Today we will talk about our family tree. Where we came from is vital to knowing who we are and where we are going. I want to begin today by telling you about my grandfather. His name was Buford Webb. Buford was a hard working, driven man and that caused him to be harsh with people at times. He had a wife, 4 kids and 10 grandchildren. He even owned a business at one point when he was younger. The thing I remember most about him is how he loved to fish. He had lots and lots of fishing poles. He even had a home at a beach in NC where he took many fishing trips. The truth is, I wasn’t really close to him, but I always looked up to him because even as a child, I knew I was kind of like him. Buford was my grandfather on my mom’s side of the family. The physical and personality traits I have, kind of mirror his. My older brother on the other hand, is much more like my dad’s side of the family. And by that, I mean he’s not short like me. When I was leaving home for college around the age of 18, I noticed that some things had started to change in my grandfather, because he began to develop Alzheimer’s disease. I remember when I would come home to visit, I could see the signs. Watching him decline and seeing the affect it had on the family was very difficult. I remember when they had to finally take his truck keys, so he wouldn’t drive away and get lost. As his memory left him, his personality began to change. He became quiet and only spoke when someone asked him something. He would just sit and stare, not really looking at anything. The life and drive was gone and all that was left was only a shell of the man I once knew.
Near the end of his life, there was a picture taken of him that I will never forget. His eyes were empty. He looked lost, but didn’t seem to mind. He didn’t remember who he was. And once he didn’t know who he was, nothing else seemed to matter. Alzheimer’s had stolen his identity, and when you lose your identity, you cease to function the way you were intended. Spiritual Alzheimer's is something we all have to be aware of during our journey here on earth. Because it will steal our true identity. We should be looking for signs that we don’t know who we are, how we got here or where we are going. Over the next couple of weeks, we’re going to talk about our identity and who we are supposed to be in Christ. Today we will begin to answer the question: Has my identity been stolen? This is a vital question, probably much more than we realize. We have to maintain an understanding of our identity, because if we don’t, we won’t be able to understand our position or our potential. Who we are, is foundational to everything else in our life. It provides clarity and direction. So, let me ask you, have you ever just felt lost? I’m talking about feeling spiritually lost. I’m not just talking about salvation, but are you lost and confused about spiritual things. When it comes to your spiritual journey, have you thought: Who am I? Where am I going? How did I get here? These are the early signs of spiritual Alzheimers. How do we stay focused on who we are and our purpose in life? If you are a disciple of Jesus, and want to know who you are, you begin by understanding who your family is. Looking at your immediate family will shed some light on why you do the things you do, and why you think the way you think.
It’s pretty obvious when you look at this in the natural, we can know who we are, by knowing who our parents are. I’m 5 feet 4 inches tall...because my mom and everyone on her side of the family was very short. It is easy to see who’s physical image I was created in when you look at my mother and her dad, my grandfather, Buford. There’s no way for me to deny where I came from when you look at them. It’s the same in the spiritual. We have to begin by knowing who God our Father is, in order to understand who we are supposed to be as His children. This will be our focus today. Our spiritual image is supposed to be a reflection of our spiritual Father. Genesis 1:26-27 “26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”27 God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” Adam was created in the image and likeness of God, but when he sinned he distorted the image of God. Man became self centered and abandoned our original assignment. We were created to represent God in the earth, but that was not possible after Adam disobeyed God and brought sin into his life...and through him it came to each of us, since we are a descendent of Adam. That is why Jesus came to earth as the “second Adam”. So He could correct the sin problem that Adam created.
When we accept Jesus as Lord and are saved from an eternity separated from God, it’s not just to go to heaven. The true main purpose of Jesus coming to earth was to correct our self centered distorted image that sin caused. Heaven is going to be awesome, but getting you into heaven is not why God sent Jesus to the earth. God sent Jesus to the earth, so that He could get heaven back into you. So He could put His image back into you. The sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross was to realign us with God’s image...in order for us to get back to our original assignment. Which was to fill the earth with His glory. That was His original intent for our rulership or dominion of the earth. We exist to manifest His glory and His power and His presence in the earth. The Bible says, For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. That’s what we damaged at the fall. His glory or His image in us. We do not find our identity in the approval of other people, our identity is in Christ. When we don’t know who we are, we will seek to have other people validate us. And to get that validation, we go around trying to prove our worth to people who don’t know who we were created to be. And so, we begin to base our value on their opinion of us. But your value is not determined by the opinion of people. Your value is based on God’s opinion of you. Think about this: How valuable must you be to God, for Him to sacrifice the blood of Jesus, just to get you back into a right relationship with Him? God loved us and brought us back into a relationship with Him in order to fulfill His plan to fill the earth with His glory.
When we accept Jesus, we live from a place of being right before God, not trying to make up for our past. His love compels us to good works, not His judgment. We serve out of love, not fear. The only way we can do that is by becoming what God has put in us...the image of Himself...which is love. 1 John 4:8 says that God is love. So if we are born again into God’s family, LOVE is in our DNA. It’s who we are naturally. Remember last week when I said that the question “why do bad things happen to good people” is really just an attempt by satan to have us question God’s goodness? This is how we know that it’s from Satan, because the Bible is clear about who God is. He is love, and that question is all about bringing God’s love in to doubt. So, if God is love...and we have God, through the Holy Spirit living on the inside of this flesh, we are supposed to be living in, through and by His love. His love working through us shows His image to those around us. We don’t live for Jesus, we live from Jesus. He becomes our identity. We don’t serve for Him, we serve through Him. God’s love in us is secure through the work of Christ. Romans 8:35 “35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?” Nothing can separate us from the love that God has placed in us through Christ.
Romans 8:37-39 “37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” God’s love being on display through us is the supreme spiritual law that is above all others. Matthew 22:37-40 “37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” Everything flows from love and the only true source of love is God. He is the original source of love and anything that the enemy tries produce to replicate it is a cheap imitation meant only to deceive. 1 Corinthians 13:13 “And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” Why is Love greater than Faith or Hope? And why are they tied together? 1 - Faith is a way of acting...our state of motion. 2 - Hope is a way of feeling...our state of emotion. 3 - Love is a way of thinking...our state of mind, or state of being.
Here is a Kingdom Key: Our way of thinking, which should be love, will drive our actions which is faith, and our emotions which is to be full of hope. That is why Love is the greatest. We can be faithful, full of faith and hopeful, full of hope, but not loveful...because love isn’t what you’re filled with...it’s who you are. Because that’s who God is. Love is the container that holds faith and hope and allows them to grow. Love gives faith and hope a solid, stable foundation. When love is our state of mind and our driving thought, it brings us into alignment with God. God’s thoughts and His state of being is love. Having His image and likeness, through Jesus, causes us to have love as our state of being also. 1 John 4:7-10 “7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” God sent His Son so that we could live a life of love toward others. God’s original design was for us to love one another. When Jesus provided a way for us to become son’s of the Father, it was for us to be able to return to His image. In other words, to take on His way of thinking and state of being. And that is to love, freely and without regard to what it will cost us.
John 3:16-17 “16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” God’s plan was to reconcile “the world”, because He loved it. God loves all of His creation. The earth, the animals, the people and the kingdom system He established for how it was supposed to operate. Our thoughts should be ruled by love and that should drive every feeling, decision and action. As a believer, how are you doing with that? Is love your driving thought? Is it a love for others and God, or is it a love for what makes you happy and comfortable? We like to think of love as something that’s easy and feels great. But the truth is that if you’re going to focus your love on others, it will be difficult and costly. But this is the way God set the example for us and it should be our goal too. Are we loving our enemies? Are we even trying? What would allow us to love them? If we can see them the way God sees us, it will open our hearts to love them. What did they do to you? Did they beat you nearly to death and then hang you on a cross to watch you die humiliated? That’s what they did to Jesus and his prayer for them was “Father, forgive them, they don’t know what they are doing” 1 Corinthians 13:13 “And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”
Yes, Love is the greatest, because it will drive you to do whatever it takes. So, let me ask you as a Christian here today. How are you doing with putting His love on display? Do you see any of the signs of spiritual Alzheimer’s in your life? Have you been having doubts about who you are? Have you gained an understanding of who our Father is, and through that, His love...that tells you who you’re supposed to be?
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