Stomping Out the Darkness: Discover Your True Identity in Christ and Stop Putting Up with the World’s Garbage

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WHO ARE YOU?

We can’t point a bony finger at you, but we can and are going to ask you, “Who are you?” Start from the outside but work down to the core. Get beyond what you look like and what you do (those are good enough starting points) to who you’d still be if you lost those externals.

Is who we are determined by what we do, or is what we do determined by who we are? Read that question again slowly and then decide if it’s one or the other or both—and explain why you think so.

We (Neil and Dave) think that what we do is determined by who we are, and that’s why we really want you to get to know who you are in Christ. So let’s get to it!

WHEN THE OUTSIDE AND INSIDE DON’T ADD UP

The world offers the following equations as paths to identity and meaning, to belonging and significance:

Appearance + Accomplishments + Recognition = Peace
Good looks + Popularity = Wholeness
Star performances + Great accomplishments = Happiness

· Which of the above equations, if any, best describes how you’re living life?

· When have you seen—for yourself or in a friend’s life—that these equations are false? More specifically, when have you felt for yourself or seen in someone else’s life that:

Appearance + Accomplishments + Recognition ≠ Peace
Good looks + Popularity ≠ Wholeness
Star performances + Great accomplishments ≠ Happiness
Success ≠ Contentment
Failure ≠ Hopelessness

The world’s math is all wrong. The only identity equation that works in God’s kingdom is: You + Christ = Wholeness and Meaning.

· If our identity in Christ is the key to wholeness, why do you think so many believers have difficulty with self-worth, spiritual growth and maturity?

· Why would the devil want to deceive us about our true identity in Christ? What can he accomplish by keeping us down on ourselves and unsure about whether we’re worth anything?

Too often, Satan tricks us into believing that what we do (failing, sinning) makes us what we are (failures, sinners). This false belief sinks us deeper and deeper into the muddy pit of hopelessness and defeat. The only way out of that pit is to get a grip on who you really are as God’s child.

THE GOOD THINGS WE INHERITED FROM FATHER ADAM

In order to understand who we really are, we need to understand what traits we inherited—good and bad—from Adam at Creation. For starters, just like Adam, we have physical bodies and inner selves, sometimes called souls, which are the parts of us created in God’s image.

Physically Alive. Like Adam, we walk around in a living, breathing earth suit made up of skin, muscle, bone, blood, fat and hair.

· What does 2 Corinthians 5:1-4 suggest about the relationship between your body and your soul?

· Your soul is eternal, but your body is guaranteed for only one lifetime. What does this fact say to you about your efforts to find significance through having the “right”-sized biceps or waistline, the “right” clothes and the “right” haircut?

Spiritually Alive. We are spiritually alive when our inner selves are united with God. After all, we were created to be in relationship with God. But Adam sinned and his relationship with God—and ours as well—was broken. That’s why we were born spiritually dead and why Christ died on the cross.

· When did you first become aware that you were spiritually dead? What happened in your life? What did you do after you realized your sin and your distance from God? What do you do to keep yourself close to God now?

· Maybe you’re just now starting to think about your spiritual health. What sins are you becoming aware of? What emptiness are you noticing inside?

If you have come to a point of recognizing that you need God’s forgiveness, tell Him that. Ask Him to forgive your sins (be specific) and thank Him for sending His Son, Jesus, to pay the penalty for those sins by dying on the cross (see John 3:10). Invite Jesus to become Lord of your life and ask God to help you learn more about how to live a life that pleases Him (see Romans 10:9-10).

Significance. We all want to be significant or important, and from the start Adam was extremely significant.

· According to Genesis 1:26-27, what purpose for living did God give Adam?

· Satan stole Adam’s significance (and ours) when Adam sinned, but Jesus won it back for us through His death and His resurrection. Explain what Josh McDowell means when he writes, “You are ‘worth Jesus’ to God” (page 14).

· The price that God paid for you is Jesus Christ. What purpose for living has God given you? (See the “Strength Givers” at this end of this lesson.)

· What does knowing that God has called you to be light and salt do to your negative thoughts about yourself?

Safety and Security. Before Adam sinned in the garden, he enjoyed a sense of safety and security. He lacked nothing.

· In Christ, we inherit safety and security as well as significance. What long-term safety and security does God offer you, His child? (See Romans 8:38-39 and 1 John 1:9.)

· When in your day-to-day life have you felt the safety and security God gives?

· What does Philippians 4:19 mean to you personally? (Note that Paul talks about our needs, not our wants. Those are two different lists!)

Belonging. Adam and Eve experienced a sense of belonging. First Adam enjoyed an intimate relationship with God. Then, when God gave Eve to Adam—and Adam to Eve—he experienced a different sense of belonging.

· When has your relationship with God, made possible because of Christ, given you a sense of belonging?

· What relationships with people give you a sense of belonging?

· How does the belonging you feel in relationships with Christian friends compare to the belonging you feel in other relationships?

THE BAD THINGS WE INHERITED FROM FATHER ADAM

Just as we received good things from Adam, we also received negative side effects from his fall. Below each side effect, note evidence of this inheritance that you’ve found in your own life.

Spiritual Death. When Adam and Eve sinned, they were separated from God—and that is spiritual death. List some of the evidence of your separation from God:

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Lost Knowledge of God. With their sin, Adam and Eve lost their true understanding of God as well as their ability to love God and experience a deep friendship and intimacy with Him. List some of the evidence of your distance from God and your inability to love Him:

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Dominant Negative Emotions. With the Fall, human beings became fearful and anxious. We also got to know shame and guilt. Depression and anger also entered the picture. List some of the negative emotions you struggle with:

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Too Many Choices. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve could make a billion good choices and only one bad choice. They made that one bad choice (and you and I probably would have done the same thing!), and that means we’re confronted every day with a ton of good and bad choices. List some of the countless decisions you face each day—and some of the bad choices you make:

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Attributes Become Needs. Another long-term effect of sin is that our three glowing strengths before the Fall became three glaring needs after the Fall. Acceptance was replaced by rejection, and so we have a need to belong. Innocence was replaced by guilt and shame, and so we need our self-worth to be restored. Authority was replaced by weakness and helplessness, and so we have a need for strength and self-control.

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List some of the evidence you see in your life that you need to belong, that you fear rejection or that you know what peer pressure feels like:

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List some of the evidence you see that you have a poor self-image and need a sense of self-worth:

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List some of the evidence you see that you want some control:

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Who’s Meeting Your Needs? Sinful behavior is a wrong attempt to meet our basic needs. Are you allowing God to meet your needs or are you looking to the world to meet your needs? It’s an issue of relationship and maturity. The better we understand our identity in Christ, the more we will grow in maturity. And the more mature we become, the easier it will be for us to choose what is right.

· What choices of what is right have become easier for you as you’ve become more mature as a person and/or as a Christian?

· What choices are still tough for you? Pray about those situations and, if you’re brave, have a friend pray for you, too.

Your true identity is not based on what you do or what you have, but on who you are in Christ. After all, Jesus Christ came after Adam and won back for us the spiritual life Adam and Eve lost. The triumph of Jesus and what it has gained for us is the theme of the next chapter.

START STOMPING!

Shout Down the World. Grab a bunch of magazines and cut out ads that tell you who you “should” be. Make a collage (that means glue them on a piece of paper) and then, with a Christian friend, consider the message. (The silliness of the message just might make you laugh.) Does what the world say you should be really matter in the big (eternal) scheme of things?

Say “Thanks!” Who has been there for you when you didn’t feel you “belonged”? Does that person know you appreciate him or her? Send a note, give a flower, buy a piece of pizza at lunch—let that person know (in so many words or just by actions) that you appreciate the friendship!

Reach Out and Touch Someone. Where can you reach out and offer your friendship to someone who may need the sense of belonging that you’ve experienced? Pray aloud.

Okay, God, I see what I’ve inherited from Adam and Eve, and it’s not pretty. You know, it’s real hard to deal with being down on myself, with loneliness, with the inability to make good choices, with anger and depression and shame and guilt and fear. I don’t want to hide from You or anyone else, but sometimes it’s hard not to. God, help me hear Your truth. Help me really hear that You love me. And help me get to know You better. I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

STRENGTH GIVERS

These words are for you and about you. As you read each day’s verse, ask yourself, “How would my life be different if I could live out this truth?”—and ask God to help you do so.

Monday:	Matthew 5:13
Tuesday:	Matthew 5:14
Wednesday:	Acts 1:8
Thursday:	John 15:16
Friday:	Ephesians 3:1