Being a Christian

What does it mean to be a Christian Christian us a different person with a different identity, he or she is given a new instinct by the lead generating walk of the Holy Spirit on so one of the monarchs of is that we cried out, father definition of a Christian using debate in today's relativistic culture. There are many want to rush the term away from the historical legal definition make it fit into today's modern progressive mindset today on Renewing Your Mind, Dr. Sinclair Ferguson provides clarity to this central question is we continue his series.

The basics of the Christian life is actually mean to be a Christian, you will notice that one of the great client says that it is in the Western world is the crisis of identity they say little for the last 50 years the most common title 4.20 written by high school students is the title who I'm I in a way that shouldn't really surprise us. The Bible tells us who we are right about it becoming Genesis chapter 1 verses 26 through 28 but God our creator allows mandalas male and female as his image things that has happened in secular humanism, although secular humanism is not normally understood it is that when we got rid of my concept, but we made Dodson to live as the image of God, and we actually lose our fundamental identity and we will die for inevitably engage in projects to try to establish identity about project hustle failed in the late 20th and Allie 21st-century.

But nowadays governments national and local Portland. Millions if not billions of dollars to trying to help young people establish that identity. On the whole program has become so bankrupt, but no insults and parts of the Western world as a seven-year-old, you can simply declare your identity who you are and one is this tremendous sentence, but having someone the winds of denying that we are made just the image of God. It is inevitable that we reap the little one on as Christians I'm sure we pray but that little blend may come quickly and disappear quickly in the kind of renewed sanitary manner tone to the world in which we live.

No, we could become very disheartened by this phenomenon and we could become morning and groaning Christian thing you notice about New Testament Christians who lived in a pre-Christian world is that they do not spend their lives moaning and groaning about how difficult it is to be a Christian.

They seize the day they redeeming the time on the undersigned against that dog black cloth of first century pagan religion. But the gospel shines with a glorious classic hunted something to me. One of the great blessings I think in my life since I became a teenaged Christian right from the very beginning I find in Scripture. But God's telesales as his people who we really are no this is a wonderful thing for us as we got older. It is important to know who we really are. What a wonderful thing.

It is also to pass on in the gospel to those who are younger. This is something that makes a young Christian stand out in the world in which they are being realigned in the society that is so discouraging to them. They actually may be in that class in high school are in college one of the few young man or young woman who actually know what that identity is they know who they are and mixed thought I would imagine the Celia's land for not top multi-serious length to underscore and explore all the different ways in which the New Testament helps us to understand our identity as those who have come to faith in Jesus Christ.

And so for this study. I simply want to pick out two of them made sure pictures that the New Testament gives to others when they out in place that we are no longer asking the question who, we know these things to be true of us in a way they came to man in an unexpected context of an unexpected context actually drew much of me.

I was I was having a job interview.

When I think I was in my 20s and out of the blue. One of the panel of interviewers said to me, how would you describe yourself as a Christian in one sentence. How would you describe yourself as a Christian, and one sentence on without even thinking about it I simply said as a child of God and as a servant of Jesus Christ on it was only a little reflection I I thought to myself, incidentally, I didn't take the job. It was limited on I thought to myself, I think my knowledge of the Bible led me to the very heart of the matter who he was a Christian child of the heavenly father. Who are you as a Christian you are the solvent of the greatest master of all the Lord Jesus Christ. So I want to look at these two pictures MacGuffin cannot just pictures the realities of this actually mean to be a Christian. First of all, I have become a child of God when you read the opening chapter of the Bible.

Yes, the opening chapters of the Bible. This is not something hidden away in Deuteronomy ‚ this is before your eyes. In the first chapter of the Bible it becomes that it clear that God created us to be his children.

That's the kind of relationship that he established for us actually lacks one of the things the phrase image of God made about a later on when Adam has a son he has a son in his image and we we still use that kind of language and in Scotland we still say about a son he is. I don't know why we use this expression is the spitting image of his father always sage and all the apple didn't fall far from the tree. This is this is clear. Genesis chapter 1 is actually going.

This is the climax of Genesis chapter 1 God made everything good than the apex of his creation.

He said let us make man male and female as out image as our children and is the knowledge of goes on. It's quite clear that God treats Adam and Eve as his children. He surroundings them with the bounty he wants to rule them.

He wants them to mature in their trust and love for him and so he he says no. All of these things are yours but just do this one thing for me because I'm your father doing to each of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil like a father he he wants. He wants them to roll in working for him and so he plants the garden wonders of a notice. This that everything God created was good but not everything God created on the arsenals and garden is not the case but was in the garden in Eden and that was outside the Dalton and it was as though God was say no, I do believe I'm giving you a little stocked like a father might do if he wanted to teach his son… To be a God not I'm putting you in this little Dalton but you see all the other stuff I want you to extend this cotton so that just as I am the Lord of the whole cosmos. I want us to be able to talk about these things and so I wonder to what Doug developing the skeleton until this garden reaches the ends of the which incidentally is why the closing chapters of Revelation, and with the Garden City reaches the ends of the because God wanted Adam and Eve to be knowledgeable of his fatherly care and to be able to say heavenly father you been so good to us. We are your children, your son, your daughter are boys.

We want to be your children. Those who follow on. We want to be your children. But, of course, disaster struck when disaster struck in a way they became spiritual offense they want outside you don't play Dalton but God had created for them. They would an alien environment and they will no longer able to think about God as their loving heavenly father, and of course this is where the gospel comes in. This is the story of the Old Testament is God himself says you remember in the Exodus. I carried you out of your bondage like a father carrying his son. It was a big picture of what his heart was set upon them.

So through the ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ. We who are spiritual orphans are brought into God's family and made his children and unable to call God about father in the New Testament tells us that this happens in two dimensions. First of all unmute relationship needs to be established between ourselves and God in the New Testament speaks about this in terms of God the father, Dalton knows into his family call characteristically uses this picture God adopts those into his family because it was a fairly common idea in the Roman world. In Roman law, in which Paul negotiated his Christian witness. The Romans were accustomed to.

Someone being taken out of their natural family and adopted into a new family so that all the old family ties were broken and they knew that they would be provided for under resourced within this new family, but their new father would take on responsibilities of care and devotion for process this is a picture of what it means to become a Christian. We have spiritually been often a relationship with God has been broken. We were made for his glory. But you remember what Paul says. He says me of sending will fall in Sholto for the glory of God and we no longer have this basic relationship between Jesus Christ and God has reestablished blunt relationship and when we become Christians. He not only declares as to be righteous in God's sight, but he declares us to be adopted into his family to be part of the family of Jesus Christ.

Remember how Jesus announces this on the day of his resurrection. In John chapter 20 when he says to me in a no go and tell my brothers the time was sending to my God unveil God to my father and grandfather sold the gospel of Jesus Christ gives those new status, but we need more than a new status. We need more than a legal transaction taking place. Think about children you may know, or may even aside children who have been adopted, especially if that of a certain age.

It takes them some time before we have the instinct of being your children is not the case, but a very dear friend who was initially who adopted the little general and does a wonderful couple who pulled themselves into this little girl but they never seem to be able to bring the car instinctively to call him daddy and then I remember he told me one day she appeared at his desk with a shoes little shoeing on and she spoke the magic words daddy my lease is broken.

I wanted to say to him you would've bought an entire shoe shop for that government love point wouldn't you. Because now the instinct was there. The reality was true, but the instinct was not later in this is the wonderful thing that the gospel tells us that the father not only brings us into his family and gives us a new status, but he sends his Holy Spirit into our hearts to give us a new sense of who he is and therefore we are and so you remember in Romans chapter 8 and again in Galatians chapter 4, the apostle Paul says slip would not only be given a new status, but we have received the spirit of adoptive son ship and through him we cry, Abba, father, we noticed in passing in our first study that religious people formally Christian people do not instinctively call God father in times of crisis and trial they made, they may try our dual God help me. Oh God, why are you doing this in my life. But the true Christian is a different person with a different identity, he or she is given a new instinct by the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit, and so one of the marks of is that we cried out, father, and we know ourselves to be the children of God. We know ourselves to be cared for. We know ourselves to be love and never forgotten at the conference I was having a coffee with one of the other speakers in this lady over to speak to us and she told us how should become a Christian believer and then she said this for the first time in my life I need, but I was really love now that's what it means to be a child of God. Just before we move on is perhaps worth pausing because this just at point this sometimes people say, but but if you knew the kind of father that I did you would know that I could never call God, what does the gospel say to such a person what the gospel says it is you are thinking about the gospel the wrong way around. You actually committing an outdoor but technical people call protectionism you and you're beginning to think about you and found that and then as well Jorg you're going out boards and saying on and God is even more like that, but that's not that's not where you begin as you begin with the gospel is not your past experience, but with the Lord Jesus. If you want to know what kind of father has become your father.

You don't think about the father you hot you think about the father you now half on the father. You know, is the father of the Lord Jesus Christ soulful example why don't you read through John's Gospel and discover the beauty of that relationship. The grace of God heavenly father under know that will be the sole vent of all these distorted views of fatherhood that are being built into your emotions and your intuitions. I guess it may take time, but in God's grace. You will find yourself more and more appreciating what it means to have a true father and to be able to say, Abba, father so what does it mean for us to be Christians. That means first of all that we are children of God. But then, secondly, it means that we are also the circumference of the Lord Jesus Christ actually New Testament uses the word, but normally would've applied to a slave on a mutually we think there's something at least paradoxical about this child under servant on that will remain paradoxical until we realize actually that's how the Lord Jesus.

But himself. That's how his Bible. The Old Testament taught him to think about himself. He was the new Adam.

He was the second mommy was the last Adam, but do you remember how he applied to himself the words of Isaiah 42 and 49 and 50 and 52 to 53 that we often speak of Eisler solvent song on the picture Jesus as the servant of the Lord they picture him for an example of wakening up every day and listening to the voice of his master and putting it into practice. They think of him as the solvent of the Lord, yielding to the father's purpose to bring us salvation, but would mean he would be wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities in the chastisement that would bring us peace would be upon them, and with his stripes we would be healed and he willingly yielded to the purposes to the commands of his heavenly father.

He said I always into what my heavenly father says.

And when you look at. She says there's there's no conflict between these two things is tension between these two things on the reason is because he is a son who loves his father so much, but he always wants his father to be smiling on in everything he does is low whenever the father told him to do something he would he would say it's okay, father, I was just going to do on this is something this is something the world can never understand, I can't understand how you can simultaneously think about yourself as a child of the heavenly father and yet also was a solvent of the Lord Jesus Christ.

But then when you think about about what we were created to be black. In Genesis chapter 1 would've been the evidence that Adam and Eve really knew that they work the children of the heavenly father would be that they would listen to his voice, and they would obey him under know when you understand both of these things you understand the privilege of being a Christian. The New Testament puts it like this says because of arson because of the way we've fallen short of the glory of God. We are enslaved to sin and to self and what the gospel does is to set us free from the dominion of sin and marvelously to set us free from bondage to ourselves. We are not yet perfect but we know but through Jesus Christ. We are no longer under the dominion of sin. Paul says so very explicitly in Romans five and in Romans six and will not free, free to enjoy him as our heavenly father but also free to sell him because we want to honor him not only as our father but also as our master and then there's another dimension to this because will not only set free from the dominion of sin is set free from out of session with herself and notice that's a great characteristic of the 21st century on obsession with the self from the project of the self, but no through Jesus Christ because we know who we really are. We are set free from left obsession to live for him who has loved us and to solve others that they may love him to. That's why Jesus said come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me because my yoke is easy and my burden is light and all is an old story looked over Joseph's carpenter shop that was a sign that said, our Yorks fit well is just a story, but expressing your click Jesus places on as the children with our heavenly father in the sentence of our wonderful Savior 11. Do you really know who you are child of God, some with a great reminder of who we are as believers forgiven sinners free to serve Christ and obey his commands.

Glad you joined us today for Renewing Your Mind.

I'm Lee Webb, Dr. Sinclair Ferguson series. The basics of the Christian life has been our focus over the past couple of days we have featured only two of the 12 messages. We encourage you to contact us and request the complete series for your gift of any amount to litigator ministries. You can call us with your gift at 800-435-4343 or you can go online to Renewing Your Mind.org this is a two DVD set and again the title is the basics of the Christian life by licking her teaching fellow, Dr. Sinclair Ferguson. If you enjoy studying topics like this. You want to explore it. We can air connect. That's our online learning community with interactive video courses for growing Christians. You can choose from 800 lessons across 70 courses covering the Bible theology, Christian living worldview and church history. Learn more by going to connect.Ligonier.org will tomorrow. Another of our regular teaching fellows Georges Dr. Steven Lawson. Here's a portion of what you'll hear Jesus said all that the father gives Nate will come to me question how is it that they are made to come to Christ because we are like sheep have gone astray to one of us is on his own way. There is none who seeks for God no not one. So how will anyone come to Christ. That's the question Dr. Lawson will answer tomorrow on Renewing Your Mind