The Power Of Identity 1) God's Image Bearer — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00well let's start then as phil said we're
2. 0:02starting a new series
3. 0:04entitled the power of identity
4. 0:07and um you know for me identity and the
5. 0:11revelation
6. 0:12of identity is one of the most powerful
7. 0:16things in our christian life amen
8. 0:20because identity and the revelation of
9. 0:23it means
10. 0:25knowing the truth about you
11. 0:28knowing the truth about you if you don't
12. 0:30know who
13. 0:31you are you can't be that person see the
14. 0:34fact is
15. 0:35we all are the righteousness of god in
16. 0:37christ
17. 0:38nothing's going to change whether you
18. 0:40know it or not that's the truth about
19. 0:42you
20. 0:43but i tell you what if you know it what
21. 0:45a difference it makes to your life
22. 0:48as many of you have heard my testimony
23. 0:50that um that that would be the single
24. 0:53uh truth that has revolutionized my life
25. 0:57when i understood that when i got the
26. 0:58revelation that when my eyes were
27. 1:00opened to my identity
28. 1:03in christ it changed my life it changed
29. 1:06my ministry then it changed
30. 1:09people i was ministering to their lives
31. 1:11were transformed
32. 1:12and i use that word carefully because
33. 1:15that's a biblical word
34. 1:17and you know that um the world speaks
35. 1:19about
36. 1:20change and if you do this and if you
37. 1:22change that and if you do that you'll
38. 1:23become that
39. 1:24this leads to that but the bible says no
40. 1:28this is who you
41. 1:28are this is what god has made you to be
42. 1:31and
43. 1:32and god seeks to establish that in our
44. 1:34hearts
45. 1:35and then our life comes into alignment
46. 1:38with that it's an unfolding of that
47. 1:39which is already in our hearts
48. 1:42and um we've seen that time and time and
49. 1:45time again
50. 1:46and we thank god for it i mean just this
51. 1:48week
52. 1:49i've received three testimonies come
53. 1:51through of lives that have been
54. 1:52transformed not just touched or blessed
55. 1:55but transformed by the truth of our
56. 1:58identity in christ
57. 2:00so praise god that's why we're looking
58. 2:02at this thing today and
59. 2:04i know i'll be sharing some things that
60. 2:05i've already shared but i hope that i'll
61. 2:06be sharing some things that
62. 2:08you've not heard before and that they'll
63. 2:10be a blessing to you
64. 2:11so today i want to talk about
65. 2:15our identity as god's image bearer um
66. 2:19let's see if we can get this thing
67. 2:20working this morning
68. 2:24testing there we go okay so you can't be
69. 2:29who you are until you know who you are
70. 2:33and if you don't understand our true
71. 2:36creation identity
72. 2:38these are some of the things that may
73. 2:39happen we will search for a sense of
74. 2:42identity in the wrong places
75. 2:45in success maybe in business
76. 2:48in ministry even we'll try to find
77. 2:51ourselves
78. 2:52in our success in those things
79. 2:56or if we don't understand our true
80. 2:58creation identity we may attempt
81. 3:01to create a fake identity
82. 3:04you know in america in 2016
83. 3:08there were 16 million
84. 3:11cases of stolen identity
85. 3:15somebody trying to be somebody else
86. 3:17because they were obviously not happy
87. 3:18with who they were
88. 3:20amen and and apparently
89. 3:2340 percent of um
90. 3:26uh you know job applications when people
91. 3:28have to fill in their
92. 3:30their cv their job profile thing or
93. 3:32whatever their own
94. 3:33life profile 40 of the information
95. 3:37is fraudulent people lie about their
96. 3:40age they lie about their education they
97. 3:43lie about their experience
98. 3:44just so they can get the job and
99. 3:48they're not obviously happy with it this
100. 3:49is who i want to be i'm not that person
101. 3:51but this is who i'd like to be
102. 3:53instead of really feeling comfortable in
103. 3:55their own skin
104. 3:56or we may become a clone of someone else
105. 4:00we may want to be that person
106. 4:04you know when god brought us into the
107. 4:06grace of god
108. 4:07um we were blessed with with
109. 4:11many ministries around the world that
110. 4:13had this revelation and were streets
111. 4:15ahead of us
112. 4:16you know and i thank god for them
113. 4:18especially joseph prince
114. 4:21god has blessed that man to i i would
115. 4:23say impact hundreds of thousands of
116. 4:25people around the world not just
117. 4:26thousands
118. 4:27and but god spoke to me very clearly
119. 4:30he said don't become an echo
120. 4:35be a voice you don't have to
121. 4:38copy what others are saying and
122. 4:41just trying to be like them dress like
123. 4:44them because you imagine me trying to
124. 4:45dress like jersey princess
125. 4:47but
126. 4:50i wouldn't pull that one off
127. 4:53but you know be yourself
128. 4:57be glad with the uniqueness that god has
129. 5:00given you
130. 5:02that's how he created you you know
131. 5:06and so if you don't understand your
132. 5:08identity you might try to be like
133. 5:09someone else
134. 5:10or you may just let someone else tell
135. 5:12you who you are
136. 5:14you may just get uh shaped and fashioned
137. 5:17by
138. 5:18you know people criticizing you putting
139. 5:19you down so you're not this you're not
140. 5:21good enough blah blah blah
141. 5:22it's why it's important to know who
142. 5:25we are so i want to start this morning
143. 5:28with
144. 5:28with the fact that we were created in
145. 5:31the image of god we
146. 5:32are an image bearer we need to get that
147. 5:35written
148. 5:36in our hearts today whilst god
149. 5:39is not dependent on any other being
150. 5:42we are totally dependent on him
151. 5:46that's a good starting point you know we
152. 5:49we did not bring ourself into existence
153. 5:52out of now i think there was a time when
154. 5:53you and i did not exist
155. 5:55let's be reminded of that and god gave
156. 5:57us life
157. 5:59amen he's the author of our life
158. 6:02and he's the one that provides for us
159. 6:05he's the one that protects us
160. 6:06he's the one that sustains us he's the
161. 6:09one that leads us and guides us and
162. 6:11counsels us
163. 6:12we are totally dependent on him as paul
164. 6:15said
165. 6:15in him we live and move and have
166. 6:18our being now our greatest or deepest
167. 6:21sense of identity can only be found in
168. 6:23understanding and embracing our creator
169. 6:27creature status and the relationship to
170. 6:30god is that he is the creator
171. 6:32we are the creature the ones that he's
172. 6:34created
173. 6:36so therefore we have this dependence
174. 6:38upon him i mean
175. 6:39every problem in life started when when
176. 6:42we broke away from that
177. 6:44amen and and i feel good about being
178. 6:47dependent upon god
179. 6:49you know some people will say oh you
180. 6:50know god is your crush yes that's fine
181. 6:52i'm happy with that i feel comfortable
182. 6:54with that
183. 6:55that's the way god created me he put me
184. 6:57together that way
185. 6:59so that i would live and be me as i
186. 7:02depend on him
187. 7:04and as i look to him for all things and
188. 7:07so
189. 7:07that will never change but not only am i
190. 7:10created let's just
191. 7:11move on for a minute i'm also created in
192. 7:14the image
193. 7:15of god what a tremendous thing that is
194. 7:20genesis 1 26 then god said let us make
195. 7:22mankind in our image
196. 7:25in our likeness so that they may rule
197. 7:28over the fish in the sea and the birds
198. 7:31in the sky
199. 7:31over the livestock and all the wild
200. 7:34animals and over
201. 7:35all the creatures that move along the
202. 7:38ground now john calvin said this
203. 7:40everything else god created he did so by
204. 7:43commanding
205. 7:44let there be this let there be that let
206. 7:46there be this
207. 7:47but when he made man he did so by
208. 7:50consulting
209. 7:52let us make man in our image
210. 7:56so you sense a change there a change in
211. 7:58time you know the father the son
212. 8:00and the holy spirit having counseled
213. 8:03together
214. 8:04you know what let us make man in our
215. 8:07image so that we can express
216. 8:09ourselves to the rest of creation
217. 8:13through mankind and you can almost sense
218. 8:16the joy
219. 8:17in god when he said let us do that come
220. 8:20on let us do that
221. 8:21this gave the greatest dignity possible
222. 8:25to mankind now we are the crown jewel
223. 8:28of god's creation what a tremendous
224. 8:31honor that is dear friends david
225. 8:35marveled at it he said when i consider
226. 8:38your heavens
227. 8:40the work of your fingers the moon and
228. 8:43the stars which you have
229. 8:44ordained what is man that you
230. 8:48are mindful of him and the son of man
231. 8:50that you
232. 8:51visit him you know every night just
233. 8:54about before i go to bed i
234. 8:55i step out on the balcony and i look up
235. 8:58at the scars
236. 8:59you know about five minutes i just spend
237. 9:01out there looking up at the sky
238. 9:02and just looking at the stars and
239. 9:04apparently
240. 9:05with the naked eye you can see about 5
241. 9:09000 stars
242. 9:10i don't know whether that's in suburbia
243. 9:12or whether you've got to get out
244. 9:13outside a little bit but you can see
245. 9:16about 5 000 stars
246. 9:18with the naked eye now if you had a four
247. 9:22inch telescope you could see
248. 9:25approximately
249. 9:26two million stars and if you went to an
250. 9:31observatory
251. 9:32and looked through one of the 200 inch
252. 9:35mirror
253. 9:35telescope things that they have you
254. 9:37could see more than a
255. 9:39billion stars wow
256. 9:42who's ever who's ever listened to one of
257. 9:44those documentaries like by
258. 9:46louis giglio and he talks about how vast
259. 9:48the universe is
260. 9:49and you sit there your mouth is opening
261. 9:51more and more in a way
262. 9:53then in this information overload i
263. 9:55can't compute anymore what you're trying
264. 9:57to sell me
265. 9:58this thing is so big it is so vast
266. 10:01for example the universe is so big that
267. 10:05if we were to travel
268. 10:08at the speed of light and just to remind
269. 10:10you the speed of light is 186
270. 10:13000 miles a second
271. 10:16right and we were to travel for
272. 10:2040 billion years
273. 10:25then we might reach the edge of the
274. 10:27universe as we know it
275. 10:30i mean let's come back now to this
276. 10:35now we get perspective when i consider
277. 10:38your heavens the work of your fingers
278. 10:42the moon and the stars which you have
279. 10:44ordained
280. 10:45what is man that you are mindful of him
281. 10:48and the son of man that you
282. 10:51visit him in other words god why do you
283. 10:53love us so much
284. 10:56why are we so special to you somebody
285. 10:59said like getting this
286. 11:00in perspective if this planet was to
287. 11:03literally dissolve today burn up
288. 11:07okay it would be like a leaf
289. 11:11falling off a tree in a vast forest
290. 11:15the impact that would have on that
291. 11:16forest that one leaf falling from a tree
292. 11:20so you can understand david is saying
293. 11:22and i'm sure he said this at night time
294. 11:24when he was probably looking over the
295. 11:26sheep or something because he doesn't
296. 11:27make any mention of the sun
297. 11:28but he says when i consider the heavens
298. 11:31the work of your fingers the moon and
299. 11:32the stars which you've created
300. 11:34what is man why is it you love us so
301. 11:38much
302. 11:40and then he uses these words you are
303. 11:41mindful of him you
304. 11:43visit him mindful means to mark
305. 11:47to think upon to keep in remembrance god
306. 11:50has marked us
307. 11:51he's watching us he's he cares about us
308. 11:53he's watching over us he visits us that
309. 11:55means
310. 11:56he gives attention to us individually as
311. 11:59well
312. 12:01amen how well he says
313. 12:04you've crowned him with glory and honor
314. 12:06and that's what we're looking at i guess
315. 12:07today
316. 12:08what is the glory that he's given to us
317. 12:11it is this very thing that we were
318. 12:13created in his image
319. 12:15and in his likeness that's why
320. 12:18man in his fallen state um the bible
321. 12:22says
322. 12:22all have sinned and come short of the
323. 12:25glory of god
324. 12:26that's what was lost at the fallen this
325. 12:29glory
326. 12:30of god that was given to us shining
327. 12:33forth from us
328. 12:34that's like you know the lights went out
329. 12:37god vacated the soul and when we get
330. 12:39saved we're being changed now from glory
331. 12:42into glory
332. 12:43back into that image it's a wonderful
333. 12:45thing and the honor that
334. 12:47he's speaking about here's the fact that
335. 12:49god set us over all the works of his
336. 12:51hands he said you see everything on this
337. 12:53planet
338. 12:54you're in charge you name the the
339. 12:56animals you you you
340. 12:58you have stewardship over this whole
341. 13:00planet
342. 13:01the birds of the air under you the fish
343. 13:04of the sea the beasts the craw
344. 13:05upon the land the the pla you know the
345. 13:07the the plants and so on
346. 13:10above the the surface of the ground the
347. 13:12minerals underneath the ground
348. 13:14it's all given to you
349. 13:17to manage and take care of wow that's
350. 13:20incredible friends crowned us
351. 13:24with glory and honor so our deepest
352. 13:27sense of identity and self can only be
353. 13:30found in understanding and embracing
354. 13:34our relationship to god amen
355. 13:37we're going back to the beginning how we
356. 13:39were put together created in the image
357. 13:41of god
358. 13:42we are he is the creator we are his
359. 13:45creatures his created ones once
360. 13:47we were created in god's image but we're
361. 13:50not god
362. 13:52i am not god but i am his image bearer
363. 13:55that's the balance of that amen i am not
364. 13:58the great i
365. 13:59am but i am what i am
366. 14:02by the grace of god amen
367. 14:05now identity theft that's the subject
368. 14:08that uh
369. 14:09is pretty big today identity theft i
370. 14:12remember
371. 14:13getting a phone call on a saturday
372. 14:15morning from the bank
373. 14:16what was the bank doing working on a
374. 14:19saturday morning
375. 14:20and good morning mr leg did you make
376. 14:23a transfer of five thousand dollars out
377. 14:25of your account to somebody in america
378. 14:28no didn't think so
379. 14:32somebody had actually stolen my identity
380. 14:34just on my credit card details got my
381. 14:36pin number got my
382. 14:37the three digit card you know number
383. 14:40security thing on the back and
384. 14:42expiry date and everything was trying to
385. 14:44empty my account
386. 14:46the rogues but thank goodness the bank
387. 14:48stepped in
388. 14:49identity theft in every one of these
389. 14:52things that we're going to look at in
390. 14:53the series
391. 14:54we will see how the devil hates our
392. 14:56identity
393. 14:58and he will try to steal it from us take
394. 15:01it away from us
395. 15:02that occurred at the fall adam was sold
396. 15:05a light
397. 15:06you will be like god this is identity
398. 15:10confusion
399. 15:11we were made to reflect god's glory not
400. 15:14to steal it
401. 15:15amen yet they made a grab
402. 15:19for divine status and power they believe
403. 15:22the lie
404. 15:23you don't need god you can be
405. 15:26god live independently from god
406. 15:30break away your god
407. 15:33god knows that he doesn't want you to
408. 15:34know that
409. 15:36the moral image of god was shattered
410. 15:40and man was left in his own
411. 15:44image his own image look at this here
412. 15:47you've seen me
413. 15:48share this before because often you know
414. 15:51when we talk about when people ask me
415. 15:54are we created in the image of god i say
416. 15:56well yes and no
417. 15:58but more no than yes we were created in
418. 16:01the image of god
419. 16:03before the fall and this is the book of
420. 16:05the genealogy of adam and the day that
421. 16:07god created man
422. 16:08he made him adam in the likeness of god
423. 16:13then we know between verses one and
424. 16:15three
425. 16:16something happened and that was the fall
426. 16:19when
427. 16:20adam broke away from god and then he
428. 16:22says and adam lived 130 years and begot
429. 16:24a son
430. 16:26in his own likeness after
431. 16:29his image and named himself that image
432. 16:33is one of sin self
433. 16:36or the bible uses the term flesh flesh
434. 16:40man living independently from god
435. 16:44but thank god the gospel is that that
436. 16:46god sent
437. 16:47jesus into this world to save us
438. 16:50from sin and restore the image of
439. 16:54god in us this is who we are
440. 16:58image bearers amen he came in our image
441. 17:02that's the wonder god came in our image
442. 17:06as a man
443. 17:08but not as a direct offspring of a human
444. 17:11being
445. 17:12every human being has its beginning by
446. 17:15offspring or
447. 17:16generation in the womb of a mother
448. 17:20a male seed penetrates a female egg
449. 17:22resulting in the life of a human being
450. 17:25this is generational perpetuation
451. 17:28of life amen i have parents who had
452. 17:32parents who had parents who had parents
453. 17:33it's generation perpetuation of life
454. 17:36that did not happen with two men adam
455. 17:39and jesus neither adam or jesus received
456. 17:43their
457. 17:44human life by generation but by
458. 17:47creation amen we're talking about
459. 17:50jesus in this human form so jesus's
460. 17:53human life was not by
461. 17:54natural generation but by supernatural
462. 17:57creation
463. 17:58as adam's body was made from the dust by
464. 18:01god jesus's body was made
465. 18:04of a woman by god made in the womb of a
466. 18:07woman
467. 18:07amen so now there are two different
468. 18:10kinds of man
469. 18:11one flesh and the other spirit
470. 18:15adam is flesh jesus is spirit jesus
471. 18:18is the second man wow he says a lot of
472. 18:21men between
473. 18:22adam and jesus no not in the eyes of god
474. 18:24there are two types
475. 18:25of of mankind two types of humanity
476. 18:28jesus is the second man and also the
477. 18:31last adam there's no more
478. 18:33you're either in adam or you're in
479. 18:35christ amen
480. 18:37now jesus is both god
481. 18:40and man this is why i love talking about
482. 18:43you know the incarnation the glory of
483. 18:45uh you know the birth of jesus and what
484. 18:48what that really
485. 18:49entails as god he could do
486. 18:52anything anything he wanted
487. 18:56amen as god but as man he could do
488. 19:01nothing by himself
489. 19:04totally dependent on his father totally
490. 19:08most assuredly i say to you the son can
491. 19:10do
492. 19:11nothing of himself but what he sees the
493. 19:14father doing
494. 19:16for whatever he does the son
495. 19:19also does in like manner he basically
496. 19:24was saying
497. 19:25all that i ever did i never did
498. 19:29it was my father that did it in me and
499. 19:32threw me
500. 19:33this is the divine
501. 19:37flowing into the human life and out
502. 19:41through that human life for the world to
503. 19:42see the image and the glory of god
504. 19:45he never tried to be the cause of his
505. 19:47own
506. 19:48effect he lived in
507. 19:51total dependence upon his father and his
508. 19:54godliness was the direct result
509. 19:56of the manifestation of god's life
510. 19:59through
511. 20:00him remember
512. 20:03what we read in john chapter 1 verse 18
513. 20:06no one has seen god
514. 20:07at any time god is invisible
515. 20:11god is spirit the only begotten son who
516. 20:14is in the bosom of the father
517. 20:16he has declared him or he has revealed
518. 20:18him we could put it this way
519. 20:19no one has seen electricity but a light
520. 20:23bulb
521. 20:23expresses that which is invisible in
522. 20:25terms of light
523. 20:27amen we can't say that the light bulb
524. 20:30gives life
525. 20:31light it has no power to do so you just
526. 20:35hold a light bulb and it can do
527. 20:36nothing but you connect it to the the
528. 20:39current
529. 20:39and it comes a light so
530. 20:42jesus by living by dependence on the
531. 20:45life of his father demonstrated
532. 20:48the divine life in a human being
533. 20:51he showed us true humanity this is
534. 20:54humanity as
535. 20:55it was created by god god living in us
536. 20:58and god
537. 20:59living through us by his spirit
538. 21:03the humanity of jesus
539. 21:06was totally available to the father just
540. 21:10lately i just keep hearing
541. 21:11phrases and verses like this i think it
542. 21:13was dear moody that said
543. 21:15the world is yet to see what god can do
544. 21:18with one person
545. 21:19who is totally given to him totally
546. 21:22available to him that means
547. 21:25he makes their humanity available to his
548. 21:27divinity
549. 21:29to let god shine in and through them
550. 21:32that's exciting
551. 21:33i love that it's scriptural when jesus
552. 21:36came into the world the bible says he
553. 21:38said sacrifice an offering
554. 21:39you did not desire but a body you have
555. 21:42prepared me
556. 21:44in other words god is not really into
557. 21:46sacrifices and offerings that was
558. 21:48to deal with the sin problem temporarily
559. 21:52but that's not what
560. 21:53god wanted you know permanently
561. 21:56he he created a body and burnt offerings
562. 21:59and sacrifices for sin you had no
563. 22:00pleasure then i said
564. 22:02behold i come in the volume of the book
565. 22:05it is written of me to do
566. 22:07your will o god that's that's powerful
567. 22:10jesus said this body
568. 22:11exists for no other purpose than to be
569. 22:14available to god to do whatever he wants
570. 22:17to do
571. 22:18in and through me at whatever time he
572. 22:20wants to do so
573. 22:23it's his body it's a body dedicated to
574. 22:25him
575. 22:26the life of god and the soul of man is
576. 22:28the only thing
577. 22:29that will reveal the image of god
578. 22:34now we were born
579. 22:38uninhabited by goddesses as a child of
580. 22:41adam
581. 22:42uninhabited by god wholly inhabit
582. 22:46inhabited by sin the chief
583. 22:49characteristic of our adamic life form
584. 22:52is self or sin that which is born of
585. 22:55flesh is flesh
586. 22:57amen flesh reproduces itself that's why
587. 23:01jesus said to nicodemus we were talking
588. 23:03about this before the meeting
589. 23:05you know jesus didn't even nicodemus
590. 23:07didn't even ask him about this
591. 23:08he said we know that you're a teacher
592. 23:10sent by god but nobody can do the
593. 23:12miracles that you do
594. 23:13except god is with him he said you must
595. 23:14be born again it's got to do with what i
596. 23:17was saying well that's
597. 23:18that's what you need to hear amen you
598. 23:20must be born again that which is born of
599. 23:22the flesh is flesh
600. 23:23that which is born of the spirit is
601. 23:25spirit you cannot see the kingdom of god
602. 23:26unless you're born again
603. 23:28when we receive christ into our lives we
604. 23:31are born again
605. 23:34we receive more than forgiveness of sins
606. 23:37we receive
607. 23:38life that's so important his life see
608. 23:40often christianity is portrayed as
609. 23:42as the god dealt with the sin question
610. 23:44at the cross and gave us righteousness
611. 23:47and
612. 23:47and eternal life will go to be with him
613. 23:50when we die
614. 23:51but if he left us as we were before
615. 23:55even though we're saved we're forgiven
616. 23:57and righteous and so on
617. 23:58but if nothing changed if he didn't give
618. 24:01us
619. 24:02life then we would still behave
620. 24:05as we did before because we've got
621. 24:06adam's life
622. 24:08amen but he lived the life that he lived
623. 24:12perfect life so that he could die the
624. 24:15death
625. 24:16that he died a substitutionary death
626. 24:19so that we could live the life that god
627. 24:22wants us to live
628. 24:23amen he come to give us life he didn't
629. 24:27just come to forgive us he
630. 24:28just certainly didn't come to give us a
631. 24:30law and he certainly didn't come to
632. 24:32leave us a religion
633. 24:34he came to give us life and life
634. 24:37abundantly the first man adam
635. 24:41became a living being he had life from
636. 24:43god
637. 24:44directly amen the last adam became a
638. 24:48life-giving spirit
639. 24:50different difference adam never lived
640. 24:53long enough to pass his life on
641. 24:57to his descendants he passed his own
642. 24:59life on
643. 25:00his own life formed the flesh on but
644. 25:04jesus is a life-giving spirit
645. 25:08he's come to give us that life he who
646. 25:11has the son
647. 25:12has life it's the greek word zoe what
648. 25:16does it mean
649. 25:17the quality of life as possessed by the
650. 25:19one
651. 25:20who gave it a rabbit behaves the way
652. 25:23it behaves because it came from a rabbit
653. 25:26a rabbit gave it its life
654. 25:28it's a it was generated by a rabbit
655. 25:32a rabbit reproduced itself amen
656. 25:35we have his life we are partakers of the
657. 25:38divine
658. 25:39nature he who has the son has life
659. 25:42but he who does not have the son of god
660. 25:45does not
661. 25:46have life they can have anything else
662. 25:48they can have law they can have religion
663. 25:50but they don't have life possessing the
664. 25:53life of god
665. 25:55means that the image of god can be
666. 25:58restored in us
667. 26:00god has taken us see god is not ripped
668. 26:02off god is
669. 26:04satan may may have caused the fall and
670. 26:06done a lot of damage but god is into
671. 26:08restoration
672. 26:10of what was taken from us and much more
673. 26:14amen amen
674. 26:17and so the image of god can be restored
675. 26:19to us now
676. 26:20we have put on the new man
677. 26:24who is renewed in knowledge according to
678. 26:27the
679. 26:27image of him who created him
680. 26:31that's what's happened to us we've been
681. 26:33born again we've received
682. 26:35life divine life god's life now again is
683. 26:38living in us
684. 26:40and we live by that life now paul says
685. 26:43here in
686. 26:43ephesians chapter 4 verse 23 we talk
687. 26:46about the outworking of this that you
688. 26:48put off concerning your former
689. 26:49conduct the old man which grows corrupt
690. 26:53according to the deceitful lusts
691. 26:55and be renewed in the spirit of your
692. 26:57mind
693. 26:58and that you put on the new man which
694. 27:01was created
695. 27:02according to god in true righteousness
696. 27:06and holiness that's the image of god
697. 27:09true righteousness
698. 27:11and holiness what's the difference we'll
699. 27:13look at that in just a moment
700. 27:16what does it take to be godly
701. 27:19god i remember when i was in the uh army
702. 27:22cadets
703. 27:23uh back in the uk and uh we had to go
704. 27:25and have this test and there were
705. 27:27i remember four different subjects like
706. 27:29rifle training and
707. 27:30i don't know one of them anyway was was
708. 27:32like had to do with map reading
709. 27:34reading maps and i was tested
710. 27:38on on this and i was doing pretty well
711. 27:39but then i got this question
712. 27:41this guy said now what is a range card
713. 27:44for
714. 27:45what is a range card for i said well a
715. 27:48range card it's like um
716. 27:50it tells you what's in in in your area
717. 27:53like there's a tree over there there's a
718. 27:55there's a farm house over there there's
719. 27:56a river there and there's a road up
720. 27:58there and
721. 27:59he kept coming back to the question he
722. 28:00said what is a range
723. 28:02card for i sort of kept giving the same
724. 28:04answers he said
725. 28:05what is the range card for then
726. 28:09finally the penny dropped i understood
727. 28:11what he was getting at it
728. 28:13gives you an idea of the range between
729. 28:15those
730. 28:16those obstacles and yourself you see
731. 28:19now let's keep on asking this question
732. 28:21what does it take to be
733. 28:23godly
734. 28:26hinting what does it take to be godly
735. 28:29you can't but he can
736. 28:32amen it takes god to be godly
737. 28:37godliness is god reproducing himself
738. 28:41through christ in our sorry through
739. 28:43christ by the spirit
740. 28:44as james says of his own will he brought
741. 28:47us forth by the word of truth
742. 28:48that we might be a kind of first fruits
743. 28:51of his
744. 28:53creatures amen amen so that god would
745. 28:58look at us
746. 29:00again and say like father like son
747. 29:03there's my glory on earth being manifest
748. 29:06through
749. 29:07my children now let's look at these two
750. 29:09words
751. 29:10what's the difference between
752. 29:11righteousness and holiness
753. 29:14in righteousness in christ righteousness
754. 29:17is our position
755. 29:18we are righteous uh phil sent me an
756. 29:21article this week a very good article it
757. 29:23just
758. 29:23is so much what we believe here and um
759. 29:27the the writer was commenting on that
760. 29:29verse in one john where it says uh
761. 29:32those that are born of god do not sin
762. 29:34and then he says in the same verse they
763. 29:36cannot sin
764. 29:38now you know he he he was a lovely
765. 29:40article he shared how
766. 29:42different commentators try to interpret
767. 29:44that you know
768. 29:45like um they try to force upon it the
769. 29:48meaning of the word does not
770. 29:49habitually sin the word habitually is
771. 29:51not there but they kind of that's what
772. 29:53it means because i mean
773. 29:54everyone sins you know but it says
774. 29:57clearly
775. 29:58those that are born of god do not sin
776. 30:01and cannot sin and so so it's really
777. 30:04twisting
778. 30:05you know the word there to force that
779. 30:08meaning on it
780. 30:09and others you know say well they don't
781. 30:12want to sin or you know
782. 30:13they try to explain it away because they
783. 30:15can't get around this thing
784. 30:17that we do not sin and we cannot sin
785. 30:21and that's because spiritually that is
786. 30:24true
787. 30:25we are in christ we are one with him as
788. 30:28he is so are we we
789. 30:29are righteous we are not sinners
790. 30:33you know because that is not our nature
791. 30:35we are the righteousness of god
792. 30:37incapable
793. 30:39in our spirit of sinning now our bodies
794. 30:41are not yet redeemed and so
795. 30:43that's where sin takes place but
796. 30:46righteousness is who you are that's why
797. 30:49this thing of identity is so important
798. 30:52righteousness is
799. 30:53who you are amen
800. 30:56so then what is holiness holiness is our
801. 30:58experience it's the outworking
802. 31:02of the reality of who we are because
803. 31:05we're righteous
804. 31:06holiness flows out in manner of life now
805. 31:09we're not perfect in our
806. 31:11in our um in our walk but that's our
807. 31:14experience we're experiencing the
808. 31:16outworking of the divine nature
809. 31:18within us amen amen
810. 31:21as and and that happens as we behold him
811. 31:24not as we try not as we get a set of
812. 31:26rules not as we make resolutions and
813. 31:28promises and
814. 31:29uh you know that kind of thing
815. 31:30commitments
816. 31:32it happens as we behold jesus as we
817. 31:35behold
818. 31:37our righteousness in him and as we see
819. 31:40who we are in him as we look upon jesus
820. 31:43the bible says we're being
821. 31:44changed from glory into glory into that
822. 31:47image so it's by beholding jesus
823. 31:50the jesus who is our righteousness is
824. 31:52the jesus who is our sanctification
825. 31:55it's all by beholding jesus amen
826. 31:58we are transformed by the renewing of
827. 32:02our minds
828. 32:05you know uh
829. 32:08we have as you as you know a wonderful
830. 32:11ministry in
831. 32:12africa and especially in zambia and uh
832. 32:15this week we've got two great reports i
833. 32:18haven't had time to look at them
834. 32:19probably but they
835. 32:20they are just wonderful one of our we
836. 32:23have two
837. 32:24uh central leadership teams that are
838. 32:27responsible
839. 32:28for for overseeing all the schools and
840. 32:31and the candidates that come through for
841. 32:33ministry
842. 32:34because they know their character the
843. 32:36the the the questions like they have to
844. 32:38fill in a
845. 32:39an assessment form and that's said to me
846. 32:42but they
847. 32:43had to look at their lives to see
848. 32:44whether they're ready to lead and know
849. 32:46them personally one-on-one whether
850. 32:48they're
851. 32:48capable of leading a school ready for
852. 32:50that
853. 32:51and so we have three hundred plus caps
854. 32:54330 something like that scores of
855. 32:56ministry
856. 32:58and this week this last week
857. 33:01both our leadership teams set off in
858. 33:03different directions one went
859. 33:05east almost to the border of malawi
860. 33:10the country of malawi and and the you
861. 33:12know there's a great group there that's
862. 33:13been
863. 33:14receiving the teaching and the training
864. 33:16and uh they're ready now to open the
865. 33:18school so they went there to minister
866. 33:20and just the testimonies of of how these
867. 33:24truths have impacted those communities
868. 33:28you know um before it was absolutely
869. 33:31steeped in legalism and control and
870. 33:34condemnation
871. 33:35so much so that the christians would not
872. 33:37even listen to the radio station because
873. 33:40they didn't want
874. 33:41to get bombarded with condemnation all
875. 33:43the time
876. 33:44but now grace has come and
877. 33:48you know these great speakers have been
878. 33:50allowed onto the radio
879. 33:52and now the ratings have gone up like
880. 33:54this people are switching on again
881. 33:56and guess what they've done the radio
882. 33:58station they've up their prices for
883. 34:00advertising
884. 34:02because it's so popular now people are
885. 34:04tuning in there's one case even of a a
886. 34:07catholic priest that came out that's
887. 34:10left the catholic church
888. 34:11given up the priesthood and is
889. 34:12supporting the schools of ministry
890. 34:15uh sharing grace i mean these are just
891. 34:17one little tiny little bit of test me
892. 34:19and then
893. 34:20the other team went the in the other
894. 34:21direction out west to
895. 34:24on the way to angola i think right on
896. 34:26the border of angola he's getting to the
897. 34:28stage now where he's almost spilling
898. 34:30over the borders
899. 34:32and um the point i'm getting at is this
900. 34:37this is the closest thing i've been in
901. 34:38ministry for 47 years this is
902. 34:40honestly i can say this without any fear
903. 34:43of exaggeration it's the closest thing
904. 34:45i've seen to revival
905. 34:46anywhere prisons are being transformed
906. 34:49communities are being transformed radio
907. 34:51stations have been
908. 34:52transformed lives are being transformed
909. 34:54churches are being transformed
910. 34:56by the grace of god in fact i think in
911. 34:58one place
912. 34:59a lot of young women are getting saved
913. 35:02and getting this message and they're the
914. 35:04bold ones they're on fire they're
915. 35:05preaching it
916. 35:06without any fear and they're making with
917. 35:09their own hands
918. 35:11bricks to build a building to house
919. 35:14people that want to just learn grace not
920. 35:17mixture
921. 35:18and so far they've made a hundred sorry
922. 35:2010 000
923. 35:21bricks 10 000 bricks i mean that's
924. 35:25that's change friends now the point i
925. 35:27want to get at is this
926. 35:28they have to the the leaders before they
927. 35:31can qualify they have to
928. 35:33answer 30 questions that are key
929. 35:36questions in
930. 35:37new covenant life new creation life and
931. 35:40one of the questions is this
932. 35:41regeneration is god's work
933. 35:45only god can give life to someone who's
934. 35:46dead we can't do that ourselves amen
935. 35:49but renewing the mind is our work
936. 35:53how do you do that and the answer
937. 35:57every one of those 330 leaders can
938. 36:00answer this question
939. 36:02because they've been taught correctly we
940. 36:04renew our mind
941. 36:06by aligning our thinking with our new
942. 36:09creation identity
943. 36:11they know it clearly that's why they're
944. 36:13turning that nation upside down
945. 36:15this is so powerful i'm going to close
946. 36:17with this
947. 36:20many of you uh if not all of you know
948. 36:22the song by lauren daigle you say
949. 36:25a powerful song did you know it was
950. 36:28number one
951. 36:29in the hot christian songs list number
952. 36:32one
953. 36:33for 91 weeks 91 weeks
954. 36:36it won the top christian song in
955. 36:402019 for billboard awards
956. 36:45the top christian song sorry in 2019
957. 36:48for the billboard awards and it was in
958. 36:51the billboard charts for 93 weeks
959. 36:55it also won a grammy for best
960. 36:57contemporary
961. 36:58music and song and why is that
962. 37:02why is that you say it's a nice song wow
963. 37:06yes it's a lovely song it's a beautiful
964. 37:08song
965. 37:09but you see the words are what people
966. 37:13are screaming to hear
967. 37:14the truth of what every human being
968. 37:17desperately needs to know
969. 37:19who am i because if you don't get me if
970. 37:22you don't tell me i'll get it wrong and
971. 37:24or somebody else will tell me
972. 37:26incorrectly i need to know who i am i
973. 37:29hear these voices coming from every
974. 37:30direction
975. 37:31who am i that's what's called you say
976. 37:36only god can tell you who you are let me
977. 37:39just share some of the words with you as
978. 37:40we close
979. 37:41i keep fighting voices in my mind that
980. 37:44say
981. 37:45i'm not enough well that's just about
982. 37:47everyone isn't it
983. 37:49in the world today every single lie that
984. 37:52tells me
985. 37:52i will never measure up am i more than
986. 37:55just the sum of
987. 37:56every high and every low remind me once
988. 38:00again
989. 38:01just who i am because i need to know
990. 38:04you say i am loved
991. 38:08when i can't feel a thing you say i'm
992. 38:11strong when i think i'm weak
993. 38:13you say i am held when i'm falling short
994. 38:17and when i don't belong you say
995. 38:20i am yours i think that's the most
996. 38:22powerful line
997. 38:23when i don't belong you say i am yours
998. 38:27and i believe oh i believe what you say
999. 38:30of me
1000. 38:31i believe the only thing that matters
1001. 38:33now is everything
1002. 38:35you think of me in you i find my worth
1003. 38:39in you i find my identity in some other
1004. 38:41words in fact we're going to listen to
1005. 38:42them now
1006. 38:43we're going to just uh close with this
1007. 38:45song
1008. 38:48god bless you
1009. 39:01you