lost -- lost from who God created us to be.
  
  
  • We need a more reliable and secure source of identity. This is where God meets us.
  
  
  
  


• Colossians 3:4
  
  
  
  • Christ wants to be our "life". Not part of our life, but our life.
    
    
    
    • This is our battle: to let God define us.
    
    
    • This is also our hope because ultimately other things that define us will deceive us or go away.
    
    
    
    
  
  
  • What is true of Christ is (can be) true of me which gives me an identity.
    
    
    
    • We see this need for a secure source of identity unfold in the Scriptures:
      
      
      
      • Job 14:14, Luke 24:46
        
        
        
        • Job cries out for the hope of a resurrection; Jesus is the resurrection.
        
        
        
        
      
      
      • Romans 4:25, Romans 6:9, I Corinthians 6:14, 2 Corinthians 1:9
        
        
        
        • From the resurrection comes our justification, our hope, and God's trustworthiness.
        
        
        
        
      
      
      • Hebrews 7:16, I Peter 1:3
        
        
        
        • Jesus is the eternal High Priest able to offer new life and a living hope because He is indestructible.
        
        
        
        
      
      
      
      
    
    
    
    
  
  
  
  


• Colossians 3:5-10a
  
  
  
  • Everything flows from this new identity as we walk a new way in a new direction because we are new in Christ
  
  
  • This is not a list of rules to follow; this is a way to walk because of WHO we are in Christ. It is based not on what we have done, but what Christ has done on our behalf.
  
  
  
  


• Colossians 3:10b-11
  
  
  
  • We have a new image: Jesus. Reliable. Indestructible. Secure. Eternal.
  
  
  • The resurrection is not just something you believe; it is how you build your life.
  
  
  • Old identity patterns are gone. The new distinction: have you been raised/co-resurrected, or not?