Saints Not Sinners

Austin White · Tidal Church Moncton · February 5, 2023 · Our Imperfect Family series

Austin White teaches from Genesis 3 and other Scriptures that our identity is found in Christ, not in what we do. Though we are broken, God gives us a new identity as His beloved children and is making us new, which strengthens our relationships.

More from Austin White · The Our Imperfect Family series

Topics: Grace, Identity, Discipleship

Transcript

[0:00] When you're meeting somebody for the first time, when you're introducing yourself, saying hi, my name is Austin. What's your name? Is Frank or whatever. What's typically the first follow-up question that they ask or you ask to them? Depends on the person, but wouldn't you agree that most of the time the follow-up question is, what do you do for living? Where do you work? I was asked that question of my parents when I was five years old and going to gymnastics class. They went around the room and they said, what do your parents do for work? Now, I'll preface by saying that my parents. My mom is a teacher and my dad is a pastor. So they went around, asked all these kids, and finally it comes to five-year-old Austin, and they say, Austin, what do your parents do for work? And I look at the class and my teacher and I say, my mom's a firefighter and my dad does nothing.

[0:54] Now, to this day my mom and dad don't know exactly what was going through my little five-year-old brain. Maybe because my dad's a pastor, he had more flexible work hours. He would typically come and pick me up from school. Maybe that equated to him doing nothing. And for my mom, I don't know why I said that she was a firefighter. So afterwards my gymnastics teacher went up to my mom and said, thank you so much for your service and for what you do for our community. And my mom was really flattered. She was like, wow. Well, she, I guess she really appreciates teachers, I guess. And she says, I didn't realize you were a firefighter. To what's my mom was like that. I absolutely I'm not. Now, I don't know whether or not maybe somebody had already mentioned that their parent was a teacher, perhaps. I thought that answer was already taken, so I decided to make up something different. Or maybe there was something for me as a five-year-old where I wanted to impress.

[1:53] I wanted to impress. But isn't that something that we try to do as adults? Don't we try to impress? Don't we tend to put our identity in what we do? The issue is that oftentimes we put our identity not in who we are but what we do. We tend to look at ourselves not as human beings, but as human doings, as human doings. We put our identity in the clothes we wear and our watches and our cars, in our possessions and our performance, our popularity, identity on our appearances. But the issue is, if our identity is based on our job, then what happens when we lose our job? Or if our identity is based on popularity, what happens when our social media posts aren't doing as good?

[2:42] The truth is that we tend to put our identity in a whole lot of other things, when the Bible talks very clearly about where our identity should be. And that's why I'm speaking on the subject of identity. Can you look at your neighbor and say, identity, identity? The Bible has a lot to say when it comes to identity. Tim Keller, who's a great author and preacher, he wrote this in his book Jesus the King. He said, the Bible says that our real problem is that every one of us is building our identity on something besides Jesus. That's the truth, isn't it, church, that we tend to base our identity on all kinds of things other than Jesus. And we're doing this series called Our Imperfect Family. Our imperfect family. And what I want to do is I want to talk from the title today of Saints Not Sinners. Saints Not Sinners. Say that with me in three, two, one: Saints Not Sinners. We're in the series called Our Imperfect Family, and I want to talk on a premise that's very, very simple.

[3:51] If our vertical relationships are correct, then our horizontal relationships will be correct as well. What do I mean by that? When we get our identity and our relationship correct with God, all of a sudden our horizontal relationships with one another, with our family, with our church, with our co-workers, all seem to come in line. So I want to take a few moments and discuss our identity. It's so important for us to grasp this. And you'll see, Anderson said this: A Christian is not simply a person who is forgiven and goes to heaven. A Christian, in terms of his or her deepest identity, is a saint, a spiritually born child of God, a divine masterpiece, a child of light, a citizen of heaven. I promise you, if you understand your identity and what the Bible says about you, it will change your life.

[4:42] If you're interested in some further reading, a lot of the sermon has been inspired by Neil T. Anderson, an author, and he wrote a book called Victory Over the Darkness. Victory over the Darkness. And I know that that book, if you read it, will definitely change your life and point you to some key transformative scriptures. Now, our main scripture for today, we're going to start right at the beginning in Genesis 3, Genesis 3:1 through 13. If you have a Bible, I'd love for you to go there with me. But before we open up God's word, let me go ahead and pray for our time together. Let's pray. Father God, thank you so much for this opportunity to open up Your unchanging word. Lord, You have wisdom for us yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

[5:27] Lord, You never change. Your word never changes. And Lord, I ask that You would interact with us today. Holy Spirit, come, transform us, work in us, speak to each and every single one of us, Lord. We know that some of us have had great weeks, some of us have had not so great weeks. So as we open up Your word, I ask that You would do what only You can do. Build us into new creations, Lord, and we pray this in Your name. Amen. Amen. Genesis 3, starting in verse 1. Follow along with me. This is the word of the Lord. Verse 3, chapter 3. Now, the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, Did God really say, You must not eat from any tree in the garden? Did He really say that you couldn't eat from any tree in the garden? The woman said to the serpent, We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden. But God did say this, You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden. You must not touch it, or you will die.

[6:33] You will certainly not die, the serpent said to the woman. Verse 5: For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be open, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. Look at how he attacks their identity. Adam and Eve here, they are in paradise. Everything is well. They walk in the garden with the Lord, but the serpent says, when you eat from it, your eyes will be opened, and your identity will be better, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. Verse 6, it continues: When the woman saw the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were open, and they realized they were naked, so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as He was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

[7:31] What a twist, church. Sometimes I think we miss that. Adam and Eve went from walking shamelessly in loving harmony with the Lord, and all of a sudden they hid from their best friend, from their Creator. Verse 8: they heard, then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord walking the garden. What did they do? They hid from the Lord God among the trees, but the Lord God called to the man, Where are you? Verse 10: He answered, I heard You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid. And He said, Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from? The man said, The woman You put here with me, oh, she gave me some fruit. from the tree and I ate it." Verse 13, then the Lord God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate." Husbands, what did Adam do right after sin was introduced into the world? He blamed the wife. You listen, if there is a lesson to be taken, it is do not blame your wife. Okay. That is the first sin that Adam did, was, "This woman that you put here with me?"

[8:39] But what does it say do in the garden that fateful day? He attacked their identity. He said, "You can become like God, knowing good and evil." Satan said, "You're not good enough. You can be better than you are right now." Don't trust what God says about you and all these years later. Don't we do the same thing? Doesn't Satan attack what God says about each and every single one of us? What I want to do is I want to look at three things that's important for us to keep in mind when it comes to our identity, when it comes to having our vertical correct, our vertical relationship with God correct, so that we can have our horizontal relationships with others correct.

[9:27] The first thing that I want you to remember is we're all broken individuals. We're all broken individuals. Turn to your neighbor and say, "You're broke." Now I know what some of you may be thinking: we're all broken individuals, but some more than others. Wives, don't nudge your husbands. This is not the moment to be nudging anybody. Okay, but we're all broken. All right, we've all sinned. We've all fallen short of the glory of God. That's what Romans 3:23 says: "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Because the truth is, church, that we need to admit where we've been in order to get where we are going, and there's a certain humility that comes with us, especially as church people, not having a holier-than-thou mindset but realizing that we are all broken. We all need grace, we all need Jesus.

[10:19] We all were in sin. We all were in death and Jesus brought us new life. We've got to admit that we're broken individuals. We need to admit. And listen, if any of you are struggling with the idea of the fact that we're broken individuals, I would just invite you to create a Twitter account. Just go on Twitter and just cruise for five minutes and you'll be like, "Okay, we're broken. We're broken." We've all fallen short of the glory of God. I'd encourage you to maybe go on a Facebook group or a news page on Facebook and just look at those comments. Ladies and gentlemen, it's not very good. You know, there's some social media sites that are actually allowing you to sort by controversial. Whoa, man, that is not good. You can sort by controversial, about the most controversial comments. It seems like things are very broken in our world today, but that's why I'm not gonna linger on that point for too long. We need to admit that we're broken. But number two, we've got to realize that God blesses us with a new identity. Say "new identity" with me in three, two, one: new identity. God blesses us with the new identity. Church, Ephesians 2:10 says this: "For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." God not only created you with a plan, but with a purpose. That's one of the things that's so awesome about serving, whether it's here at the church or in the community. You're fulfilling God's purpose for you on this earth.

[11:49] 2 Corinthians 5:17 says something similar. It says this: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he or she is a new creation. Old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." The beautiful thing here is, in this passage we see Paul use these words: if anyone is in Christ. In Christ. What that means is that when God looks at you, He sees Jesus. That's what Jesus on a cross means. That's what happens when we accept Jesus, when we decide to follow Him and ask forgiveness for our sins. When God looks at you, He sees Jesus in your place. I heard a preacher share this story recently, and I just thought that it struck home so well. Somebody approached the preacher who was considering making the decision to follow Jesus, but he hadn't quite taken that step yet, and he said, "Pastor, if I want to be a Christian, if I can become a Christian, will I need to give up my habit of smoking?"

[12:50] And the preacher looked at him and he said, "No." And the guy was really confused. He said, "Sir, I don't think that you realize what I'm saying. If I want to become a Christian, do I need to give up smoking?" In the preacher again said to him, "No." And now I've got your attention, right? You're like, "What's the point of this?" And he said, "Sorry, I'm not sure if you understand me." He pulled out a cigarette and he said, "If I want to become a Christian, do I need to give this up?" And the preacher looked at him and he said, "You don't get it. Do you need to get clean before you get into a shower? You don't need to get cleaned up before you go into the shower." And it's the exact same with Jesus. What I want you to do is I want you to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, and when you spend time with Him, you're gonna start giving up those cigarettes.

[13:36] When you start spending time with Him, all of a sudden He's gonna clean you up and He's gonna point the things out in your life that are wrong. And when you lay down your life at the feet of Jesus, all of a sudden, He's gonna start to not only save you but sanctify you. Some of you need to hear this today, that in Christ, God wants to give you a new identity in Christ. God wants to bring new life. He wants to break barriers of sin, break chains of addiction in your life. There's some great promises in Scripture that I think that we need to cling to as we're talking about identity. I could list 40 or 50 of them. But here's a couple that I want to highlight this morning. In John 1:12, it says, I am God's child. John 15:15, I'm Christ's friend.

[14:23] In Romans says I have been justified. 1 Corinthians, I'm united with the Lord. I'm in one Spirit with Him. I've been bought with a price. I belong to God. I think some of you that are struggling with self-confidence, maybe struggling with doubt or insecurity, you need to hear, I have been bought with a price. You belong to God. I'm a member of Christ's body. I'm a saint, is what Ephesians 1:1 says. I've been adopted as God's child, Ephesians 1:5. Ephesians 2:18, I have direct access to God through the Holy Spirit. I've been redeemed. I'm complete in Christ. I'm a citizen of heaven. I'm hidden with Christ in God. I'm God's coworker. I'm God's workmanship. I may approach with freedom and confidence. I can do all things through God who strengthens me. Oh, my goodness, church, if we believe these things, wouldn't it change how we lived our lives? Wouldn't it change how Moncton sees us? Wouldn't it change how we go about our day today?

[15:22] But again, isn't it true? That what Satan loves to do is he loves to pick away at your identity. I think in 2023, whether we look in the church or outside of the church, we'd agree that we have an unhappiness problem. I think C.S. Lewis summed it up very well when he said, "Do not let your happiness depend on something you may lose." I think that's the cause of so much of our sadness, so much of our strife. For the teens in the room, if your identity is based on your popularity, what happens when your friends or your relationships go south, but what would happen if you memorize and believe John 15:15 when it says I am Christ's friend for the moms. If your identity is based up in your kids' performance or behavior, what happens when they go through a rebellious phase? What would happen if you memorize Colossians 2:10 that says, "I'm complete in Christ"?

[16:28] Dads, if your identity is based on your job, what happens when the government deems your work non-essential in 2020? What happens? During a recession, when there's layoffs, what happens when money gets tight? I'd encourage you to memorize Ephesians 2:10, where it says, "I am God's handiwork." I am God's workmanship. Grandparents, if your identity is based on your youthfulness or your energy, what happens as time goes on? I'd encourage you to realize your infinite value in 1 Corinthians 6:20. It says you were bought with a price. Man, if we can understand our identity, church, I promise you that would absolutely change everything. So God builds, or God blesses us with a new identity. But our final point is this: that God builds us into New Creations. Turn to your neighbor and say, "New Creations, New Creations."

[17:26] So we know that we're broken, but God blesses us with the new identity, but God builds us into New Creations. We can't just know our new identities, but something needs to change in our hearts and our actions and our attitudes. Romans 3:24 says, "and all are justified freely by God's grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." The truth for you today is that God loves you so much that He's not content with you to stay just exactly where you are. It reminds me a little bit of the popularity of zombie movies and TV shows. One of the most successful TV shows in history is The Walking Dead, and even to this day, we see TV shows, movies, video games based around zombies. They're incredibly popular.

[18:17] But I think the tough truth for us as a church is some of us are living like we're spiritual zombies. We found new life in Jesus, but we're still acting like we're dead. We found new life and resurrection in Jesus' power. But we're not acting any different. We might have been raised to life with Christ, but are you still walking in the death of your sin? Colossians 3 has an incredible promise for us, but also a stark warning. The subtitle of that chapter is called "Living as Those Made Alive in Christ," and Paul lists the things that we need to put to death in Christ Jesus.

[19:04] Listen to this carefully. I'm not putting it up on the screen, but I want you to hear what he shares and let me know if you find that any of this is familiar. He says this: "Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these things the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and put on a new self, which is being renewed in the image of its Creator." Does any of that sound familiar? The truth is, if you're human, the answer is absolutely yes.

[19:56] We've got a human issue. We've got a sin issue. But again, I don't want you to miss this truth, that not only does God want to save you, but He wants to sanctify you as a church. We can't be living like The Walking Dead. We can't be living like zombies. We've got to experience that new life, that new way of being, that new way of thinking, where if any of those sins mentioned, if that describes you, God wants to break those chains. He wants to help you. I heard a quote when I was a teen that just absolutely changed my world. It was talking about sin. And it says that sin will take you farther than you want to go. It'll cost you more than you want to pay, and it'll keep you longer than you want to stay.

[20:47] Sin has a high cost. Sin has a high cost. When it comes to our identity, I want to share another quote from Neil T. Anderson. He says, "We don't serve God to gain His acceptance. We are accepted. Therefore, we serve God. We don't follow Him to be loved; we are loved, so we follow Him. It's not what we do that determines who we are; it is who we are that determines what we do." So my hope for you is, as you look over those truths, those identities, and let's go ahead and put some of those back up on the screen, those I am statements. I hope that as you look over those, you'll walk in those identities, knowing that when it comes to our imperfect family, when it comes to our relationships, that if you can get your relationship with God right, that will absolutely transform everything about your other interactions.

[21:44] And this isn't a guilt thing. This isn't saying that you need to clean up before you go into the shower. No, this is saying that when you get with Jesus, when you're certain in your identity with Him, when you have a thriving, awesome, incredible relationship with Jesus that you invest in, when you believe these truths, that's something incredible happens, and God starts to not only save you but sanctify you. The word sanctify means to become complete. It's become holy. So the truth for you today is that you don't need to walk in fear. You don't need to walk in insecurity. You don't need to walk unsure about your standing with God. Because when you're in Christ, that means that when God looks at you, He sees Jesus. Because when you have your vertical relationship right, your horizontal relationships will be right as well.

[22:35] So I want to ask you a couple questions about your identity as we close. Who do you place your identity in? Or what do you place your identity in? Is it placed in something based in this world or based on God's Word? When I use language out of God's Word, like, I'm a saint, I am God's child, I am His workmanship, I am Christ's friend, does that ring as something that is already in your heart, is something that you believe to be true, is something that you believe on a week-to-week basis, or is that something that is new for you? One of the things that I'll often do when people come to get some pastoral counseling, whether it's a teen or a young adult or a parent or whoever, is if they're struggling in their identity with Christ, I'll literally just Google "I am statements" or "my identity in Christ," and I'll print out a list of these I am statements.

[23:33] And I say, listen, I need you to put this somewhere where you're gonna see it every day, if not multiple times a day. I want you to put this up by your mirror. I want you to put this by your bed stand, and every single night, I need you to repeat these things. I am beloved. I am Christ's friend. I am complete in Christ. Is your soul hungry for any of those statements? Does your relationship with Jesus need to be injected with a new look at your identity? How's your vertical relationship with God? Some ideas for you to grow in 2023 in your identity with Christ. Is this number one prayer? For the married couples in the room, can I challenge you to pray with your spouse every night before bed? How cool would it be if the married couples at Moncton Wesleyan prayed together every night? I promise you that'll transform your marriage. There's stats that talk about the effect that prayer has on spouses and the fact that arguments go down, the fact that infidelity goes down, that happiness goes up. Prayer changes things in a marriage.

[24:40] How cool would it be if all the Moncton Wesleyan kids, there was a priority where parents were praying with kids every single day here at this church? I promise you that for your kids to get a shining example of what an identity rooted in Christ looks like, for them to get a shining example in your prayer life would absolutely transform their trajectory. I'd encourage you to memorize Scripture. The truth is that sometimes it's difficult to remember your identity if you don't remember God's promises. It's difficult in those tough times in your life to remember God's truths. I'd also encourage you to prioritize community. My small group meets on Thursday nights, but the tricky part is that I've been asked to coach rugby on Thursday nights as well. But because of some shifts in my schedule, I'll now be able to attend small group a little bit more regularly, and I'd encourage you to make room in your schedule for small group, because the truth is that for me, when I spend time in Christian community, when I'm intentional with those around me, I notice a difference in my week. I notice a difference in my relationship with Jesus.

[25:49] Finally, when it comes to your vertical relationship, I'd ask you, who are you serving? Sometimes the best way to grow in God is to help other people to grow. Are you serving in Tidal Kids, prayer team, small group on Sunday mornings? If you're not serving, I promise one of the biggest blessings in your life is when you can be a blessing to others. And when you prioritize that vertical relationship, watch how those horizontal relationships will shift. How's your home life? How's the way that you treat your family? Is your home and your interactions marked by the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control? What's your home life like? The truth is that there's no such thing as a perfect family, but there is such a thing as a family making progress, having family nights, doing devotions together.

[26:41] A study from Columbia University said that kids who eat dinner with their parents five or more days a week have decreased risk of smoking, drinking, or using drugs. They eat healthier, do better in school, and have better relationships with their parents and other children. Imagine if you did that and you did some devotions with your kids. Imagine if you did that and you prayed and prioritized prayer. Many of you have heard the statement that hurting people hurt people. When it comes to your relationships with one another, let me flip that and say, I think loved people love people. I think that when you've got your identity in place with God, that it is going to transform this city, because love truly does change everything. Know that you're loved. Know that you are a saint and not a sinner, and that you can walk in boldness and your identity in God's imperfect family. Let's pray.

[27:36] Father God, we thank You so much for the fact that Your Word is a light to our feet and a guide to our path. God, I just ask that we would prioritize You in all that we do, that we wouldn't put our hope in the things of this world and possessions, in popularity and appearance and performance, but we would put it in You, God. Lord, we love You and we praise You, and we ask that You would build us into new creations. We'd remember our identity and we'd never stray away from You, Lord. We love You. We praise You. We pray this in Your name.