Have you wondered “who am I? What am I doing here?” Or “how can I break free from my past?” Learn how to answer the question “Who am I in Christ” in a positive way with today’s message. Plus, 8 truths to consider for your life today.

This series asks and answers life questions such as: Who am I? How do I get past my past and embrace my future? How can I have peace? Learn how to live in Christ every day and in the hope you have in Christ, both now in the present and in the future. As a believer, God is with you, and your past is forgiven. God chose to love you and extend his grace to you in Christ. It is my hope that you are spiritually encouraged. No matter what you are facing, living in Christ, you can face anything, even death. God has a plan for your life. He loves you and you can trust him.

Your Past, Present, And Future Are in Christ

I trust you are able to answer the question “Who am I in Christ” in a positive way as we look at the book of Ephesians and you consider living every day in Christ. Do not let your past haunt you. You are no longer that person. Live every day in Christ. Know who you are in Christ.

• Proclaim Jesus as Lord.

• Understand that your past, present, and future are in Christ the Lord, the hope of glory.

• Know who you are in Christ and make every decision in life knowing Christ in you is the hope of glory.

Allow me to list a few questions as we begin today:

• What am I doing here?

• Where am I headed?

• Who am I?

• How can I break free from my past?

Have you ever had those thoughts? Have you ever thought “I feel lost, alone, or helpless? Have you ever felt emotionally, physically, or mentally drained? Have you ever thought “I’m tired, I have no energy, I feel I have no purpose in life? Maybe you feel that the past 12 months have flown by fast, and thinking back, the year seems to be a blur. If you find yourself thinking, “that’s me” or you have a sense of discouragement, allow me to share with you a word of encouragement:

God is with you, and you are never alone. He loves you. Your past is forgiven. God sent his Son to pay the debt of sin that you could never pay. God declared his love for you in Jesus’ birth, life, death and resurrection. He loves you, choose you, and predestined you in Christ even before the creation of the world.

Before you did and wrong, he chose you. Knowing you will sin, God chose to love you and extend his grace to you in Christ.

Choose to live in Christ in the present. Know your past is forgiven in Christ. Live in Christ every day and in the hope you have in Christ for both now and all eternity. Let hope arise.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son” (John 3:16-18, NIV).

Do not allow your past, negative thinking, worldly feelings, or what others might say about you haunt you or dictate how you live or the life choices you make. Instead, make every decision in life based on who you are in Christ.

It’s never too late. If you do not know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, it’s not too late. If you turned away from serving Christ and are spiritually adrift, it’s not too late to call out to Jesus and place your faith in Christ anew.

I want you to consider that the apostle Paul considered himself to be the worst of sinners. However, he placed his faith in Christ that day on the Damascus Road and he looked to the grace of God in all of life’s situations from that day forward. Consider what Paul wrote to Timothy.

“Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. 16 But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life” (1 Timothy 1:15-16).

Paul thought himself as the worst of sinners, but his life changed after his encounter with Christ on the Damascus Road. Looking back, Paul was not proud of his life before he knew Christ as Lord and Savior. Before faith in Christ, Paul was a proud and religious Pharisee. He thought of himself as living a righteous godly life. Paul, who was also known as Saul, had stood by and watched the stoning of Stephen. He even condoned the stoning. That memory must have hunted him later in life. Paul once considered himself as serving God when he put believers in prison and persecuted the church. But all that changed on the Damascus Road when his physical eyes were blinded, and his spiritual eyes were opened to the spiritual truth of God for the first time. Paul no longer believed his religious upbringing and being a Jew to be his ticket into heaven. Paul no longer lived a proud, strict, and legalistic lifestyle according to the Sanhedrin interpretation of the law and his way to heaven. Paul no longer served the religious Pharisee order. Paul recognized the truth of God’s word for the first time in his life. Paul placed his faith in Jesus and believed Jesus to be the Messiah, his savior and the savior of the world.

From the day he placed his faith in Christ, Paul viewed himself as a servant of God. Paul recognized that he did not choose God; rather God choose him. Paul did not choose to be an apostle; God had called him. God chose Paul and God had a plan for Paul’s life. As a follower of Christ, Paul wanted others to know the truth of God’s Word that he knew in his heart to be true.

Paul may have thought of himself as the worst of sinners because of his past, yet he chose to live as one saved by the grace and mercy of God. Paul was blessed by the grace of God in the heavenly realms in Christ. Paul experienced trials and persecution because of his faith in Christ. However, Paul also knew it was all worth it because he was blessed in Christ in the heavenly realms for all eternity. Paul knew any suffering he might experience could not come close to the glory of God to be revealed in the believer.

“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18).

Paul no longer lived for himself, but for Christ. Now Paul lived each day in Christ. Paul’s newfound faith would take him down some difficult roads in life. Paul knew he could trust God and he recognized that God had a plan.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11).

Paul would have known this scripture in Jeremiah very well. This word was to the Jew, and it was a promise for the Israelites to be delivered from the captivity of other nations. Yet I believe it is also a promise to whosoever will believe and call on the name of the Lord.

Consider the next few verses of Jeremiah 29:

‘Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”’ (Jeremiah 29:12-14).

Do not choose to live in the past any longer. You are no longer a slave to sin. You are set free in Christ. Pray and seek the Lord with all your heart and he will deliver you from whatever bondage you are in. He will deliver you from evil.

“But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. 18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness”

“21 What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:17-18, 21-23).

Paul understood this truth and he wanted every believer, including you, to know this truth in your heart.

Paul, led by the Holy Spirit, wrote most of the New Testament. Paul refers to the believers in Ephesus as God’s holy people, the faithful in Christ Jesus. Paul viewed the believer as holy, as set apart and faithful in Christ. Paul then expands and extends his greetings to the believers in the city of Ephesus:

“Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 1:2).

Paul used the same greeting of grace and peace to believers in other letters he wrote. Grace is an unmerited, undeserved favor that is shown a person. Paul, in speaking of unmerited favor, includes the peace of God that can only come when the curse of sin is paid. Understand that the grace of God brings with it the peace of God. Peace with God. Remember, Paul is writing to believers. To people of faith. To people who had sinful pasts, both Jew and Gentile alike. Paul wanted to make sure that the reader of this letter understands that such grace and peace only comes from God the father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul is speaking from personal experience. If Jesus can and will extend God’s grace to Paul (the worst of sinners) Jesus will extend grace to you. You may think, “but pastor you do not know what I have done.” You would be right, but God knows.

God knows your past; he also knows your present and future all at the same time. All before the creation of the world. He knew you long before you were born, long before you sinned and yet he still loves you and chose you in Christ, before the creation of the world.

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, 9 he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ” (Ephesians 1:3-10).

I want you to notice something. So many times, we read the bible and we do not stop to let the truth of God’s word to sink into our hearts and minds. Reading scripture is not like reading a novel. We must allow the Holy Spirit to speak to us through the word of God and then apply the truth of God to our hearts and lives.

Consider these 8 truths for your life:

1. You, as a believer, are blessed in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.

2. You were chosen in Christ.

3. In love he predestined you to be adopted as sons. Sons and daughters

4. In Jesus you have redemption through his blood

5. God extended/lavished his grace upon you. In other words, God’s grace abounds towards you. God’s grace extended to you is greater in abundance than any accusation or sin that the enemy of your soul can bring against you.

6. God made known the mystery of his will, which he purposed in Christ.

7. You can have the peace of God when you place your faith in Christ.

8. Your life will bring glory to God as you live each day in Christ.

John 15 is a great picture of how we are to live each day in Christ. It is the parable of the vine and branches.

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 5 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. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples” (John 15:1-8).

Here we learn that God the Father is the gardener. Jesus is the vine. We are the branches. The branch cannot survive apart from the vine. Cut off it will die. The branch that bears no fruit is cut off by the gardener. However, the branch that bears fruit will be pruned by the gardener so it will bear much fruit. The pruning of the branch is not to hurt the branch. Rather it will do just the opposite. A useless part of the branch is cut away to allow new growth and for more fruit to develop in the new growth. Understand, the branch draws all its life from the vine. The same is true for the person who is connected and lives in Christ.

God will cut away areas in your life to allow new growth and more fruit to spring forth, all to the glory of God.

May I suggest something to consider? In 2 Timothy we read that the person in Christ will experience persecution. Persecution may come in many forms. Trials and persecution are a way of pruning away things in a person’s life that needs to be cut away in order to provide new growth and produce more fruit in the believer’s life.

“You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, 11 persecutions, sufferings—what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. 12 In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:10-12).

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:1-2).

“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:37-39).

It is my hope this morning that you are spiritually encouraged. No matter what you are facing, living in Christ, you can face anything even death. Knowing God loves you, chose you, predestined you. He is with you, and if you are in him, you are blessed in the heavenlies and nothing in all creation can separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

Remember living every day in Christ you are a child of God, a servant of God. Your past is covered and dealt with at the cross. Your past is buried with Christ. Your present in Christ is secure. Your future in Christ is secure. God has a plan for your life. He loves you and you can trust him.

Trials and persecution may come and are God’s way of pruning and cutting away useless parts of your life to allow new growth and more fruit to develop and in all this your life in Christ will glorify God.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. 7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil. 8 This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones” (Proverbs 3:5-8).

Who are you in Christ? You are blessed. You are redeemed. You are called, chosen, predestined, adopted child of God. You are loved and never alone.

You are in Christ and have the hope of glory.

Suggested Praise and Worship

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