1) When a person becomes a Christian he receives a new identity.
a) Jesus described this as being “born anew” by “water and the spirit” in Jn. 3:3, 5.
b) Col. 1:13 says such a person has been “translated” out of the kingdom of darkness.”
c) Eph. 1:3 says this person now has every single spiritual blessing that God has for His people.
2) As great as this new identity is, people sometimes get pretty careless with it.
3) The title of today’s lesson based hymn is, “Lord, I’m coming home.”
4) Just the title of this hymn tells us that some have been careless with their spiritual id.
5) Our song indicates that a Christian can surrender his spiritual identity.
6) Lk. 15:11 says there was a “father” who had “two sons.”
a) These boys were members of a certain household; where they lived was part of their identity.
b) Today the “household” we are associated with is part of our identity.
c) Being identified as a “son” in the family of Lk. 15 was no small thing.
d) As a member of this family this son had a share in the inheritance (verse 12) – READ
e) Today we need the right spiritual identity to show that we are a member of God’s household.
7) It was this son’s identity in this story that allowed him to receive his portion of the family assets.
8) Unfortunately, some do not see this same degree of importance in the spiritual realm.
WE WANT TO HAVE AND USE OUR IDENTITY ON A REGULAR BASIS BECAUSE FAILING TO ACT IN THIS WAY CAN LEAD TO THE LOSS OF OUR IDENTITY AND A LOSS MEANS INCURRING AN AWFUL COST.
a) The second stanza in our song speaks about “many wasted, precious years.”
2) Verse 13 in Lk. 15 says one of the father’s sons went into a “far” country.
3) This fellow, like some Christians today, decided to change his identity.
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b) The cost to this man because he surrendered his identity, at least for a while, was far beyond great.
4) Verse 14 tells us the son had “need” (not wants—need).
5) Verse 16 says no man gave this fellow any food (perhaps the son had resorted to begging).
6) What must have the people who saw this young man been thinking about him?
a) Would they have concluded he had a loving father who wanted him back home?
b) This son had his identity buried in a pig pen of a life and he looked like no one care for him.
c) Christians can fall into this same trap.
d) We can live lives where we cannot be readily identified as a child of God.
7) When the son in Lk. 15 let go of his identity, he began to suffer in multiple ways.
8) Verse 17 says he felt like he was “perishing” with hunger.
9) The young man said he was no longer “worthy” to be called a son (verse 19).
10) Both life and the Bible tell us there is a COST to losing our identity.
11) If we appear before God and are not identified as one of His people, here is what will happen:
12) Mt. 25:41 – READ
13) The cost of losing our identity in the spiritual realm is simply too great.
14) This is why Jesus spoke these words in Mt.5:29-30 – READ
a) Notice how many times the words “coming home” appear in the hymn we have sung.
b) Who are we?
c) At this very moment in time, what is our identity?
