Finding your Identity

What am I doing and what is the point?

This is a question asked by many people,

including in an article in the Sydney Morning Herald last Sunday.

Author Lisa Leong told a story about a musician friend of hers

who, in the first lockdown, had lost her job.

She was a musician and her job wasn't considered essential.

It made her feel devalued when she lost her job.

And the author reflected that our sense of self

is often wrapped up in our identity.

And so when we lose a job, we can feel devalued.

And she suggested that the biggest blow to losing a job

is not just dollars, but the hit our identity can take.

She suggested that it's because our identity gives us meaning

and purpose in life.

And I think she's hit onto something there.

She's come from outside Christianity,

but I think she's hit onto something quite interesting there.

Our identity gives us meaning and purpose.

Have you ever felt devalued?

Have you ever questioned, what am I doing?

What is the point?

What is the purpose of my life?

Maybe you felt like that musician who looked at the things that she did,

the fact that she could no longer do what she thought gave her purpose,

and she felt like she had no purpose.

Have you ever felt like, you're just questioning,

what am I doing?

Because when we have these things taken away,

we can feel like a leaf adrift in a river.

I'm sure that there's at least one person here in the building

or watching at home online

who maybe has lied awake late at night thinking,

what is the point?

What am I doing?

God, what is my purpose?

What do you want me to be doing with my life?

And that is the challenge set before us today.

Just a small question

to dive into some of life's deepest questions.

Who am I?

And what am I here for?

We are in our vision series as a church,

a time where we refocus as a church

about the direction we're going in.

And we've been looking over the last three weeks

to see who we as a church are to be,

particularly within a culture

that is battling racism amongst other challenges.

And this week we are changing tack slightly

from thinking about us as a church

to thinking about us as individuals

who make up the broader church.

And so as we seek to answer those two questions today,

who am I and what am I here for?

Let me pray.

Heavenly Father,

as we come to your word,

give us insight,

not only into who you are and into your word,

but who you have made us to be.

And give me your words to speak today, Lord.

Amen.

Three points for us this morning.

Made,

ruined,

and remade.

Let me encourage you to be using the St. Paul's app

to be following along as well.

First of all,

we're starting in Psalm 8

to see how we are made.

And as John read for us,

this is a wonderful meditation

from King David

about who he is

and about who our God is.

So have a look with me,

Psalm 8.

That'll come up on the screen as well,

starting in verse 1.

And it starts off with David praising God.

Lord, our Lord,

how majestic is your name in all the earth.

You have set your glory in the heavens.

And I wonder where David is

as he's saying this.

Is he outside

looking up at the sky,

staring at the vast sky?

Is he in the middle of nature?

I think even those who don't believe in God,

sometimes when we're confronted

by just the vastness of creation,

makes us stop and think,

wow,

there must be something bigger.

There must be something beyond me.

And David in this scene

is just reflecting on God's awesomeness

and his glory.

God is so vast

and so beyond us

that he even uses the unlikely

for his own glory.

Verse 2.

Through the praise of infants

and children,

you have established

a stronghold against your enemies

to silence the foe and the avenger.

You don't see too many countries

assembling armies

out of infants and children.

But God can silence the strong

with the very weak

because God is just that powerful.

And David continues

considering God in verse 3.

When I consider your heavens

the work of your fingers,

the moon and the stars

which you have set in place,

it makes him consider who he is.

But this is actually

quite amazing as well.

It tells us

something about God.

David could have said that

God made the world

with his mighty arm,

with an outstretched arm,

with a powerful arm.

But David said that

God made the world

with his fingers.

God is intimately involved

with his creation.

It's almost like

a picture of God.

I've painted a lot

of little figurines.

It's this picture of God

intricately making us

with his fingers.

That the God

who is bigger than galaxies

beyond time and space

works with delicate intricacy,

like an artist,

a model builder.

Steve, in the last couple of weeks,

has looked at Genesis 1 and 2.

And that's what David

is doing here.

He's recalling creation.

He's looking at the vastness

of creation,

the goodness of God,

and it brings him to think

about himself

in verse 4.

What is mankind

that you are mindful of them?

Human beings

that you would care for them.

God, what am I?

Because in the vastness

of all these things

you've created,

I am an insignificant

little dot.

What am I

that you would think of me?

That God,

your mind would be on me.

Why would I be in your heart?

Why would you care for me?

David answers this

in verse 5.

You have made them

a little lower

than the angels,

and you've crowned them

with glory and honor.

This answers the question

of who are we?

We are people

intimately made.

We are people

who are known by God,

who God chooses

to know and love.

God chooses

to honor us.

He crowns us

with glory and honor.

We are a people

that God has made

and he makes much of.

God made a people

in his image.

We're recalling

Genesis 1 and 2

where God made us

in his image.

This is primary.

This is really central.

This is core

to us as people,

to us as Christians.

We are people

made in God's image.

So,

when someone asks,

oh,

hi,

I'm James.

Who are you?

You know,

we should be saying,

before we say,

I'm employed in this field

or this is some things

about me,

the answer really should be,

oh,

I'm a child of God.

Before I knew

what to do in my life,

God crowned me

with his glory

and his honor.

He made me his child.

That might make things

a little bit awkward

in social settings,

but it is true.

God

has made us

in his image

like him

before we knew

anything about ourselves.

I found it really difficult

in the last week

to see what's been happening

in the Ukraine.

I'm not sure

if you've been following

what's been happening,

but one thing

that has been encouraging

is seeing

the Christians

continue

to praise God

in that season.

There's a video of them,

I think they were

in a train station,

there's this group

of Christians

just praising God.

And one of the things

that they have said

is even

with oppression coming,

we will not hide

who we are

if we need to go

underground as the church.

We will do that,

we've done that before,

and we will do that again

if they need.

And they're able

to say that

because they know

what is core

to who they are

as people.

It is their Christian

identity.

And even with

opposition coming,

that's not going

to make them hide

or run away

from who they are

as people,

they're going

to go,

we will continue

as Christians

even in the face

of opposition.

David finishes

with the same words

as he started

in verse 9.

Lord,

our Lord,

how majestic

is your name

in all the earth.

You have set

your glory

in the heavens.

So in the midst

of David meditating

on who he is,

made in the image

of God,

it's all framed

in praising God.

Paul says

in 1 Corinthians 10,

whether you eat

or drink

or whatever you do,

do it all

for the glory

of God.

And this is the theme

of our series.

It's all of life.

That we are to be

Christians all of life.

That we are to bring

praise and glory

to God

all of life.

Not just for an hour

or two on a Sunday.

Not just for a couple

of minutes

when we're reading

the Bible.

But we are to be

following God

all of life

because we are made

in his image.

We are to be doing

what Paul said

in 1 Corinthians

said,

to be bringing him

glory.

This is the

biblical picture

of who we are

and what we are

to do.

We are to be,

we are made

in God's image

and we are to be

bringing him glory.

Our purpose

is to magnify him.

To bring him glory.

to show how awesome

he really is.

To his praise

and to enjoy

relationship with him.

On the one hand,

it makes a lot of sense.

The Bible presents

a pretty clear picture.

We are made

in God's image

and we are made

to glory,

to bring him glory

and to enjoy him.

But on the other hand,

it's really hard.

We still have this

existential angst

that comes from

questioning,

well,

what am I to do?

Who am I to be?

And this comes

because

our image

has been marred.

It's been damaged.

It's been ruined.

And that's our

second point today.

The problem comes

from the fall

where the image

of God was damaged.

It was messed up.

Our purpose in life

got confused.

Instead of glorifying God,

we pursue ourselves

and the other

idols of life

that we make.

The article

talking about

identity from last week

in the City Morning Herald,

it concluded

with some fairly

depressing words.

It said,

everything matters

and nothing matters.

It's messy

and hard to define,

but it's like standing

on top of a mountain

and feeling huge

and small

all at once.

This is a wonderful

paradox to hold

within our every experience.

What a beautiful

perspective to carry

through the world.

What you do matters,

but not as much

as who you are.

They both matter,

but also

not at all.

It's so similar

to David's experience

in Psalm 8.

He's standing

and beholding

the awesomeness

of God,

but this author

suggests

that,

you know,

experiencing

how large

and how small

the reality is

that,

you know what,

it's actually

all meaningless.

It's all pointless.

You can give yourself

meaning if you like,

but actually

there is no meaning

to life.

And if we follow

this directionless

questioning,

we just end up

purposeless,

hopeless.

Nothing matters,

but you can pretend

it like it does

if you like.

until your deathbed

and you'll think,

what's it all been for?

But when we take

God out of the picture,

that's what we're

left with.

Self-invented purpose

that doesn't satisfy.

We can create

an identity

that can be

lost or broken

with a pandemic

coming through

and a job lost.

Paul says in Romans 1,

for although they knew

God,

they neither glorified

Him as God

nor gave thanks to Him.

But their thinking

became futile

and foolish,

and their foolish

hearts were darkened.

Although they claimed

to be wise,

they became fools

and exchanged

the glory of the

immortal God

for images

made to look like

a mortal human being

and birds and animals

and reptiles.

We have been made

in the image of God

to bring Him glory,

but the image of God

has been marred

by our sin,

it's been damaged,

and so we chase

other things.

We choose to give

them glory instead.

And when we don't know

who we are in God,

we lose our purpose.

And instead,

it gets redefined for us.

Instead,

we get a different identity

and we end up

with a different purpose.

And instead of it being

shaped by God,

it's shaped by

the culture

around us.

What my purpose is

gets shaped by

my culture around me.

It gets shaped

by aspects of me.

It gets shaped by

what I do for work,

my sexuality,

the things I do,

my role within my family.

It's going to be influenced

differently

in different cultures.

But every culture,

every culture

is not based

on God.

And so every culture

is going to make

a different idol.

It's going to make

our identity,

which might be

something good,

like work,

it's going to take

something good

and make it

the ultimate thing

and an idol.

And it's going to make

it the most important

thing in our life.

The image of God

is marred

and so our purpose

gets confused.

I think in the West,

it looks like

the personal pursuit

of happiness,

the pursuit

of personal happiness.

It's the big dream.

It's the goal.

It's the vision

of personal success.

I'm going to have

a vision board.

Well, there was a book

that came out

a number of years ago

called The Secret.

Not sure if you've heard

of The Secret.

It was on Oprah

at the time.

It was all about

envisioning

what your success

looked like.

And so you'd think

about it.

And because you're

thinking about it,

the universe was going

to give it to you.

And this was the thinking.

In the West,

it really is about

personal success.

I've seen this

impact my own heart.

I've seen this impact

other people

in my line of work

as pastors.

In church ministry,

we're in a culture

which is about

growth and success

generally.

You know,

you look at companies,

they must always

have year-on-year growth.

There can be no

staying the same.

We must always

grow and succeed.

And it can be

the same in the church

because growth

is,

and bigger numbers

is a sign of success.

And so,

I talk to other ministers

and the same comment,

the same question

comes up.

Oh,

how big is your church?

How is it growing?

And I see the challenge

in my own heart

to be influenced

by what our culture

defines success as.

But that's not biblical.

It's a culturally

driven purpose.

From an Eastern perspective,

identity and purpose

might not look like

individual success,

but it might look like

having success

to care for a family

or having success

academically

on behalf of other people

so that others

in the family

can boast

about how their family

is doing.

It doesn't matter

the ethnic background

that we come from,

they are all

adrift from God

and we are all

going to find

an identity

and purpose

away from God.

It's going to make

us look successful

and desire to have

those around us

look successful too.

A culture that says

to be successful

you must earn

a lot of money,

you must be busy,

it's no wonder

that our identity

becomes so closely

tied to our jobs,

to the things we do.

It shapes our days

and so very often

it gives us purpose.

But it's also true

that we want to do

valuable things.

I know over the last

couple of weeks

it's been wonderful

to hear from people

like Soren

who's a solicitor

about how

he does his

nine to five

to help people,

to care for other people

and this is good.

The challenge is

when it becomes

ultimate,

when it becomes

no, no, no,

this is who I am,

I am the teacher

and this is all

about my life.

But that's not

who we are.

If something

core to our identity

can be so easily

taken away

by a pandemic

or by a job loss,

then it isn't

really core

to who we are.

First,

we are Christians

and then that

shapes our purpose.

Otherwise,

we'll have a

short-term purpose

and we can be

left feeling

like life

is meaningless.

I like to think

about this

as

a fast-food

identity

version

of identity

and purpose.

We can think

that

having

all purpose

in my job

will satisfy

but it can

ultimately

leave us

feeling empty.

I have a

cheeseburger here.

I don't know

if anybody

likes cheeseburgers.

Does anybody

like eating

cheeseburgers?

This is a

Macca's cheeseburger

and it's being

kept warm

in my pocket

for about

an hour and a half.

I'll tell you

what,

even warm,

it's still

delicious.

Steve's looking

at me right

now,

he's thinking

that's going

to spike

your sugars.

That combination

of carbs

and sugars

and fat

and protein,

it tastes

good.

Does anybody

want some?

No?

Okay.

It tastes

good

but soon,

let me just

finish my

mouthful.

Excuse me,

my mouth is

dry.

Should have

gotten a

Coke.

Soon my

system is

going to

go into

overdrive

from this

combination of

fats and

sugars.

And I'm

going to

crash soon.

You'll see me

on the floor

in the last

song.

I'm not sure

how you feel

after you

eat fast

food,

but often

can feel

just a little

bit sick.

It can

often leave

me feeling

just a little

bit unsatisfied,

like I need

a real meal.

food.

It leaves

me craving

a meal

with real

food and

family and

friends.

That satisfies

not just the

taste buds,

not only does

it not make me

feel sick,

but it feeds

my soul.

Imagine if I

only ever

ate Maccas.

You'd be

concerned for

me, yes?

My life would

not go very

well for very

long.

I might enjoy

it to a

certain extent.

I think

that is a

temptation on

how we

approach the

question of

who I am

and what my

purpose is.

We seek

fulfillment and

purpose in

things that are

only temporary

and ultimately

things that

don't actually

satisfy.

But we don't

even realize

that they

won't satisfy.

Instead of

understanding how

God has

intricately and

lovingly made

us in his

image, we

take something

off the

shelf of

identity and

purpose and

think, I'll

have that.

I'll devote

myself to

that.

I'll devote

myself to

this career.

I'll devote

myself to

fixing the

world in

this way.

I study

law.

I'm a

solicitor.

I'm going

to devote

everything to

that.

I'm a

teacher.

I'm going

to fix a

generation of

kids.

And these

are good

things.

But when

they are made

the ultimate

things, it

shapes what

we do

each day.

It shapes

how we

want to

get glory

for

ourselves.

It shapes

our purpose

in life.

But like a

cheeseburger,

they are not

ultimate things.

They will just

leave us

feeling unsatisfied.

We can end up

with that question

before.

Is that it?

Is that all

my life?

What happens

when my job

ends?

What happens

when I hit

retirement?

I'll have an

existential crisis.

God offers

us something

far deeper,

far more

satisfying.

One that only

comes from

him.

Now, don't

hear me say

we shouldn't

pursue work,

we shouldn't

pursue significant

things.

Work is a

good gift

given from

God.

But one

way to

figure out

whether a

good gift

from God

has become

an idol

is to

question what

would happen

if we

didn't have

it.

Tim Keller

asked a

question to

help us

identify

our idol,

which is

what do

we go to

bed thinking

about?

What is our

goal?

What is our

dream?

Before we

drift off to

sleep,

what are we

thinking,

I really

want that?

What would

happen if

we couldn't

get it?

Now, I know

there's a

number of

teachers in

the room,

so let me

use a

teacher example.

Let's say

you're a

teacher and

your dream

is to be

the principal.

I hear

that's a

good thing.

And that's

your goal and

you think,

I can lead

a school

really well,

I can change

culture,

I can shape

a generation,

and you

apply for a

job and

it's your

dream job and

you think you

would be the

best at it,

and then you

get knocked

back.

You don't

get it.

And there's

sadness and

pain, but

is there

anger or

righteous

indignation?

I deserve

that.

That should

have been

my job.

If we

have those

kinds of

responses,

it indicates

that that

might actually

be an

idol,

that might

actually be

the thing

we are

attaching our

purpose and

our identity

to,

because if we

don't get

it, there

is pain.

Are you

satisfied and

able to

glorify God

where you

are?

If you were

to stay in

the same

house, in

the same

job, with

the same

amount of

money, with

the same

situation in

your life, if

you didn't

get that

goal that

you have.

So what

do we do?

Third point

today is

that we

are remade.

If our

image of

God has

been marred

by our

sin, and

we are

off pursuing

new things

that don't

ultimately

satisfy it,

what now?

In

Colossians

Colossians 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1,

it describes

Jesus as

the image

of the

invisible

God,

firstborn

over all

creation,

and in

him we

are remade.

Our

likeness is

given back

to, the

image of

God is

remade for

us.

He has

come to

restore us

to God's

image.

Jesus

perfectly

reflects

God.

The rest

of Psalm

8 that we

were looking

at before

is a

picture of

what happens

after Jesus

dies and

is raised

back to

life.

David is

talking about

himself, but

he's actually

talking about

Jesus.

From verse

4 of Psalm

8,

hopefully

it'll be

on the

screen.

What is

mankind

that you

are mindful

of them?

Human

beings or

the son

of man

that you

care for

them?

You have

made them

a little

lower than

the angels

and crowned

them with

glory and

honor.

You made

them rulers

over the

works of

your hands.

You put

everything

under their

feet.

Jesus

is the

perfect

man.

He is

the perfect

image

bearer of

God.

He is

the one

who restores

us to

God's

image.

And as

Psalm 8

says,

he was

crowned

with glory.

Everything

has been

placed under

his feet.

And now,

believing in

Jesus,

by the power

of God's

Holy Spirit,

we are being

remade in

the image

of God.

Romans 8

says,

for those

God

foreknew,

he also

predestined

to be

conformed

to the

image of

his Son.

Every day,

God is

making us

to be

who we

were made

to be.

In the

power of

the Holy

Spirit,

he is

conforming

us back

to the

image of

who we

are.

He has

restored

our identity

as his

children,

so we can

be called

Christian,

and now

he's

restoring us

to his

purpose,

to glorify

him.

But it's

hard.

It's a

challenge.

It's hard

to take

off that

identity,

the goal,

that dream

that our

culture can

give us,

and the

dream to

have success,

and realign

it with

God's purpose

of giving

him the

glory,

because he

is the

one who

has all

success.

He is

the one

who is

in control

of all

things.

So who

are we,

brothers and

sisters?

God has

bought our

identity,

which was

marred at

the fall

with the

blood of

his son,

so that

we might

be his

people.

So that

whatever role

we do,

whatever we

do in our

nine to

five,

we are his

children first,

made in his

image to

glorify him.

How then,

how can we

live our life

for the glory

of God?

How can we

magnify God

in all we do?

How do we

pursue his

glory,

regardless of

what we are

doing in

life?

After that

cheeseburger,

I need a bit

of a drink,

so I'm

going to

help illustrate

this with

an illustration

from John

Piper about

orange juice,

but I don't

have orange

juice,

I have

some black

currant

juice,

which we'll

do.

Firstly,

this black

currant

juice is

just an

illustration

of what

we can

do in

all of

life.

John

Piper

encourages

us to

glorify

God in

every moment,

as 1

Corinthians

calls us

to do,

and we

can do

that simply

with a

moment like

drinking

juice.

First,

I don't

deserve this

juice.

The reality

is that

because of

my own

sin,

I deserve

punishment,

I deserve

hell right

now.

And so

even holding

this plastic

cup, I

can give

thanks to

God that

he has

forgiven

my sin.

And the

pleasure of

drinking juice

is bought

for me by

Jesus' death

on the

cross, so

that I can

enjoy every

minute of

my day and

the minute

when I drink

some juice.

I don't

deserve it.

Drinking

this juice

actually reveals

something about

the goodness

of God.

God is a

creative God

who enjoys

pleasurable

things.

And God

made us to

be able to

enjoy his

world.

This tastes

good because

God has

made us in

a way to

be able to

enjoy things

that taste

good.

And that's

wonderful that

our God has

given that to

us.

Thirdly,

the fact that

I can even

stand up here

and hold this

cup means

that God has

given me

health.

He's blessed

me with health

to work,

health to

earn money

so I can

afford juice.

Even when

I have fully

drunk this

cup and

all of the

value of the

vitamin C has

gone through

my body and

I've gotten

everything out

of it,

even after

it's finished,

God is still

good to me

and he is

still helping

me and he is

still the

great healer.

And lastly,

I don't pursue

the black

currant juice.

I don't

make it the

purpose of

my life,

I don't

worship it,

I don't

become the

black currant

juice guy

who's always

talking to

you about

it and

encouraging

you,

you really

should buy

more black

currant

juice,

it is really

the best

of the

juices.

I also

don't believe

that,

but I'm

thankful for

it but I

still pursue

the one who

has given

me the gift.

Now if I

can do that

with a cup

of black

currant

juice,

how much

can we do

that with

every moment

of our day?

The moment

we wake up

early,

the moment

I got

woken up

early this

morning because

of my

kids,

I can

thank God

that I

have my

kids,

that I'm

well enough

to play

with them,

I can

thank God

that I

can go

to work,

I can

thank God

for coffee

and I

can thank

God

multiple

times

throughout

the day

for coffee

because I

drink

multiple

coffees.

Brothers

and sisters,

we have a

good God

who restores

us to

his image

and to

his purposes

and that

purpose of

glorifying

him and

enjoying

him.

He

offers us

an identity

and a

purpose that

is far

better than

the unsatisfying

ones that

we have

been,

that we've

chosen.

Let me

encourage you,

spend a moment

to think what

is the purpose

that you were

thinking about as

you drift off to

sleep?

Because God

offers us

something far

better,

made in his

image,

with the purpose

of glorifying

him.

let me

pray.

Heavenly

Father,

I thank you

so much

that we

were made

in your

image,

that even

though we

sin against

you,

you have

remade us

through the

death and

resurrection of

your Son,

and you are

making us

like you

each day.

Father,

help us

to pursue

you,

to desire

to see you

glorified,

and not

our own

glory.

Help us

not to

seek our

success,

but to

see your

name made

known by

the people

that we

know,

all for

your glory.

We pray

this in your

Son's name.

Amen.