The first chapter of Ephesians is all about identity. I encourage you to study Ephesians 1 on your own at some point, but I want to talk right now about this idea of identity.
Identity is a word we toss around a lot, but I think it’s hugely important. Your identity is where you base your sense of worth. It touches on so many deep parts of who we are, on deep longings that we have. We all have this idea about what we want our identity to be. We want to be accepted, and liked. We want to feel like we fit in and that we’re relevant and valuable and beautiful.
We want to be all these things and we put so much of our worth and value and identity into how other people view us and into our accomplishments…But somehow, it’s never quite enough. We hear all these voices telling us we need to be all these things and then we never quite measure up. It’s never enough. And so we experience fear and loneliness and doubt and anger and resentment and frustration.
I struggle with these things even talking to a group like this. Because I know some of you are going to listen to this and it’s going to go—it’s not going to connect. It’s going to go right past you.
Because I want you to hear this. I want you to hear that there’s a better way.
Anyone ever read any of the Gospels? There are two times that God speaks out loud in the Gospels. And He says that same thing each time. The first time it happens is when Jesus is being baptized by John the Baptist. “This is my son, whom I love, in him I am well pleased.” “This is my beloved son.”
This is before Jesus does anything. He hasn’t picked his disciples yet. Hasn’t healed anyone. Hasn’t done any miracles. But God says, “This is my beloved son.
Jesus listened to that voice, and he was able to walk right through life. People were applauding him, laughing at him, praising him and rejecting him. They called “Hosanna!” and then they cried, “Crucify!” But he didn’t listen to those voices. He listened to the voice that said, “You are so deeply, completely, and unconditionally loved.”
There are so many voices speaking out there. I bet you’ve heard some of them. They’re voices that say, “Prove you’re loved.” “Prove you’re worth something.” “Do something that proves you have any contribution to make.” “You’ll never be accepted unless you act like this, or change this, or do this.”
And we listen to those voices all the time. But what I want to share with you today is that there is a voice out there that says, “You are my beloved. You are my son, who I love. You are my daughter, who I love.” The same voice says you are already completely accepted. You are already impossibly valuable. You are already deeply loved.
Which voice are you going to listen to?
Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
In Christ, you are someone before you ever do something. If your identity is found in your friends, or in your accomplishments, or in what others think of you, or in your work, then you’re going to crash and burn. We need to learn to trust in who God already says we are. We are God’s masterpiece, made new through the power of the death and resurrection of Christ, and created for a plan and a purpose. God made you exactly the way you are for a reason. He wanted you to be like that. And He has a purpose that only you can do.
For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. (Ephesians 1:15-19)