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Rethink Identity

Session 3

In our last session, we discovered that perspective is powerful and our vantage point changes how we see God and missions. We will look next at our stories and how we fit into God’s story!

Take a few minutes and review the previous sessions. If you are studying in a group, discuss some of the main points and share any personal takeaways you had. (Session Review 15 minutes)

The Beginning of Our Story

Session 3 - Video 1

“You, as an everyday person, are qualified to change everything in this world because of your identity as an image bearer of the one true God.”

Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.

Genesis 1:26-27, 31

In the creation story, everything created by God is “good” until he creates humanity. After he created us, he didn’t just declare it “good”; he declared creation “very good.”

God created us in his image.

Your story — the gospel story, or the good news of Jesus — does not begin with sin in Genesis 3. It begins with goodness in Genesis 1 and 2! See Genesis 1–3.

God intentionally created men and women in his likeness to reflect his character and dwell with him. God’s own identity has been built into us.

Every man and woman on earth, whether Christian or not, was created to reflect the glory of God. We are image bearers. And, with Jesus, we have all the potential necessary to bring restoration to this world!

God gives humanity a mission from the very beginning. He tells us to be fruitful and multiply in Genesis 1:28 and “to govern and look after God’s creation.”1 We are called to increase and grow the image of God in this world and in the people who live in it.

We have been created and given the ability to obey God just like Adam and Eve did when they walked in complete, perfect obedience to God with no shame, fear, guilt, or death. God reveals the greatness of his heart for us, and delivers life-transforming news about who we are and our mission in this world. We miss the point if we do not consider the first and second chapters of Genesis.2

THE ULTIMATE SOURCE OF YOUR IDENTITY, WHAT QUALIFIES YOU TO DO THE GOOD THINGS OF GOD, DOES NOT COME FROM WHAT YOU HAVE DONE, BUT FROM WHO GOD SAYS YOU ARE.

You, as an everyday person, are qualified to change everything in this world because of your identity as an image bearer of the one true God.

You were created to act and speak on his behalf. This is the highest calling we could possibly have — to live, speak, and reflect the glory of God.3

There was a time when Adam and Eve lived in perfection without shame, fear, and guilt. All of that changed once they ate the forbidden fruit. See Genesis 3:1-14.

  • They covered themselves with fig leaves because they were ashamed.
  • They hid from God because they were afraid.
  • They felt guilty because they knew they had done something wrong.

Because of Genesis 3, we might believe the lie that we are not loved by God or equipped to help build his kingdom, but God does not let the lie continue!

Genesis 3 also tells the story of God promising to send a hero to provide the way for all peoples to be restored with him.

In Genesis 3:15, God spoke to the serpent, saying that while he would bruise the heel of an offspring of Eve, that offspring would “crush head.”

It points ahead to the work that Jesus would do in ultimately defeating the serpent once and for all.

God sacrifices an animal to make coverings for Adam and Eve even though they had already made coverings for themselves. This points us to what Jesus would do through his death and resurrection.

Jesus is the ultimate image bearer. Because of Jesus, we can be restored to our original mission and triumph over shame, fear, and guilt.

In the first three chapters of the Bible, we read the good news that only God can bring — the good news that God will not allow Satan to win! God enacted an extraordinary plan to restore all of humankind back to himself, and YOU and I get to be a part of it!

Blessed to Be a Blessing

It’s easy to think about “blessings” as good things God does or allows to happen for our enjoyment or benefit. But what if that was not the whole story?

WE ARE BLESSED BY GOD, SO THAT WE CAN BE A BLESSING TO OTHERS.

“Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

Genesis 12:1-3

God launches his mission to redeem and restore all people through Abraham, and it will change the course of human history. 

Being used by God to bless others is the greatest gift we can receive. The Bible is full of passages that reinforce this truth:

  • Psalm 67:1-2 – The blessing that is being spoken comes with a blessing that is then given to others.
  • Psalm 46:10 – “Know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations.”
  • 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 – We are blessed as God comforts us in all our troubles to be a blessing as we can comfort those in any trouble.
  • Ephesians 2:8-10 – We are blessed by being saved by grace through faith to be a blessing, doing good works as God’s workmanship.
  • Matthew 10:8 – We’ve been blessed by freely receiving that we might be a blessing and freely give to others.

Throughout all of God’s Word, it’s clear that blessings from God carry a responsibility for others!4

Are You a Container or Pipeline?

  • Container – If water goes into a container, it stays and remains there, limited in what it can do until ultimately becoming stagnant.
  • Pipeline – Water can flow easily through a pipeline. The amount of things that can be affected by living, flowing water is infinite.

God created us to be pipelines of living water, moving with a purpose.

BEING OBEDIENT TO BEING A BLESSING MAKES ANY PERSON CAPABLE OF TRANSFORMING THE WORLD.

What if every single believer lived with this kind of mind-set? How different would our world look?

Discussion Questions

15 Minutes

  • What are the implications that our story starts not with sin, but with being very good?
  • What else struck you about our identity and purpose, and why does it matter?
  • What are some of the ways we have been blessed, so that we may be a blessing to others? How can we be a ‘pipeline’ to be a blessing to those around us right now?

Everyday People Changing Culture

Session 3 - Video 2

“Historically, the Church is one of the first places you see various classes and races working together for a common purpose.”

Everyday people, when they submit every part of their lives to God, can change everything in our world if we see ourselves as those who have been blessed, so we can bless the world.

EVERYDAY PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN BLESSED CAN BLESS THE WORLD.

There’s a moment in Acts when the disciples ask Jesus when he would overthrow the Romans and return the land that was taken from them hundreds of years previously. Jesus’ response shows clearly that the disciples hadn’t yet understood the kingdom of God and the role that they would play in it:
It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Acts 1:7-8
Jesus was saying that his disciples were going to start a movement that would transform entire cultures and nations! Not by military power, but by the power of the gospel! The disciples obeyed even when they didn’t understand. They trusted the power of God. The movement of the gospel was transforming so many lives that Roman culture was being changed. God used normal, everyday people to transform”
  • Individuals
  • Families
  • Cultures
Roman society was filled with prejudices regarding ethnicities, genders, and social positions.

HISTORICALLY, THE CHURCH IS ONE OF THE FIRST PLACES YOU SEE VARIOUS CLASSES AND RACES WORKING TOGETHER FOR A COMMON PURPOSE.

  
  • Slaves, masters, peasants, and the wealthy intermingled in the church.
  • Women became more greatly valued because of the church. Men and women began interacting as equals and serving together. Paul commends women who were powerfully moving the gospel forward in Romans 16.
  • Marriages and families became stronger. As men who lived immoral lives became Christians, they began valuing their wives as Jesus had valued women.
  • The church cared for those in need. Prior to Christianity, if a person contracted the plague, family and friends would abandon him or her to die. As believers came to value one another, they stayed with the sick and cared for them, even at the risk of their own lives.
This movement of everyday people was turning the Roman Empire upside down. Roman government leaders, who were not Christians, noticed the significant transformation of normal men and women, and they did not know how to handle them.

Pliny’s Letter to Emperor Trajan

Just seventy years after Jesus rose from the dead, a non-Christian Roman governor wrote to the Roman Emperor Trajan to ensure he was following protocol when he executed Christians who refused to deny Jesus. In his letter, he described to Trajan the growing movement of the gospel even in the midst of persecution.

“This (gospel) movement involves such large numbers of endangered people (Christians) from all ranks, ages and both sexes. This contagious superstition (Christianity) is not confined to the cities, but has spread to villages and rural districts. The pagan temples have been almost deserted, and demand for sacrificial animals is significantly down.”

Click to read “Letter from Pliny and
Response from Emperor Trajan”

WHEN EVERYDAY PEOPLE ARE TRANSFORMED BY THE POWER OF THE GOSPEL, EVERYTHING IN SOCIETY CAN BE TRANSFORMED BACK TO THE WAY GOD INTENDED THINGS TO BE!

Discussion Questions

10 Minutes

  • How does what Jesus said in Acts 1:7-8 apply to you and your church? What might be your equivalent of Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria?
  • What are some of the ways we can be witnesses to ‘the ends of the earth’?
  • Everyday people changed the culture significantly in the first few centuries. What were the key ingredients for this culture change to happen?

Your Prayers Matter!

Session 3 - Video 3

Prayer has been the driving force behind the momentum of the church for centuries.

Host-Directed Prayer
8 Minutes

Prayer is our most powerful tool for reaching the nations. 

Try using the wonderful Prayercast resource to pray for one or two nations of your choosing, perhaps one from the 10/40 window we learned about in Session 2, or somewhere overseas you or someone in the group has a heart for.

Their videos are created by local intercessors and journalists so you can make informed prayers into each country’s greatest areas of need, while being inspired by beautiful imagery from that nation.

You can find a list of all the countries here: Prayercast Nations Videos

If you’d like more prayer resources, either to use straight away, or in the future, try downloading the Unreached of the Day app from the Joshua Project to your phone, and pray for the people group of the day. This app also provides an ongoing, easy way to pray for the unreached.

Take a few minutes with your group, and pray at the end of each video and ask God to be at work in significant ways, so that you might see a piece of our world look more like heaven.

Discussion Questions

10 Minutes

  • How did you find praying along with someone from another nation and seeing their country?
  • What might you do to make prayer for the unreached a regular habit?
  • Andrew Murray, the great missionary, said, “The man who mobilises the Christian church to pray will make the greatest contribution to world evangelisation in history.” What could you do to mobilise others to pray for the nations?
Footnotes:
  1. Carolyn Custis James, Half the Church (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2011), 71.
  2. James, Half the Church, 52.
  3. James, Half the Church, 53.
  4. James, Half the Church, 42.

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