Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Welcome to the World Changers Church Gold Coast Podcast. Join us as we listen to today's message.
[00:00:09] Hallelujah.
[00:00:11] Run up here before she keeps going. No, I'm kidding. I'm kidding. I learned a long time ago, a little bit of marriage counseling. I learned a long time ago, do not tap your wife's leg in a meeting.
[00:00:27] That means keep talking.
[00:00:30] Do not tell her time's up. That means keep going.
[00:00:34] I just found. I was just reminded of that. Amen.
[00:00:37] But as we are led of the spirit of God this morning, I thank God for my wife and all that she's ministered to us. Could we pray together real quick?
[00:00:46] Father, I just thank you for this opportunity to minister to your precious sheep. I thank you, God, for just what you're doing in and around us. I thank you for this message you've prepared in our hearts. I thank you for vibrancy. As we've gotten comfortable inside of our nice heated seats and, you know, this comfortable atmosphere we have this morning, can you fan the flame inside of us, God? Can you stir us up with a word this morning about our divine nature in you? Amen.
[00:01:19] Amen. So when I was preparing this message, I tried to call it a thousand different things, and God kept telling me that there's nothing new under the sun.
[00:01:32] And, you know, it's like when you try and say something in a new way that everybody said a thousand times, you can actually make it confusing. Does that make sense? You can actually make people miss it if you do that. And so one of the things I want to do this morning is tell you that as the world focuses on identity by what we do, God focuses on our identity by what he says about us.
[00:01:58] And one of the things that we don't understand is our identity sometimes gets locked in a closet of what we did, what we haven't done, or what we're going to do. And we wrap ourselves up in all that. And identity will cause you to perform in a direction, and if you don't know who you are, your life can get off course.
[00:02:24] Does that make sense?
[00:02:26] Yeah. Everybody with me, tap your neighbor and say, wake up. It's okay.
[00:02:30] All right, so we're going to jump into a scripture this morning in Second Peter, chapter one, verses three through four. And we're just gonna dive right into it and hopefully get this message finished today. So for his divine power, for he has.
[00:02:49] His divine power has bestowed upon us all things that are requisite and suited to life and godliness through the full personal knowledge of him who. Who called us by and to his own glory and excellence. Now, let's park it right there for a second. Let's go back.
[00:03:08] For his divine power has been given.
[00:03:11] For his divine power has been placed. For his divine power has been given. So we may live a life suited to godliness through the full and personal knowledge of Him. So there's a couple of key things about living for God and in this divine nature that we need to understand.
[00:03:32] This is not about our performance.
[00:03:35] This is about identity. And this is about knowing who he is first and reflecting that.
[00:03:43] Amen.
[00:03:45] So it's about knowing God and knowing that he has called us to live this life of excellence or virtue. So let's go to verse 4. By means of these, he has bestowed on us, given us precious and exceedingly great promises, so that through them we may escape by flight from the moral decay, rottenness and corruption that is in this world because of covetousness, lust and greed, and become sharers, partakers of this divine nature. So let's look at a couple of things that if you're a Bible scholar, you can overlook. And if you're new to the Bible and new to Christianity, you can overlook as well. So first, let's look at the fact that we got to know Him.
[00:04:28] To walk in this divine nature, we gotta know him and that he has given us power, dynamos, power, to be able to walk this out.
[00:04:37] So before Christ came and died on the cross, we could not live this life. That's the key.
[00:04:45] Before the Holy Spirit was given to us, we could not live this life. But now he's not only given us power, he's given us tools that we can operate with so that we can take by flight. Make way of escape. To not live like this world. Is that cool?
[00:05:02] Now can we really do that?
[00:05:04] How many of us are really doing that? Don't raise your hands.
[00:05:09] By means of this, he has given. So if I was to ask you a question based off of the thought of these two scriptures, of that he's given us power, and that he has given us tools and precious and exceedingly great promises to live this life pleasing unto Him. If I was to ask you a few questions today, you might answer them differently.
[00:05:35] Now, the reality is that we're kicking off this series today, Divine Nature.
[00:05:41] And we're gonna do that for the next couple weeks, and we'll explore one of the most incredible truths of the Bible that God has invited us to just share in his divine nature.
[00:05:52] Isn't that amazing?
[00:05:53] That means the moment I got saved, everything about me changed. I am a new creation in Christ that I am not the former thing. I am a new thing. I look like me, I may smell like me, you know, I may walk like me, I may dress like me. And sometimes me, a little bit too much of me may come out. But that's when I repent, have a change of heart and mind towards God and go towards him. Does that make sense? Am I making sense here?
[00:06:22] So let me ask you this. If someone came up to you today and said, who are you? How would you answer?
[00:06:28] I want you to think about that for a second.
[00:06:31] You would probably say, I'm Irish, I'm Scottish, I'm Canadian, I'm Romanian, I'm from here, I'm American, I'm a builder, I'm a mom, I'm a dad, I'm retired, I'm a student.
[00:06:45] But those answers tell people what you do and where you're from. They don't necessarily tell people who you are.
[00:06:53] Does that make sense?
[00:06:55] In Australia, identity often gets tied to work achievements, relationships, and even sports teams.
[00:07:02] Let's not go there right now. Especially with all the ARL and whatever the.
[00:07:08] All the acronyms y' all have for everything. I mean, I don't understand why y' all shorten aluminum to aluminium.
[00:07:18] I don't understand that. You say evening arvo and you know, avocado smashed avo, but aluminium, There's a great debate that's gonna come soon about these words. So. But here's the truth, your deepest truth and truest identity is based on, is not based on what you've done.
[00:07:41] It's based on what God says about you.
[00:07:44] So when you come into Christianity, let's think about this for a minute and really help you understand what I'm saying. Your mom probably told you you was wise, you was smart, you was kind, and that developed some things about you and some moral standards in you. And you developed an identity based on what your parents said about you. Am I right? So the moral law in you was formed by someone that was parenting you.
[00:08:11] Now the world is trying to parent you and cause you to be a consumer. So they'll tell you to have a six pack, they'll tell you to be thin, they'll tell you to wear this and wear that and look this way and talk this way. And identity is then formed out of image more than who we are.
[00:08:31] And the moral law of the Bible is shaped on what God says about us. And that's where we should be forming our identity. Does that make sense? Your identity is not how much money you have. Your identity is not the car you drive. Your identity is not single, married or whatever. Your identity is something so much more and is founded in what God says. So if we looked at 2 Peter 1:3:4, God gives us a powerful picture of who we are in Christ. And today I hope you'll see that your new identity is grounded in God's power, not your performance.
[00:09:10] Your new identity is grounded in God's power, not your performance.
[00:09:16] Now, does that mean we just sit back and do nothing?
[00:09:18] Oh, you gotta believe.
[00:09:20] If we look back at Peter, it says one of the key principles in second Peter 1:3 is, for his divine power has given us all things.
[00:09:32] So do you believe that he's given you all things suited to life and godliness, so that you, through the full personal knowledge of him who called us by and to his own glory and excellence, first step of walking in God's divine nature in your true identity is knowing him and believing that he's done these things for you.
[00:09:55] Do you believe that God has done it?
[00:09:58] Now, a lot of us say that, but when times get rough, when things don't work out, we're like, God, where are you, God? You're real God? Am I believing a fairy tale? The things that will, the intrusive thoughts that run through your mind will. Will actually determine to you how strong your faith is and how strong your identity in heaven is. Am I making sense?
[00:10:22] What you're going through right now is not a definition of who you are.
[00:10:27] What you're going through right now is an opportunity to show who you really are.
[00:10:33] Now, I'm gonna say that again. Cause it was like, yeah, I'm gonna say it again. What you're going through right now is not a definition of who you are, but broke, mad, sad. No, what you're going through right now is an opportunity to show who you are.
[00:10:51] Does that make sense?
[00:10:52] Okay.
[00:10:53] God's promises define your nature.
[00:10:57] Your identity empowers you to reflect God's character. Now, if I told you that the Bible says for you to imitate God, and Matthew 5:48, it says, Be ye therefore perfect, as your Father is perfect in heaven. If you didn't actually study the scripture and have a burden to understand that, you would actually think that you gotta be perfect.
[00:11:22] But the Greek word teleos used in Matthew 5:48 for perfect means spiritually mature.
[00:11:31] So be spiritually mature. And as your Father is spiritually mature in heaven, that means act like your daddy.
[00:11:42] Yep.
[00:11:43] Now who you. Now, can I ask this?
[00:11:47] If I was to tell you to go on all your friends, social media right now, right?
[00:11:55] Go and take the sum of all the shows you watch right now and write down a list of what they wear, how they talk, what they do.
[00:12:08] And then look at yourself in the mirror. You're going to define. You're going to see that you are probably like them.
[00:12:14] What you spend the most time with is what you will reflect.
[00:12:22] Does that make sense? So if you want to be more like God, you got to spend time with God.
[00:12:28] Hey, come on, somebody. I got a yeah, from over here. How about y'? All? Where y' all at? Y' all asleep? Y' all comfortable? Wake up.
[00:12:37] I'm kidding. I'm kidding. I need an amen corner. Can y' all do that for me?
[00:12:41] Thank you, brother. Thank you. Thank you, Giorgio. I appreciate you, man. He answered the call.
[00:12:46] So let me get to my first point, as I only got 30 minutes left.
[00:12:53] Your new identity is grounded in God's power, not your performance. Peter says, for his divine power has bestowed or given upon us all things that are requisite and suited to life and godliness. Notice here, it says, has bestowed, not might, bestow.
[00:13:15] If you work hard enough, he will bestow someday in heaven. No, you already have it.
[00:13:23] You already have this power. Now, the Greek word for power here is dunamis.
[00:13:29] Now, some people say it different. They say dunamis, I don't know, but the same root word, we get the word dynamite.
[00:13:38] So from this isn't a weak flickering power or a lampshade in the corner. This is an explosive rain. Resurrection power of God. Philippians 3 and 10, Ephesians 1, 19, 20. Let's look at Philippians 3 and 10. I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death. Now, if we go to Ephesians 1, 19, 20, I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God's power for us who believe in him.
[00:14:13] This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in a place of honor in God's right hand in heavenly realm. So when God defines this power, I'm putting a little bit of emphasis on that there. Did you catch that?
[00:14:28] When God defines this power, he is defining it as not something like, I turned on the lights.
[00:14:38] Have you ever seen dynamite go off?
[00:14:41] Did it go?
[00:14:44] Did it just go, ah, I'm here. Did dynamite show up and walk in a room, say, hello, everybody, how you doing? I'm about to explode? No, it Just explodes.
[00:14:56] Amen.
[00:14:57] It just goes off in such a manner that it shakes the ground. And you know something has happened. When a human being gets saved, it should shake the very core of your family.
[00:15:13] It should shake the very core of your job site. It should shake the very core of every relationship you have. Cause something powerful has went off on the inside of you and it cannot be contained. You know what happens when you first get saved, brother?
[00:15:27] Everybody tries to put a little. Everybody try to put a little cap on the baby and be your cap. Nobody wants to give me that cap. Give me your cap. No, I'm kidding. Everybody just wants to cover it up. Oh, wow.
[00:15:40] Everybody just wants to put a little basket on it.
[00:15:43] You know the first thing they told me when I got saved, you'll calm down one day.
[00:15:51] I don't think I've calmed down.
[00:15:53] If anything, I've gotten worse. Amen.
[00:15:56] They told me that, you know, it won't be as exciting later on. And I'm looking at them. How can you get a third part of God inserted on the inside of you? Receive this power by the Holy Spirit and just sit there and kumbaya.
[00:16:12] Seriously, My Bible says in Romans 1 and 16, for those that are not ashamed of the Gospel.
[00:16:19] Amen. I'm not ashamed. Call me a fool, call me a holy roller, call me spooky pookie, I don't care. I didn't. I'm not living to impress you anyway.
[00:16:27] Anyway, I ain't worshiping you. I'm worshiping him.
[00:16:31] Amen.
[00:16:32] Well, you preached okay today. Well, I'm glad you think so. I'm not preaching for you, I'm preaching for him.
[00:16:39] Amen. Let's think of it this way. When you think about this power that you have, it's like buying a cruise ticket. See, I know the story of this man.
[00:16:48] It's a well known story that pastors use. So I don't know the man personally, but this man bought a ticket to go on a cruise, right?
[00:16:57] And he bought a ticket to go from here to there. And it was a, you know, it was a month cruise. And so what he did is he thought, oh, I better buy some food and pack some tuna and crackers and, you know, some waters in my, in my suitcases so I can, you know. So every night towards dinner, he'd say goodnight to people. He'd go in his room, he'd eat his tuna and crackers. About seven days before the end of the cruise, somebody came up to him and said, brother, you know, when you paid for that Ticket. It included the food, it included the bar, it included the dance, it included the entertainment, it included the wifi, it included the Internet, it included everything on this ship. And he said, well, I didn't know I would have partaken of that. Well, the price has been paid in full.
[00:17:39] So you have access to everything on this boat.
[00:17:42] Therefore, the same thing has happened with Christ. The price has been paid in full. Therefore you have access, access to everything in heaven.
[00:17:52] And you're still praying. God will you.
[00:17:55] God wants you.
[00:18:01] Come here, cat. I'm gonna prophesy over you too. Praise the Lord. You run around the house stinking, not taking showers, ain't ate nothing for four or five days. Being angry at everybody because you're trying to get God to move when he's already done it.
[00:18:16] You ain't got a bed. God.
[00:18:18] Listen, I asked the brother this morning, you help me get fit. And he's like, yeah, we can do that. The person next to him said, but it's gonna be painful.
[00:18:26] That wasn't a good sales pitch, by the way.
[00:18:31] For me to get fit. I know I gotta put in the work. And y' all say you two talk about that a lot. Because right now I've gotta get healthy. The reason I gotta get healthy is cause I got this labor agreement and I gotta go for a medical exam and they gonna run me through a little maze like little rat and tell me all things are with me.
[00:18:47] So God said, go get fit.
[00:18:50] That's why I'm focused on my health. Amen.
[00:18:52] The thing is, is that we have access to gyms, we have access to good food, but we also have access to things that are fast.
[00:19:01] And we would rather stop in to fast and easy and sleazy than we would to put in the time to get it done right.
[00:19:10] Sin is the same way.
[00:19:12] You are free from sin, but you can still sin even though it's not a part of your nature.
[00:19:18] And if you want to, you can have instant gratification or provide the discipline to follow God.
[00:19:24] Which one do you want now?
[00:19:27] Because you can still miss the mark. As I should say, you have a divine.
[00:19:35] A divine nature that'll help you and give you power not to miss the mark. It's all about what you surrendered to. Are you surrendering to the flesh or are you surrendering to the spirit? Like right now you're surrendering to your ears about the donkey door that's next door.
[00:19:54] Everybody hears it. So I'm just gonna talk about it.
[00:19:57] Amen.
[00:19:59] But one other thing that I guess I wanna say is that your identity in Christ isn't something you earn. It is a gift of grace. Ephesians 2:8,9. And if we look at that, God saved you by his grace. When you believed two key things, it was by his effort and your belief that you were saved. You can't take credit for this. It is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done. So none of us can boast about it.
[00:20:31] Amen.
[00:20:32] It is something like the man on the cruise ship was simply saying, oh, I didn't know that I had access to all this. If you don't know the exceedingly great and precious promises that God has bestowed upon you, you will still operate below your salvation, below your freedom, and not in your new identity in Christ. You'll still be operating from your old ways, thinking you don't deserve nothing because of all the things you did.
[00:21:02] Listen, I was a gang member drug dealer, and I've given drugs to kids that shouldn't have kids. I don't sit there and cry myself asleep at night and feel sorry for all that I've done and say, I'm the chief of all sinners. I know that I'm no longer that person.
[00:21:15] I'm not running guns anymore. I'm not dealing drugs anymore. And then people say, well, you used to. You're an alcoholic. No, I'm not. I was an alcoholic. I'm now not well. Alcoholism is a disease. No, it's not. It's an emotional displacement in identity.
[00:21:32] That's all it is.
[00:21:35] When I say I need something, I've now identified with it.
[00:21:40] I need God, I need church, I need community, because these things are in my identity. Amen.
[00:21:49] There are some scriptures that anchor this truth. John 1:12. Did we pull these up, Timmy? John 1:12. But to all who believed in him and accept him, he gave the right to become children of God. Colossians 2:10. You are complete and through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority, Romans 8:1, you are free from condemnation for those who belong in Jesus Christ. Now, you want to know why there's such an attack on the Bible today?
[00:22:18] These things right here, these things right here that are founded in the word of God and people are arguing over, well, the word of God isn't the written thing, it's Jesus Christ. People trying to dilute the power of the Word because in the Word is your identity.
[00:22:36] Amen.
[00:22:38] Paul didn't just write some letters to the church. He wrote the revelation of the New Testament to The known church so that we could have that revelation today. That's why those letters are now scripture.
[00:22:49] Amen.
[00:22:51] I mean, I'd hate to think somebody took my emails and made them scripture. Praise God.
[00:22:57] They'd be thinking, you gotta send all caps to everybody.
[00:23:01] Just a little side joke. If you believe your identity depends on your performance, you will live in fear and insecurity.
[00:23:09] Am I doing enough? You know what people do when they first get saved? They start trying to figure out what they gotta do.
[00:23:14] Well, I don't know what I'm supposed to do here. They come into worship and people are just, you know, like today, me, everybody's singing and worshiping and the crowds responding. You can look around. Some people are in it, some people are not.
[00:23:28] And I think because a lot of people don't understand what worship is.
[00:23:32] Worship is an anthem of appreciation and love.
[00:23:37] And it's words that we express personally from God to God, about God.
[00:23:43] Right? And it's a place we enter into to exercise our identity and to be in his presence so that we may know him more.
[00:23:53] Am I saying enough?
[00:23:55] And so when people first come to this thing, they start thinking, well, am I supposed to raise my hands? I don't understand.
[00:24:01] Is it this? The fish is this big, the TV this wide? Or is it Simba?
[00:24:06] Am I waving at everybody? I don't know.
[00:24:09] What's the stance? What's the.
[00:24:12] I mean, is it one hand, two hands? Is it one hand in the pocket like I see some people. Is it hands beside? Is it a rock? Is it a sway? I don't really know what I'm supposed to do here. It's how you feel, it is how you do it.
[00:24:26] Yeah.
[00:24:27] So as you allow yourself to receive the revelation of worship, you then express that revelation of worship because that's an identity, you know, nobody had to. Sorry for you non married folk and people that are saying, we're just gonna get a little married for a second. Nobody has to tell me how to kiss my wife.
[00:24:49] They don't. I know how.
[00:24:53] You know. I also know when I need to shave. Cause she tells me, amen.
[00:24:58] I don't have to know.
[00:25:00] And it's the same way I don't have to know how to love God because I've received love from him because it's a part of his character and identity.
[00:25:09] Therefore, when somebody's ministering to me, I know whether it's from the identity of God or from. Or whether it's from the identity of religion based on where it's founded.
[00:25:20] Amen. Where it leads me how it makes me feel. If it makes me feel condemned, unless it's not from God's identity, if it makes me feel convicted and drawn to do better, if it makes me feel, ooh, she gushy, whatever it may, then I know that it's from God because it's causing positive change in me.
[00:25:40] The good news causes positive change in you and draws you to be a better version of yourself. Amen. Is this good this morning?
[00:25:49] Is this what you needed?
[00:25:51] All right, so if you believe your identity is on your performance, you'll actually walk around in fear and insecurity. But if you know that you're grounded in God's power, you live in constant confidence and gratitude.
[00:26:07] You can really see people that are falling into self effort and falling into themselves. They look like angry bulldogs.
[00:26:13] I've seen some of the maddest people in church. Brother, I'm gonna tell you what. If you thought you were gonna see happy Kumbaya people, I've seen some of the maddest people in church, some of the most backstabbing, backbiting people in church. Cause they don't know who they are.
[00:26:25] They've allowed religion to define it.
[00:26:29] You're laughing, but you're crying on the inside.
[00:26:32] Amen. I've seen some of the hardest things in church. Because one of the places, the Arabic, where the most unjudgmental, uncritical place should be, is where there's most judgment and criticism. Because people are still trying to figure out who they are and they're comparing themselves to the person next to themselves. They're comparing themselves to the church they go to. They're comparing what they believe to the gifts and blessing on the pastor's life, the building and all this stuff. And it's all performance based. And nobody's ever happy. When everything is compared to performance and not personality and character, it will die in insecurity, I'm going to tell you that.
[00:27:04] But when it's based on who he is and the person of Christ, it will live confidently and with gratitude and will cause things to flourish. I want a church where people are happy. I want a church where people are singing cause they believe. I want a church where people love each other truly and don't just say it with lip service, but with their whole heart. I want a church that is founded on the identity of Christ. I want a church that makes me want to believe in me and do better.
[00:27:32] Amen.
[00:27:40] Give me my wallet. I need to give myself an offering. Praise the Lord. Just. Just change the wallet from One side to the other. There we go.
[00:27:59] Trying to figure out how to say this.
[00:28:05] If somebody's sitting on their deathbed talking about what you need to do to be healthy, you don't take that advice, honey? No.
[00:28:20] If somebody can barely walk a mile gonna tell me what I need to do for cardio, honey, you gonna listen to them? No.
[00:28:28] The world ain't listening to you because there needs to be proof in the pudding.
[00:28:36] You talk about being happy, you talk about life being better, you talk about loving one another, and you do none of those things.
[00:28:45] That's hypocrisy.
[00:28:47] Christ is calling us to truly live with who we are, to truly live in him and to cause people to want to do better.
[00:28:58] Like today, do you feel the energy, like when I'm preaching? I feel it. You just want to just get out and run and do something like, he just want to, ah, you know, give me a flag. I just want to go stab it in a hill somewhere and say, the hill of Christ.
[00:29:14] Right?
[00:29:16] That's what church should make you want to do.
[00:29:19] You should want to leave here. I want to find out more about that. You should leave here and say, I want to go do that. You should leave here and say, I want to go live that. And not be like, yep, I went to church today. Got that done. Tick.
[00:29:30] God's promises define your nature.
[00:29:37] See, Peter calls them the very great and precious promises. These promises aren't motivational slogans.
[00:29:46] They are divine realities, legal declarations about you and who you are in Christ.
[00:29:54] Why are God's promises important?
[00:29:58] Because the world is trying to tell you that you believe in a fairy tale.
[00:30:03] The devil doesn't no longer have to do what he used to do. He can just sit back and watch people not believe.
[00:30:12] Because what you believe about yourself will shape how you live.
[00:30:16] If you believe you're unloved, you will act out of insecurity. If you believe you are chosen in love, you will live with security and peace.
[00:30:27] You know, somebody said something to me the other day. I think it was one of my kids.
[00:30:32] It was. It was one of my kids. I'm not going to say which one, because I was told this morning I shouldn't make fun of my kids in front of people.
[00:30:43] Very tempting. But one of them, just like one of them, looked at me, liar. Such a liar looked at me and said, oh, you're not fat, you're just chubby.
[00:30:54] That's like calling a lumpy pillow fluffy.
[00:30:59] I was like, no, call her how you see it. And they're like, you're fat.
[00:31:03] Hold on now, hold on now. What you saying?
[00:31:09] You could have said it with a little bit of love.
[00:31:12] You could use some more shape.
[00:31:15] It just kept getting worse, you know what I'm saying? And the reality is, is that what people say about you, if you let it in, you'll begin to see it.
[00:31:26] And so I was looking in the mirror and I was thinking, man, I need better shape. And I was like, no, no, no. I'm happy with who I am.
[00:31:32] Who am I trying to impress? I'm married.
[00:31:35] She doesn't say anything negative about me. And we're not going to go into that.
[00:31:44] She doesn't say anything negative about me. She says good things about me. Only times she talks negative when she's mad at me, when I throw her stuff away.
[00:31:54] But when things are put in the right lens of identity, right, founded on God's word, founded on truth, those are the things you look through. And what you apply to your eyes will be how you see. So if you're allowing all the words of the world and all the worlds of consumerism and all the YouTubes and all the friends sayings and all the negativity to just penetrate your soul, and with no word to guard your heart, you will begin to look at yourself in a different way and your identity is under attack.
[00:32:26] Make sure that the lens you're looking through is powered by the word of God.
[00:32:31] Amen. Is this good?
[00:32:34] So I thought about this, and it's kind of like a passport. A passport tells you where you belong and what benefits you have as a citizen. Now listen to this. I want everybody to catch it. Don't want nobody to miss it. So if you're talking to your neighbor, just stop for a second, tell them to hush. Tell them they're pretty, whatever you want to tell them. Just a passport tells you where you belong and what benefits you have as a citizen.
[00:32:58] Imagine having a passport but never opening it, never realizing you have the right to enter your home country freely.
[00:33:07] That's how some Christians treat the Bible.
[00:33:11] We have all these promises, but we never use them. Some key promises you have in Your identity is Second Corinthians 5, 17.
[00:33:20] Did we do all these? Okay. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. All things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. Paul was so bold with this identity that he said, when you're talking about Saul, even though I used to be that person, I'm now Paul. Those things are of the old man. Speak to me from the new man position.
[00:33:42] People are going to try and talk to you about who you were when you need to stand in who you are.
[00:33:50] Anyway. I'm going to keep going. Colossians 3:12.
[00:33:53] Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourself with tender hearted mercy, kindness, humility, gracious and patience. Lord, I need to work on that.
[00:34:06] Anybody else need to work on that?
[00:34:09] That's a part of your identity. That's a part of Christ. So therefore, tender heartedness. Men, I'm just going to talk to y' all for a minute. You big bold lions, bears and scruffy sandpaper men.
[00:34:21] You need some tender heartedness. I'm talking to Kyle. You need some humility. You need to stop trying to be everything to everybody.
[00:34:28] Listen, men, the world is trying to tell you how you need to be better. And they're even trying to define that men are no longer even needed anymore. But you know why? It's because there are no men.
[00:34:38] Men need to be who God has called us to be, which is strong, tender hearted warriors.
[00:34:43] You.
[00:34:46] Amen.
[00:34:47] We can look big and scary when we need to, but we can give a big hug if you allow us.
[00:34:53] That's what we need.
[00:34:55] We don't need no more. Like, I bet you he could kick my tail. I don't need to be afraid of you. I need to know that if we go to war together, we gonna die together. That's all I need to know. That we gonna fight till our last breath together. That's all I need to know. I don't need to know who's gonna win. Just are we strong and tender hearted?
[00:35:13] Amen.
[00:35:14] Little sidebar. Ephesians 2:10 says, for we are God's masterpiece. Listen, you were painted with a perfect brush.
[00:35:22] He has created anew in Christ Jesus so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. Men, women. Y' all think y' all don't deserve a good partner or you've got a checklist of what a good partner is. Listen, God may be sending you the very thing that you need.
[00:35:38] And your checklist is not in Christ.
[00:35:42] I know Tina would have deleted me.
[00:35:49] Could we hear that over the microphone? Make sure we could not hear her answer. She's like, yep, I'm glad I don't have an ego, brother.
[00:36:01] She broke me a long time ago.
[00:36:03] But the reason being is because I wasn't in Christ. I didn't know who I was when I first met her. I tried to.
[00:36:10] I can't believe I'm telling the story.
[00:36:13] I was so not wanting to Be myself, I said. My name is John Marco Marciano.
[00:36:18] I was trying to be Italian. Do I look Italian?
[00:36:22] No. Well, kind of. Blue eyes give it away, though.
[00:36:26] Amen. The round jaw tells you where else I'm from. But anyway, I was so trying to be something else because I was not satisfied with who I am. And when I met Christ, he showed me who I am, and therefore I became that person. And you cannot talk me out of it.
[00:36:43] Amen. The other thing that you are, not only you're a Masterpiece, but Philippians 3 and 20.
[00:36:48] Ooh. How much time we got? Two minutes. Oh, Lord. Philippians 3 and 20. We still on point one?
[00:36:54] You are.
[00:36:55] But you are citizens of Heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting the return of our Savior.
[00:37:01] You'll have access to everything heaven provides.
[00:37:07] Romans 8 and 37.
[00:37:10] Yet in all these things, nor height, nor depth, nor king, nor kingdom, nor devil or demon. With all these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
[00:37:21] Come on, somebody.
[00:37:25] I came across this story. I'm going to read it to you. About identity. A young orphan in England was taken in by a wealthy family. One day the father gave her a sealed envelope with her name on it, saying, this is for when you grow up. She put it in a drawer and forgot all about it. Years later, struggling financially, she opened to find a legal document showing she had inherited a fortune. All those years she had lived in lack while legally being rich.
[00:37:52] Many Christians are like that, unaware of the inheritance they have in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 1:11.
[00:37:59] Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for He chose us in advance and he makes everything work according to his plan.
[00:38:10] I couldn't imagine preaching without word.
[00:38:12] Little TED talk up here.
[00:38:16] When I see it in the Word and I read it, there's something powerful happens on the inside inside of me.
[00:38:24] The Word establishes that I can start each day reading and declaring one of God's promises over my life.
[00:38:32] That I can shape the way I think and take away the lies of the enemy.
[00:38:41] That these are not just affirmations of direction. These are hope and truths of life.
[00:38:48] And so when I get up each and every day, my identity is empowered by how I reflect God, not by what I do.
[00:38:58] The moon never looks at the sun and says, are you going to shine today?
[00:39:03] The moon simply just rotates.
[00:39:06] It's in motion and it reflects God.
[00:39:11] Sometimes you think there is something to do when you realize that all you need to be is in motion with Christ.
[00:39:19] He provides the Light. He provides the power in which you reflect.
[00:39:24] Amen.
[00:39:26] You just need to be in motion of identity so that you can reflect that.
[00:39:33] So participating in divine nature doesn't mean becoming God.
[00:39:41] It means reflecting his character and letting his spirit transform you.
[00:39:46] There's three key traits God shapes us in. One is love. First John 4:19.
[00:39:54] We love each other because he loved us first.
[00:39:58] He shapes us in holiness. 1st Peter 1:16.
[00:40:02] Be holy. Because I am holy.
[00:40:06] Now, that word kadesh in the New Testament means set apart.
[00:40:11] He shapes us not to be holy. Walking around, everybody bowing down before us because we know God. No, that's the type of holy you see in movies. This type of holy is being separate from the world. Cause God is separate from the world.
[00:40:27] Meaning you don't look like the world, you don't taste like the world, you don't smell like the world. You can be there, but. But you ain't taking part of it.
[00:40:36] I used to think I gotta tell everybody, stop drinking around me. I used to think everybody. But you know, the greatest salvations that happened around me was when my buddy Chuck Packard came to my house with a case of beer. Just testing my faith, knowing I was a former alcoholic and I had kicked him out of the house for smoking pot. I'd kicked him out of the house for this and that. I said, you know what, Chuck? You be you.
[00:40:57] I'm gonna be me.
[00:41:00] And after about his third beer, he said, you ain't gonna have one. I said, I don't want one.
[00:41:05] It's no longer who I am. He said, how can you walk away from all this? How can you just start living this way? I said, because I know who I am.
[00:41:14] I know who I am. I know whose I am. And therefore I can do all things through Christ. That strengthens me. You want it? Come get it.
[00:41:22] You want to know Him? Ask him.
[00:41:26] Needless to say, Chuck, stop drinking around me. Stop persecuting my Christianity. God shapes us by being different, not by being perfect.
[00:41:36] Love, holiness, purpose. God shapes us in purpose. Matthew 5:16.
[00:41:42] In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your Heavenly Father.
[00:41:48] These good things you do.
[00:41:51] Every time I preach, someone says, you preached good today. That was good today. Oh, I love that Today sends me a text, great message. Today I go praise God.
[00:41:59] Cause it ain't about me, it's about him.
[00:42:03] This ain't about me performing. This is about me revealing God. Amen.
[00:42:10] So the moon reflects the sun, so should we reflect him?
[00:42:15] Let's be grounded in God's power. This week you have everything you need.
[00:42:21] You may not have the finances, you may not have the car. You may not have the answers you need, but you know what you do have? God.
[00:42:28] And if God be for you, who can be against you? I've been through some trials, honey. I've been through four year trials, four day trials, 11 year trials.
[00:42:39] I've gone through trials any morning when the devil throws something at me. I was on the phone laughing the other day. I was like, I feel like the devil's throwing a house, a kitchen sink and a car at me. And they're like, well, we would never know it. I said, exactly. Because I'm not operating out of what's happening to me. I'm operating out of what's happened in me.
[00:42:57] Amen. I'm operating out of him.
[00:43:00] I'm operating from him. I'm operating. The fact that this too shall pass, you know that's a promise in his word. This too shall pass. This big mountain is so scary. And you crying over every night right now. Everything is going down in your life right now. Do you know that that's going to pass?
[00:43:18] And while you're still crying, years later, after something that's already passed, that you're missing the good things in your life because you couldn't see the good God that was sending them.
[00:43:28] Amen. Quit focusing on all the negative and start focusing on who he is so you can see who you are is this good.
[00:43:40] Our character, we declare, I am in Christ.
[00:43:46] I have everything I need for life and godliness. I share in his divine nature. Now, we're gonna do something here that's not repetitious. But the reason you're gonna say this is so that you can. There's something that happens psychologically when you say something out of your mouth. Okay? So if you feel led, if you want to say this with me, okay, I am Christ.
[00:44:10] I have everything I need for life and godliness.
[00:44:17] I share in his divine nature.
[00:44:22] Now we're going to say that one more time. I am in Christ.
[00:44:26] I have everything I need for life and godliness. I share divine nature.
[00:44:38] So if we take that scripture we started with Timmy and Peter and just put it up, First Peter, Second Peter, Chapter one, verse three.
[00:44:49] You take two Peter, chapter one, three and four this week, and you really begin to meditate on it. Think about it. For his divine power has given us all things that are requisite and suited to life and godliness through the full personal knowledge of him who called us by and to his own Glory and excellence.
[00:45:09] By means of these, he has bestowed upon us his precious and exceedingly great promises, so that through them you may escape by flight the moral decay of this world.
[00:45:20] You focus on that now. We're gonna pray together.
[00:45:24] And it's 11:21. We went a little over today. Did you mind?
[00:45:29] No. Did it upset you?
[00:45:31] You ready to go home?
[00:45:33] Did your stew burn?
[00:45:35] No. All right. Well, praise the Lord. I understand that we're on a system, and, you know, I understand that we're on a system, and time is a construct that we operate in. But I want you to understand that faith does not operate in time.
[00:46:00] Faith operates outside of time. Faith is not bound by time. And sometimes when God is speaking, we have to just go a little bit past.
[00:46:11] So if our church services go a little long, it's because we're leaning to the Holy Spirit.
[00:46:16] We're not just here performing. We're not artists. We're pastors.
[00:46:21] Amen. We're not mentors. We disciple people.
[00:46:25] We're not afraid of words like repentance and hell and blood and all the things that are in the Bible. We use those words because they're founded and rooted in who we are.
[00:46:35] So today, if you want to bow your head and close your eyes now, I want you to understand that once you've been saved, that that is a sealed deal.
[00:46:44] And, you know, you don't have to keep running back. But what you do need to do is live a life of repentance, a life that says, lord, work on that area in me. A life of changed heart and changed mind.
[00:46:55] And so today, as you live in grace, operate in faith. If there's anybody here that says, I need more understanding on that divine nature, I would say that you need to come for the next two weeks and listen to the message. But if you're here today and you just want to say, this has touched my life today, can you just raise your hand right where you are? And I'm just going to say a simple prayer. Thank you for the hands. Thank you for the hands.
[00:47:19] Thank you for all you super saints that were just here helping me out. No, I'm kidding.
[00:47:23] This sermon has touched you today. Will you lift your hand? That doesn't mean I'm trying to manipulate. Amen. I just want to pray for you. If this sermon has empowered you to say, that's who I am, reminded you on that's who you are, can you raise your hand?
[00:47:35] Amen.
[00:47:36] But if this sermon is outside your knowledge base because you don't know who Christ is, And you would like to know him that you know that you know that you know today. Would you just lift your hand right where you are. I'm just going to say a simple prayer. Is there anybody here that wants to know that you know? Thank you. Thank you. Anyone that wants to know that you know that you know that you're saved know Christ.
[00:47:57] Thank youk for the hand.
[00:47:59] Father, we pray today that on all levels that we walk in our true identity, free from the pain in the soulless realm, free from the pain of our bodies, free from the pain of our past and no longer prisoners of it.
[00:48:17] That we walk in the word and the truth of your promises about us and for us and have been laid out for us to walk in.
[00:48:25] And so today, Father, for those of us that don't know that we're saved and want to just know that we know that we know that we know, Father, we pray this simple prayer. It's in the name of Jesus I pray. Can you say that with me?
[00:48:40] In the name of Jesus I pray that I receive you fully in my heart with a revelation of the comforter, the Holy Spirit being awakened in me, bringing me alive in truth and light and love, that I may live freely from my past and begin to walk out the present and the truth of who I am.
[00:49:09] It's in Jesus name. Lord, we thank you for that truth. We thank you for that life. We thank you for that love. And we all say Amen. Give the Lord a hand clap of praise.
[00:49:24] Thank you for tuning in to today's message. To connect or find out more, you can reach us online at worldchangers Life. Remember to subscribe for more uplifting messages from our pastoral team. And may you continue to walk in faith and transformation until we meet again.
