Rick Warren - 5 Biblical Truths About Your True Identity in Christ

So when somebody rejected you, if you were rejected as

a young child, they cursed you, and they cursed you

with things that said, you don't matter, You're a failure,

you don't measure up. Why can't you be like your

brother or sister? How do you reverse a curse? I'll

tell you how. Start believing what God says about you.

You know, this week I read about the fact that

identity theft cost people billions of lost dollars and pesos

and euros and euons and other currencies. Identity theft is

a global problem. In fact, here in America there's a

new scam that identity thieves are using. These criminals use

stolen identities to file fake tax returns and then they

steal people's tax refunds. Last year, over one point five

million fake tax returns were filed here in America, and

as a result, each year, the government pays out over

five billion dollars in refunds to people who it doesn't

belong to to fake accounts. That means, over the past

five years, the US government has given away twenty five

billion dollars of your money if you live in America

to identity thieves. But you know, what. There's an even

more sinister and evil thief of your identity and his

name is Satan, and he wants to steal far more

than just your money. He wants to steal your true

identity of what God created you to be. He wants

to hide your true identity. He wants to diminish your

true identity. He wants to confuse your identity. He doesn't

want you to know who you really are, who God

made you to be. He doesn't want you to know

the power that you have as a child of God,

as a son or daughter in God's family. You know,

one of the reasons you get so tired and get

so stressed out is because there's an unspiritual, unseen spiritual

battle or war going on in your life over your

identity every single moment. Now, as your pastor, I need

you to understand this. Satan is not as powerful as God.

For one thing, Satan cannot create anything. He can't create.

Satan can only distort. Satan can pervert, or Satan can destroy,

but he can't create. But he can convert, distort, destroy

the beautiful things that God creates. And of course we

see that happening everywhere. He does it with money. He

does it with sex, he does it with physical beauty,

he does it with power. He does it with your identity.

And Satan uses a number of different tools to confuse

you about your true identity. What does he use well?

Number one, he uses hurt and pain and trauma. If

Satan can get you angry or bitter or ashamed about

something that's happened to you, or through you, or by you,

then he's going to distort your true identity. He uses

hurt and pain. Number two, he uses other people's opinions.

And I hate to tell you this, but people lie

to you all the time, and some of the things

that have been said to you about you by peers,

by parents, by partners, by enemies, by friends, they just

aren't true. But he can distort your true identity by

what other people say about you. He uses the culture,

He uses the media, and you get these messages all

the time through the media and through movies and music

and novels that you should be like that instead of

being who God really truly made you to be. And then,

of course number four, Satan actually uses thoughts that he

suggests in your mind. And when he puts a thought

in your mind. He says, you're no good, you're worthless,

you'll never amount to anything, You're a failure. Are all

the things that he says, And most of all, he

uses the things you tell yourself. He uses the lies

you tell yourself over and over about you. He uses

your feelings, and you say, well, I feel this way,

so to be true. Your feelings are a terrible predictor

of truth. They're often totally off base. Just because you

feel something doesn't make it true. Doctors could give you

a medicine or stimulate your brain and make you feel

things that are totally untrue about you. But when he

gets Satan gets you to believe those things, then he

can distort your true identity. Now, in my first message

that we started in this new series, called the Foundation

of a Well Lived Life, we talked about God's timing

in your life. But as your pastor and as your

spiritual coach, my goal for you is that you live

a life well lived. And so today I want to

focus on another very important component or element of a

foundation for a well lived life. I want us to

look at learning your true identity in Christ, what God

says about you, what's true about you? Knowing who you

really are, who God you to be, and knowing what

God thinks and says about your identity is absolutely essential

to living a life well lived. Your happiness is directly

connected to your identity and how you see yourself. And

if you don't know who you really are, then you

can't be fully happy, you can't be truly successful, you

can't relate effectively to other people, you can't be genuinely fulfilled.

So how do I know who I really am? Well?

You know? The famous seventeenth century French physicist and philosopher

Blaize Pascal wrote this, not only do we not only

know God through Jesus Christ, but we only know ourselves

through Jesus Christ. We only know life and death through

Jesus Christ. Apart from Jesus, we cannot know the meaning

of our life or our death, or the meaning of God,

or even the meaning of ourselves. Now in the Bible,

in the New Testament, it lists over thirty five different

aspects of your true identity in Christ. Did you know

that if you'll just read through the New Testament, you'll

find thirty five truths about your true identity in Christ? Today,

I wanted to just focus on five five aspects of

your true identity. And if you understand these, you believe these,

and you act on these, you build your life on

these foundations as a solid rock of truth. These five

aspects will change your life now. The five aspects of

your true identity that I want you to see in

this time together are found in the Bible Book of

First Peter in chapter two of First Peter. And there

Saint Peter gives us five descriptions of our true identity.

That's all we're going to look at today. Let me

read you this passage First Peter, chapter two, Versus nine

and ten. He says, there, he says you, you, you

are a chosen people. You are a royal priesthood. You

are a holy nation. You are a people belonging to God.

Each of these statements are packed with meaning. He says,

you are these things that you may declare the praises

of Him who called you out of darkness and into

his wonderful light. And Peter says, once you were not

a people. You didn't have an identity, but now you

are the people of God. Once you hadn't received mercy,

but now you have received mercy. Now today, let's unpack

the meaning of each of these five phrases because each

one of them is loaded. It's packed with significance for

your life. This is God's true view of you, God's

true view of you in Christ. So first write this

down in Christ. Number one, I am completely accepted. That's

the first thing you need to know about your identity

in Christ. I am completely accepted. Now that's important because

the deepest wounds in life often come from rejection. And

because rejection hurts so much, and we all have rejection

in our life, we spend so much of our lives

trying to earn acceptance. We want to earn it from

our parents, we want to earn it from our peers,

our friends. We want to earn acceptance from those we respect.

We want to earn it acceptance from those we envy.

And this drive to be accepted influences everything in your life.

The kind of clothes you wear, the car you drive,

the house you buy, the career you choose, and we

buy and we do all kinds of crazy things to

earn acceptance. Now, the pain of not being chosen on

a team. You've probably experienced that, where they're choosing upsides

and you're not one of the first ones to be chosen.

You keep going, Oh God, please don't let me be

the last to be chosen. And you hate it if

you've ever been the last person chosen when they're picking teams.

Being chosen does a lot for your self worth. And

if you're chosen for an award, if you're chosen for

an honor, if you're chosen for a promotion. You know

what gives me self esteem is a Kay Lewis who's

now Kay Warren chose me over all those other guys.

I knocked them all off. I beat him. Kay chose me.

That gives me value. Now here's the good news one

Peter two nine. You have been chosen by God himself.

Whoa If God chooses you, If God likes you, and

you like you, somebody else I don't like you. That's

their problem. Now why am I completely acceptable? Because God

chose me before everything, the Bible says in Ephesians one four.

And He chose us in him, in Christ. He chose

us in Christ before the creation of the world. Did

you know that before God created the universe, he had

already chosen you to be holy and blameless in his

sight by his love. Before God chose to make the

sun before God chose to make the oceans. Before God

chose to make the earth and the world and the

birds and everything else, he chose you. That shows how valuable,

how acceptable you are. God shows you you're acceptable. Number two,

Jesus made me acceptable by his death on the cross.

Hydas Chapter three, verse seven says, this Jesus treated us

much better than we deserve. He made us acceptable to God.

Circle that he made us acceptable to God, and he

gave us the hope of eternal life. Now this acceptance

God accepts you. It's not based on your performance. It's

not based on what you do. It's based on what

Jesus did, not based on who you are. It's based

on who Jesus is, his character. God loves you, and

he says you are acceptable because my son died for you.

I made you, and my son died for you. So

the first thing we need to know about your identity

is that I am completely acceptable. The second thing you

need to know about your identity what God says about you.

The true view of you, is this, I'm not only

completely acceptable, I am extremely valuable. You are extremely valuable.

In fact, the Bible says that your life is priceless.

Most of you know that. I'm a book collector. I

have a library of over forty thousand books, and most

of them I bought used. And when you go into

a used bookstore or you go online to use books,

they rate every book as they're either poor or good,

or acceptable or fine or like new. There are categories.

God says, you're not just acceptable, you're valuable, You're fine,

You're priceless. And Peter's second description in second first Peter two,

verse nine, he says you are a holy nation. Circle

that word holy. I got to explain that. And you

are a people belonging to God circle the word belonging.

What makes something valuable? God says your priceless. You're invaluable.

What makes you so valuable? Well, values dependent upon several things. First,

value depends on who owns something. You know, when you

go to an auction, things that are owned by famous people,

or by celebrities or historical people, they cost more because

they were owned by somebody else. It might just be

an ordinary, you know, pitcher, or jar or shoe, but

if it was owned by somebody famous, it raises its value.

Would a car owned by a famous celebrity Lady Gaga

be worth more than your car? Yeah? Would basketball shoes

warned by Lebron James be more valuable than your shoes? Yes?

Would a piece of furniture used by a prime minister

or a president be more valuable than maybe your furniture? Probably?

How about a guitar used by a rock star compared

to the guitars that I have? Yes? You see, the

owner often adds values to common things. So who do

you belong to? Well? The Bible tells us Deuteronomy seven six,

you are a people holy to the Lord, your God,

his treasured possession. Did you know that you are God's

treasured possession? Isaiah forty three, verse four. God says you

are precious to me, like a precious metal, at gold,

like platinum. You're precious to me. So why am I

extremely valuable? Well? First, God owns me. But in the

first more than that, because God is my father. God

is your father. And the Bible says in Luke twelve

twenty four, look at the birds. God feeds them, and

you're far more valuable to him than any birds. Why

because you are his child. God is your father. And

another reason why you're invaluable is because Jesus gave his

life for me. Jesus gave his life for me. In

First Printh, in seven, verse twenty three, the Bible says,

you have been bought and paid for by Christ, so

you belong to him. So Christ died for you, and

God created you, and he's your father. You're in You

belong to him. That adds value to your life. You know,

value not only depends on who owns something, but value

depends on what somebody is willing to pay for it.

So if I were to ask you a question, how

much is your house worth? Well, I can tell you

without even looking at your house, I can tell you

what your house is worth. It's worth whatever somebody is

willing to pay for it, no more and no less.

You might think it's worth a lot more, but it's

only worth whatever somebody is willing to pay for it.

How much was a piece of art worth, It's worth

what somebody's willing to pay for it. How much is

a rare baseball card worth what somebody he's willing to

pay for it. A few years back, I remember there

was a story in the in the news about the

daughter of a very wealthy oil shake in the Middle East.

On her, and that daughter was kidnapped, and the sheikh

put out a word all over the Middle East. Pay

any price for her return, Pay any price for her return.

She's the king's daughter. Well, you're the king's daughter, you're

the king's son. You're God's child. And the greatest ransom

ever paid was paid for you by Jesus Christ. We

have a God who suffers. God came to earth and

suffered for you. God exchanged his own son for your salvation,

for your freedom. Christ gave his life that you might

have eternal life. And if you want to know how

value you are, you look at the cross. The cross

proves your value with Jesus with his arms out stretched,

dying on that cross, is saying, I love you, I

love you, I love you. You're this valuable, You're this valuable

to me. So the people who told you in your

life you're worthless, they're dead wrong. That's an evil statement.

They're dead wrong. You are not worthless, you are priceless.

You're not just completely acceptable to God in Christ. You

are infinitely valuable to God in Christ. He accepts me,

and he says, I'm acceptable, I'm valuable. The third thing

God says about you is you're lovable. Write this down

number three. I'm not just these other things. I'm eternally loved.

That's the third thing God says about you. God's true

view of you. You are completely acceptable, and you are

infinitely valuable, and you are eternally loved. First Peter chapter two,

verse ten says this, once you're not a people. In

other words, you don't have any idea identity. You're kind

of nothing. But now you're the people of God. Now

that has profound implications. When you accept Christ in your life,

you become part of his family. That family, by the way,

is called the church. The church is the family of

God on earth. It's going to go to heaven. The

Church is the only thing that's going to last forever.

God's family. And you know what God is, Father is

not ashamed of his family. Look up on the screen.

What this verse says. Hebrews chapter two, verse eleven says

this the New Living translation, Jesus and the ones he

makes holy have the same Father. And that's why Jesus

is not ashamed to call us his brothers and sisters

life and not an amazing thing that Jesus Christ would say,

you're my sister, you're my brother. He's not ashamed to

say you're my sister, you're my brother because we're in

the family of God. That shows infinite value. It shows

infinite love. Am I A thirty one Verse three? God

says this, I have loved you, my people. That's with

an everlasting love. Nobody else loves you like that. God says,

I have loved you, my people, with an ever lasting

It's always lasting. It's not ending, it lasts forever. It

is ever lasting love, with unfailing love. You've had people

love you in ways it failed. I have failed my

wife and I love her dearly. I have failed my

kids and I love them dearly. I love you, and

I have failed you members of Saddleback Church. But the

Bible says God has an unfailing love, and he says

I have drawn you to myself. Now you need to

understand for your identity two characteristics of God's love. Number One,

it's unconditional. It's not I love you if you know

a lot of times you see people on TV or

girlfriends and boyfriends that you know I love you if

and that's conditional love. I love you if you love me,

I love you. If you please me. I love you

if you turn me on. I love you if you

do the things I want you to do. That's not

real love. I love you if it's conditional love. And

then there are people who say I love you because

and they write these nice Hallmark card letters. I love

you because you're good looking. Well, that's conditional, because what

happens when they lose their good looks? I love you

because you're talented. What happens when you find someone more

talented and you stop loving them? I love you because

you love me. Well, what if they get sick or

they stop loving you? Will you still love them? When

you say I love you because you were given conditional love,

God's love for you is not I love you if

God's love is not, I love you because God's love

for you is. I love you period. I love you

in spite of the fact that you don't always love me,

that you're not always consistent, that you don't always do

the right thing. God's love is unconditional. And number two,

God's love is consistent. That means it's not fickle, it's

not unpredictable. Some people growing up grew up with inconsistent parents.

Inconsistent parents create insecure kids. I had a guy tell

me one to I didn't know if my dad was

going to slug me or hug me. I never knew

he was unpredictable. You're never going to have to ask God, well,

God loved me today when you get up in the morning.

You don't never have to is God going to love

me today? You see, we always get into trouble when

we doubt God's love. It is unconditional, and it is consistent,

and it is everlasting, it is eternal. Why why are

you eternally loved? Because God is love? So one hundred

verse five. God's love is eternal and his faithfulness last forever.

So let's just review God's true view of you. Says,

You're completely acceptable, you are infinitely value. You are totally lovable, eternally,

everlastingly lovable. And now he says, number four, you're forgivable.

Write this down. I'm totally forgiven. This is what God

says about you. I'm totally forgiven. First Peter, Chapter two,

verse ten. He says, you know, one time you didn't

know God's mercy, but now you have received his mercy.

He says, you know, before you know you were living

in guilt. You were living in shame, but he says

you've received God's mercy in Christ. Do you know that

before God even made you, before God even created you,

before God designed you, before you took your first breath,

he already knew the worst things you'd ever do, and

he still loves you, and he's not surprised. It's not

like a oh man, I didn't see that one coming.

I didn't know that was going to happen in your life.

He already knows everything wrong that you would do. The

good news is that in Christ, my sins are wiped out.

It's like taking a giant eraser and erasing all my

sins that are written on a whiteboard. That's grace. You know,

some people, even Christians who have accepted the love of

Christ and have committed their lives to Christ, they still

don't get grace, and so anytime something bad happens in

their life, they think God's getting even with me, God's

getting even with Does God really treat his children that way?

Does God get even with his children? The answer is no,

absolutely not. That's not grace. Romans eight one says there

is now no condemnation, zero zip not of nothing. There

is no condemnation for those who are in Christ. Jesus.

Write this down in your outline. God doesn't carry grudges, right,

God says, I don't hold them against you. Right when

you sin, and when you've given your life to Christ

and you're in Christ, God doesn't rehearse it. He releases it.

So you need to understand that you are totally forgiven.

And you're totally forgiven for two reasons. First, because it

is God's nature to forgive. God is a forgiving God.

You ever feel like you know, I wonder if God

gets tired of me coming back to him and asking

for forgiveness. Well, Isaiah forty three, twenty five. God says this,

I am the God who forgives your sins, and I

do this because of who I am. I will not

hold your sins against you. Wow. God forgives me not

because I deserve it, not because I've earned it, but

because He's a forgiving God. It is his nature to forgive.

He wants to forgive. And the other reason you're completely

forgiven is because Jesus has already paid for all your sins,

so you don't have to pay for them. And if

he us Chapter one, verse seven. It says this, for

by the blood of Christ we are set free. That

is our sins or forgiven. How great that is the

grace of God. All right, God's true view of you,

this is your real identity. I'm completely acceptable, I am

infinitely valuable. I am eternally lovable. I am completely forgivable,

freely forgiven. Number five this is a big one. I

am fully capable. Did you know that? That's what God

says about you. You're not incompetent, You're not a cipher,

You're not a nobody. God says you are fully capable.

I am fully capable of becoming exactly what God made

me to be. First Peter, Chapter two, verse nine. He says,

you are royal priests. That's packed with a lot of insight,

chosen to tell about the wonderful acts of God, who

has called you out of darkness into his wonderful life.

What he says, you're a priest. Did you have you

ever thought about this? You don't realize this. You're a priest.

Every believer in Christ is a priest. He says, you

are a chosen priest. What does a priest do? A

priest represents God to man and represents man to God.

Can you name a greater position than a royal priest

representing God to leadership? So what are you supposed to

do as a priest? If God says you are a priest,

it means you don't have to go to a priest

to confess your sins because you are a priest. You

go to directly to Jesus, the High Priest. What are

you supposed to do as a priest? Acts twenty six,

verse eighteen. Look at this verse on the screen. You

are to open their eyes and to turn them from

he's talking about unbel You are to open their eyes

and turn them from darkness to the light and from

the power of Satan to God. That's what you do

as a priest, so that through their faith in me,

they will have their sins forgiven and they will receive

their place, their place among God's chosen people. You know

the whole reason we started the Peace Planet Saddleback Church

and set out over twenty six thousand people so far

basically to be priests around the world, to promote reconciliation

and plant churches, to equip ethical leaders where there's corruption,

to assist the poor where there's poverty, to care for

the sick where there's disease and illness, and to educate

the next generation where there's illiteracy and lack of education

and ignorance. You say, when we develop the Peace Plan,

it wasn't for the pastors of the church you do.

It's for every member to do it. And I know

a lot of people thought, well, I couldn't do that. Well,

you couldn't on your own power. But with God in

your life, Christ your life, Holy Spirit through you you're a priest.

Did you know that? Not on your own power? But

I can do all things through Christ's strengthens me. Second Corinthians,

chapter three, Versus five and six says this the capacity

we have comes from God. It is he who made

us capable of serving the New Covenant. You are completely capable.

Now let me tell you why this one's important, because

most people live their lives with this gnawing sense of insecurity.

I'm just not measuring up. I'm not enough, I'm not capable,

I'm not secure. I'm insecure. And why is that? Well,

one reason you're playing old tapes in your memory and

you're still acting on things that people said to you

years ago. They weren't true then, and they aren't you now?

And you're playing these tapes over and over in your mind,

and you need to replace those old tapes of what

other people say with the truth that God says about you.

Because Jesus said the truth set you free, and the

Bible says you are capable. Why are you capable to

handle anything in life? Why am I capable to handle anything?

Like write this down? Because Christ lives in me, and

that's why I'm capable. Capable. Capability is not simply my

own human power. But in Philippians four thirteen, it says

I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.

I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength.

You have God's spirit inside you and your priest. Now

you know, studies have shown that the younger you were

when you were first rejected, the greater the impact it

has on your life. And in a sense, when somebody

rejected you, if you were rejected as a young child,

they cursed you. They cursed you and you with things

that said, you don't matter, you're a failure, you don't

measure up. Why can't you be like your brother or sister.

You can't do anything right, And they cursed you. How

do you reverse a curse? I'll tell you how. Start

believing what God says about you. Start affirming the truth

of God's word. Take these verses, take this outline, cut

it all up. Make affirmation cards with these statements. Put

the statement on there. I am completely acceptable, and put

the verses on it. I am infinitely valuable, and put

the verses on it. I am everlastingly lovable. And put

the verses on it, and read them. Read them in

the morning when you first get up, Read them when

you go put them by your bedside at night, read

them before you go to sleep, so that the first

thing on your mind in the morning, the last thing

at night, is the identity coming from Christ. You know,

studies have shown that you're how you feel about yourself.

Your self identity is largely determined by what you think

the people that matter most to you think about you.

Let me say that again. Your self identity is largely

determined by what you think the people whose opinion matters

most of you think about you. Now, since that's true,

I highly recommend that you make Jesus Christ the most

important person in your life, that you care more about

what he says about you than anybody else you see

in Christ, you are acceptable. In Christ, you are valuable

in Christ, you are lovable. In Christ, you are forgivable,

and in Christ you are capable. That's what God says

about you. This is your true identity. Are not what

your parents or others have tried to make you. You

are not what others who criticize you or say about

you what you are. You're not that, You're not what

you tell yourself in self condemnation. And you're not what

Satan accuses you of. So really, as your friend and

pastor somebody who loves you, I want to ask you

this question, who are you going to believe? Are you

going to believe what your God, your creator, your Master,

your savior says about you? Are you going to believe

what Satan says about you, what peers, parents, yourself? No,

start believing God's true view of you. Now, there's a

whole lot more I can unpack about this. We don't

have time to get into it. But but there is

one other thing I do need to mention. How should

my identity affect how I act? Well, here's key. God

expects me to treat everybody else the same way He

treats me. If you would get that, it will improve

your relationships so much. God expects me to treat everybody

else the same way that He treats me. The Bible

says we are to accept one another. The Bible says

we are to show respect to everybody, even people you

totally disagree with. The Bible says we are to show

kindness to everyone. The Bible says we're to show mercy

and forgiveness to everyone. The Bible says we are to

encourage the gifts that God put in everyone and help

draw them out of other people. At the end of

your outline, I've listed some verses that deal with everything

I just said, and your homework is to look up

those verses that I put there on your outline. You know,

years ago I read a story about an immigrant named

Alan Lee who moved here to California years ago from

Vietnam as a refugee after the Vietnam War, and he

had to flee as a refugee, and I remember reading

that he wrote, even though I was now free, I

wasn't in prison. I was free. I was in America,

he said. But I'm in a new country, and I

struggled to find my identity. He said, I didn't want

to be known as a bote person. I didn't want

to be known as a refugee. I didn't even want

to be known as a quote immigrant. But he said,

I didn't know what my identity was. Then in nineteen

eighty three he gave his life to Jesus Christ at

a Billy Graham crusade, and he discovered his true identity

in Christ. And recently he wrote this, listen to this today.

I'm no longer confused about who I am. I'm God's child,

and my citizenship is in heaven. And I'm grateful to

have found my true identity, my identity in Christ. That

gives stability, that gives security, that gives satisfaction, that gives significance.

Wouldn't you like to have that too? Let's bow our heads?

Did you bow your heads with me right now? And

I'm going to lead you in an identity prayer, And

I want you to pray this prayer. Just first, say

what I say in your mind to God. Say thank

you Father, Say thank you Father that you can heal

broken hearts and bitter memories and damaged self esteem. Thank

you God that you can do that. Thank you that

patterns can be erased and reversed. Thank you God that

you can turn nobody's into somebody's. Jesus, help us all

to see ourselves through your eyes of love. I want

you to pray this, Dear God, Help me to see

myself the way you see me. Thank you for loving

me and for sending Jesus to die for me so

I could be forgiven. Jesus, from today forward, I want

to listen to what you say, now what others say,

and I want to fulfill my true identity, not what

my feelings tell me. Help me to realize my feelings

often lie. I want to learn to trust you and

your word completely with every area of my life, and

help me to care more about what you think than

what other people think. May the truth Your truth set

me free. Now, with our heads still bowed, I want

you to repeat these truths with me allowed in all

of our twenty campuses, including those of you online. I

want you to say this aloud, with your head bowed.

Say this because of Jesus. Just say that, because of Jesus,

I am completely accepted, I am extremely valuable, I am

eternally loved, I am completely forgiven, and I am fully

capable amen