Knowing Who We Are in Christ
Ephesians 1:17-23 (AMP) Paul prayed:
- That believers would receive wisdom and revelation in knowing Christ.
- That the eyes of their understanding would be enlightened.
- That they would know: The hope of His calling.
- The riches of His inheritance in the saints.
- The exceeding greatness of His power toward believers.
Key Thought: You cannot walk in your identity until you first know what God says about you.
Be Doers of the Word
James 1:23-24 “For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.”
Key Points
- The enemy is always trying to steal the Word and distract us from the Lord.
- We must be doers of the Word, not hearers only.
- Every action begins with meditation.
- What we continually think about eventually produces actions.
- Those actions produce the results we see in our lives.
Meditating on God’s Word
Joshua 1:8 “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”
- Mediating on God’s Word leads to obedience.
- Obedience produces godly results.
- If we are not meditating on God’s Word, something else is shaping our thinking.
Psalm 119:89 “Forever, O Lord, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens.”
God’s Word Is Final Authority
- His Word is settled.
- His Word is eternal.
- When God spoke, the universe came into existence.
- That is why we stand on His Word. When He speaks, it comes to pass and takes final authority. Then what He says about you takes final authority.
His Word Brings Deliverance
John 8:32 “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
- Freedom comes from knowing and believing God’s truth.
- Deliverance comes through His Word.
We Must Listen to God’s Voice
Romans 10:17 “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
Questions to Consider
- How can we know who God is if we are not in His Word?
- How can we know who we are in Him if we are not in His Word?
- How can we know how to pray if we are not in His Word?
Key Thought: We must read His Word because our identity comes from what the Father says about us.
What God Says About Us
• We Are Loved
Romans 8:35-39 “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, ‘For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.’ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Key Truths
- We are loved by God.
- We are secure in Christ.
- We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
Why Study the Word?
One of the greatest revelations we receive from God’s Word is how much God loves us.
- We must keep our focus on God.
- We must continue learning His Word.
- Many people fall away because they stop doing these things.
- James 1:22 “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”
More Truths About Our Identity
• I Can Do All Things
Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
• Greater Is He That Is In Me
1 John 4:4 “You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”
• If God Is For Me
Romans 8:31 “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”
Key Thought
If God has spoken these things about me, then no opinion, accusation, or circumstance can change what He has said. God’s Word is the highest authority.
Renewing Our Minds
Romans 12:2 “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind…”
How Transformation Happens
- Transformation begins in the mind.
- God’s Word renews our thinking.
- As our thinking changes, our lives change.
- We begin to see ourselves the way God sees us.
Identity in Christ Requires:
- Knowing what God says about us by meditating on His Word.
- Hearing His voice consistently.
- Renewing our minds to His Word.
- Being doers of the Word.
Final Scripture
Romans 10:17 “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
Main Thought
Your identity is not determined by your past, your failures, your feelings, or what others say about you. Your identity is determined by what God has said in His Word. When you believe what He says and live according to it, you will walk in the freedom, victory, and purpose He has for your life.