BEloved

But let's open up in prayer. Father God, we thank you for calling us your beloved.

Beloved sons and daughters, before we ever lift a hand or take a step,

Lord, help us to silence the voices of doubt and fear and teach us to live each

day rooted in the truth of who you say we are.

By your spirit, Lord, I ask that you would empower us, Lord,

to walk in freedom, confidence, and faithful obedience as children that are deeply loved by you.

In Jesus' mighty name, and all God's people said, amen.

You know, identity, church, is one of the most contested battlegrounds in the human heart.

We spend years trying to answer the question, who am I?

Often looking for the answer in achievement, in approval, status,

comparison, you name it, yet when we actually observe the example of Jesus,

we see that before Jesus began his earthly ministry, the Father spoke words

that really cut through all striving.

He says, this is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased.

And that divine declaration, y'all, was based, it wasn't based on performance.

It was rooted in a relationship.

And what the father spoke over Jesus actually echoes over us through Christ as well.

Christ's first word to his children is not do, but be, be loved, be his, be secure.

Yet that's exactly, y'all, where the enemy, Satan, he actually aims his attacks.

Satan doesn't just tempt us with sin. He tempts us with doubt, does he not?

If you really are God's child, if you really are loved, if God is really pleased with you, then why?

Our battle, y'all is not simply against temptation. It's against the lies that

seek to dismantle, if you will, our identity in Christ.

So that's what we're doing today. Today, we're reclaiming the truth of who we are.

We're going to rest and we're going to reset in our beloved identity as children of the Most High God.

And such as we are, it says. So before we talk about what the enemy tries to

steal this morning, before we talk about the lies we hear, the doubts that we

wrestle with sometimes, we need to go back where God starts, right?

Because in Matthew chapter 3, standing on the waters of baptism,

Matthew 3 · chapter mention

Jesus hasn't healed anyone yet.

He hasn't taught a crowd. He hasn't gone to the cross.

And that matters because the first thing that heaven does is open its mouth,

Father, God the Father, right, and speak identity.

Look at it here in this opening slide. This is my, what?

Beloved Son with whom I am well pleased.

Which means, church, our starting point, just like Jesus's, is not striving

to prove who we are, but learning to stand firmly in what God has already said.

Take him at his word, Eastwood. And that really leads us to our first point

today in this next slide, the father declares our identity before we perform.

When Jesus comes up out of the waters, think about it, of the baptism in Matthew

Matthew 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3, something extraordinary happens there.

The heavens open up, the Spirit descends, and the Father, what does he do? He speaks.

This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased.

Now, here's where we often miss this if we read it too quickly,

as we see in this next slide. And here's the first point on that next slide.

Jesus hasn't done anything yet. Don't miss that.

Now, in a sense, yes, he's obeyed his father. Yes, he's on earth.

Yes, he's ready for the mission.

But he hasn't done anything. He has relationship with the father.

He hasn't healed the sick. He hasn't preached the sermon on the mount.

He hasn't cast out demons or fed multitudes, like I said earlier, or gone to the cross.

And yet the father says what? I am pleased.

And that tells us something essential about how God works.

As we see in this next point, God does not wait, y'all, for performance before he speaks identity.

Let me say that again. God does not wait for performance before he speaks identity.

He speaks identity first, and everything else flows from that. Do you see that?

That leads us to the next point. Jesus doesn't earn the Father's love.

He actually lives from it.

He lives from it, church, and that changes everything.

In fact, that is why Paul in Ephesians chapter 1,

Ephesians 1 · chapter mention

he actually says that God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world

and predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ.

Do you get the weight of that? Before you took your first breath,

before you made your first mistake before you tried to prove yourself to anybody,

God had already chosen you,

already claimed you, already named you according to his word.

This next point really echoes to us. Identity always comes before activity in the kingdom of God.

Do you know who you are today in Christ?

But somewhere along the way, I think many of us leaned into a different story.

We learned that love is earned somehow, that approval must be achieved,

that we're only as valuable as our usefulness, our obedience, or our success even.

And slowly, sometimes without even realizing it, we begin living like spiritual

orphans instead of beloved children of God that it says we are.

You know, that's why Romans chapter 8, I think, is so important because Paul

Romans 8 · chapter mention

says, you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear.

Did you hear the word of God? But you receive the spirit of adoption,

by whom we cry, Abba, Father, Daddy.

The spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Wow.

Notice that Paul doesn't say, you know, he doesn't say the spirit testifies

after you get it all right.

He doesn't say that the spirit confirms your identity once you've proven your

worth, does it? He actually says that the spirit bears witness when?

Now, in the middle of your weakness, in the middle of your struggle,

in the middle of becoming who you are in Christ.

And if I were honest, you know, and if we're all honest, I think,

that's where many of us need healing because some of us are exhausted sometimes,

not from doing too much, but from trying to be somebody we think God will finally approve of.

We serve, we give, we obey, we show up. But underneath is all this quiet fear.

What if I'm still not enough? Listen to the Father's voice again.

This is my beloved son. This is my beloved daughter.

Not tolerated, y'all. Not on probation.

Be loved.

1 John 3 says, See what great love the Father has lavished on us,

that we should be called what?

Children of God. And that is what we are.

Not just what we're becoming, not what we'll be someday.

That's what we are today, Eastwood. That's what you are today.

If you put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, you have the identity of Christ.

You are in Christ. So really, here's the invitation today.

Stop striving for what has already been spoken over you as a child of God.

Stop letting shame. Rewrite the story.

God's already told it. Don't rewrite it.

When you wake up tomorrow, when I wake up tomorrow, your identity will not be

worker, failure, leader, parent, or sinner trying harder.

Your identity will be what? It'll still be, church, beloved child of God.

And notice that we're adopted into his family, right?

God chose us before we ever did anything. You see this right here?

Certificate of adoption. You know, a moment a child is adopted,

their legal status changes completely.

Before they clean their room, church, before they make good grades or say,

I love you, their identity as a son or a daughter is settled by the parent's choice.

Not the child's performance. Similarly, y'all, our adoption to God's family

in Romans 8 there, it's complete the moment that we're in Christ.

The moment we're in Christ.

Do you see how important it is that you're adopted into God's family? God chose you.

Don't ever lose that. And when you live from that place, secure,

adopted, named, obedience.

I just want to let you know, Eastwood, it obedience stops being

a burden and it becomes a response to his

great love it's not oh i have to do i mean it's out of love holiness stops being

fear driven and becomes love fueled because the father has already spoken in

his words i want you to get this today eastwood god's words are the most true

thing about you at any given moment.

And that leads us to point two today. Our identity in Christ gives us strength for every battle.

Immediately, look in this passage. After the Father speaks over Jesus in Matthew

chapter three, the scene actually shifts.

Jesus goes from the waters of baptism. Where does he go? Straight into the wilderness

of testing. And that's not accidental.

Matthew four actually tells us that Jesus is led by who? by the spirit into

the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

And the very first words out of the enemy's mouth are not random, by the way.

They are targeted, intentional, strategic. What does he say?

If you are the son of God.

If you are the son of God. As we see on this next slide, not since you are,

not because you are, but if.

You see, the enemy isn't questioning Jesus's power.

He's questioning his identity because Satan knows church something I think we

often forget if he can get you and I to doubt who you are in Christ he can get

you to compromise how you live.

Temptation almost always begins as an identity crisis before it becomes a behavioral one.

What's remarkable, I think, is how Jesus responds here.

He doesn't argue. He doesn't explain himself. He doesn't perform a miracle at

this point to prove anything.

Jesus stands firm in what the Father's already said, and he answers every lie

with the truth of God's Word, the truth of Scripture. He fights,

church, from identity, not for it.

He fights from it. That's why Paul actually tells us in Ephesians chapter 6,

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

be strong in the Lord and his mighty power.

Paul doesn't say be strong in yourself, does he? Or be strong once you feel confident enough.

He says be strong in who? The Lord.

And that leads us to the next point. Strength in the Christian life.

Get this. It's not about self-sufficiency.

It's about God dependence.

It's rooted in knowing who you belong to, whose child you are.

And notice something else about the wilderness.

Jesus, y'all, if you remember, is physically weak. He's hungry. He's alone.

And yet, this is where his spiritual strength is the most visible.

Second Corinthians actually reminds us that God says this,

and y'all probably remember this verse, my grace is

sufficient for you for my power is

made perfect in weakness wow

his strength is perfect church in other words strength doesn't mean that you

never feel tired or tempted or worn down strength means you know where to stand

when you do your identity in christ some of us think that that we're losing

battles because we're not strong enough but i want you to know this today, Eastwood,

often we're losing because we've forgotten who we are.

We walk into conversations, decisions, and temptations already bracing for failure,

already doubting God is near us, already questioning whether he's really pleased with us.

Romans 8 says something radically different, doesn't it?

In all these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

Notice the tense, we are more than conquerors. not what will be someday, not if we get it right.

Right now, in Christ, right now, if you're in Christ, if you're a child of God,

you are more than a conqueror according to his word because you are deeply loved.

Your identity is found in Christ.

Some would change, you know, so I would ask this, what would change if you entered

your battles from that place, that identity?

What if you begin your day not rehearsing your fears, but reminding your soul,

I am a beloved son. I am a beloved daughter.

God has already spoken over me. What if the voice that you and I listened to

wasn't the enemy's question, if you really are, but the father's declaration, you are mine.

You are mine, right? You know, soldiers wear identification or what we call dog tags, right?

And not just for others to know who they are, but so they themselves never forget

whose they are and what they represent.

When we face spiritual battles, we need to wear our identity,

church, reminding ourselves that we belong to who?

The king of kings and the lord of lords this dog tag right here says i am a child of god.

That's the ones we need to wear. That's what we need to wear, our identity in Christ.

Because as we see in this next point, when identity is settled,

temptation loses its leverage.

When identity is settled, temptation loses its leverage.

The wilderness doesn't disappear, but you don't walk through it alone and unsure.

You walk through it, what? grounded, anchored, and strengthened,

not by your own resolve, but by the unshakable truth of who God says you are.

That leads us to point number three. Living from a beloved identity leads to purpose, church.

It leads to peace, and it leads to fruitfulness in God's kingdom.

You know, after baptism in wilderness, affirmation and testing,

Jesus doesn't live driven. he lives directed, rooted, he's anchored.

And when he begins to teach his disciples, he invites them into the same way

of life. Listen to this, John 15.

He says this, it'll be familiar to you. I am the vine, you are the branches.

If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit. Apart from me, you can do nothing.

That's not a warning meant to scare us. It's an invitation meant to free us, church.

Jesus is telling us that fruitfulness is not something we manufacture through effort.

It's something that naturally grows when we what?

When we stay connected to who we already belong to.

And as we see in this next slide, notice that order again from this passage.

First of all, identity comes first. you are

the branches right that's who you

are abiding comes next and

the next point here remaining staying resting in

that reality that's your identity and you

know what follows after all that fruitfulness fruitfulness follows church always

in that order when we reverse it guess what we burn out when we keep it we come

alive so many of us i think have been taught explicitly or implicitly that the

Christian life is about producing results for God.

But Jesus paints a very different picture.

Nowhere does he say try harder. You know what he says?

Remain. Remain. He doesn't say prove yourself.

He says stay close because when you know you are loved, You no longer hustle

for worth. You walk in purpose.

And with that purpose, guess what comes? Peace.

Jesus goes on to say in John 15, as the Father, oh boy, I think we missed this

verse or read over it fast sometimes. We don't get the whole meaning.

Listen to this. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you.

Now remain in my love. Let that just settle for a moment today, Eastwood.

As we see in this next point, the same love the father has for the son is the

exact same love that Jesus has for you.

You're talking about being loved today? Happy Valentine's Day from God.

I'm just telling you, do you see that? The same love the Father has for the

Son is the same love Jesus has for you.

What an amazing love.

That's not conditional. That's not dependent, church, on how well you're doing this week.

Loved people live differently.

Loved people live differently. When you are secure, when I am secure in our

identity in Christ, guess what?

You are freer, freer to obey without fear, freer to give without keeping score,

freer to love without needing something in return.

You actually become less threatened by other people when your identity is in

Christ and more generous with what you've been given,

not because you're trying to be impressive, not because you want your name on

a piece of paper, but because you're no longer insecure, because you know whose

you are. Your identity is in Jesus.

That's the life God desires for his children. Not anxious striving,

not exhausted faith, like, man, I just don't know if I can take it anymore.

I don't know if I can come anymore. I don't know if I can be here.

I don't know if I can do this, do that.

Not white knuckled obedience either. Oh, I got to do it.

I got to do it. but you know what results from

the real identity in christ a life that's rooted in love marked by peace and

bearing fruit that lasts when identity is settled eastwood purpose becomes clear

when love is received obedience you know what becomes joyful.

It's joyful to obey your Lord and Savior.

And when we live from our beloved identity, fruitfulness is no longer forced.

It's just inevitable. Because when you remain in Christ, guess what's going to happen? Fruit.

Fruit is going to be produced. You know, how many of you like apples? Anybody?

An apple tree doesn't strain and stress to produce apples.

It simply stays rooted in good soil, it receives

water and sunlight and fruit

naturally comes because it's an apple tree

that's a that's its identity the same way our spiritual fruitfulness church

comes when we stay connected to christ the vine and the fruit y'all will come

naturally not forcefully when somebody has their identity in Christ settled,

the fruit will flow.

You don't have to beg them to come to Sunday school.

You don't have to beg them to serve God with the gifts that he's given them.

You don't have to beg them to be faithful in serving the king because their

identity is settled and they operate from that identity that they are beloved.

So where do we land today? Before Jesus did anything, the Father spoke identity, right?

In the wilderness, Jesus stood firm in that identity.

And as he lived and he taught, he invited others to abide in that exact same love.

That's the pattern of the kingdom. Identity before activity,

belonging before believing harder, and love before fruit.

And the same voice, Eastwood, that spoke over Jesus speaks over you in Christ.

You are my beloved son. You are my beloved daughter. I am pleased with you.

That doesn't mean life gets easier. It means you no longer face it uncertain of who you are.

The enemy may still whisper those things if you really are, but you don't have

to answer that question anymore because you know why? God already has answered it.

So let's wrap this up by asking this question on this next slide.

How do we live from this beloved identity?

How do we live from it? Well, I believe first of all, as we see,

start your day by listening before striving.

As we see in that first point. Start your day by listening before striving.

Before you check your phone, your email, or your to-do list,

remind your soul of what is already true.

I am loved. I belong to God. That's my identity. I don't have to earn his pleasure.

And in fact, even a simpler prayer, Father, help me live as your beloved child today.

Help me live as your beloved child today. That can reset your posture for the whole day.

And then second, as we see here, name the lies when they surface.

When shame or fear or comparison creeps in, don't just feel it.

Challenge it. Ask yourself, is this the voice of the Father or the voice of

accusation? and then replace that lie with the truth of God's holy word from scripture.

Jesus did it in his temptation. We can do it too.

And then number three, choose practices that help you abide.

You know, abiding isn't passive. It's intentional. Scripture,

prayer, silence, worship, community.

Those aren't hoops to jump through. Do you know what they are?

They're places where love is remembered and identity is reinforced.

Y'all, that's why we come to church. That's why we come to worship the Lord.

That's why we live in our identity, who God has called us to be.

Stay close to the vine. And then finally, let love shape how you live.

Love people live differently.

And love people love differently. They forgive more freely. Did you know that?

They serve more joyfully. They're not easily offended because they know whose they are.

They actually give more generously, not to prove anything, but because they

have nothing left to prove.

Church, we're not spiritual orphans trying to survive.

We are beloved children learning to live.

So I want to challenge you, go into this week grounded, secure,

confident, not in what you can do for God, but in what he's already said about you.

This is my beloved.

Stand with me. Let's pray. Father God, I thank you for your word today.

God, I thank you that our identity is found in you alone.

Father, how much striving and problems and issues could be solved if we all

just live in that identity, in that beloved identity?

I pray today, Lord, that you would just continue to work with all of our hearts.

Help us to respond to you, Lord, out of a heart of love, out of a place of love,

realizing that that same love that God the Father loved you with is the same love you love us with.

Help that to sink in today. In Jesus' name.