"REMEMBERING WHO YOU ARE"

Dr. Glen A. Thorp June 2, 2011
I Pe. 2:1-12, Acts 1:1-11 (All Rights Reserved)

“REMEMBERING WHO YOU ARE”

INTRODUCTION: Two pair of shoes. One black the other red.
One for a man the other for a lady.
How much are they worth?
Workmanship, material and condition determine value. What if the shoes were scuffed up with holes in the soles? Would that reduce their value?
What if the scuffed up shoes had been worn by Buster Keaton would that change their value?
The Black Shoes were worn by Fred Astair.
The Red Shoes worn in “The Wizard of Oz.”

The value of an item, especially in the collectable market, depends on who possessed or used it.

The Apostle Peter wrote in I Peter 2:1-12,
“You are ordinary people, who acquire value, dignity
and greatness because you belong to God.”

Remembering Who You Are will assist you in times of difficulty, confusion and persecution. This was one of the messages Jesus gave his disciples when he met with them for 40 days after he was raised from the dead. As part of a crash course on what he had taught them for 3 years, Jesus commissioned them to tell others about who he was and what he taught.

Acts1:1-11 tells of the Day of Jesus’ Ascension; 40 days after Easter,
this year, June 2; and is one of the most important in the Christian Calender. Dr. James Edwards, theology professor at Whitworth University, says "it the most important. Yet, few Protestants know when it is or why it is so important." In the Nicene and Apostles Creeds:
We affirm: Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord...
Was crucified, dead and buried;
he descended into hell; the third day
he rose again from the dead;
he ascended into heaven, and
sitteth on right hand of God the Father Almighty;
from thence he will come to judge the quick
and the dead.

Another Creed: The Heidelbrg Catechism asks:
"How do you understand the words: (Q. 46)
He ascended to heaven?"
A. “That Christ was taken up from the earth into heaven before the eyes of his disciples and remains there on our behalf until he comes again to judge the living (quick) and the dead.”

"What benefit do we receive from Christ’s ascension into heaven?" (Q. 49)
A. “First that he is our Advocate in the presence of his Father in heaven. Second, that we have our flesh in heaven as a sure pledge that he as the Head, will also take us, his members, up to himself. Third, that he sends his Spirit as a counterpledge by whose power we seek what is above...”

Incarnation: “Unseen is Revealed.” is central to understanding why the Son of God came to earth in human flesh, born in Bethlehem and named Jesus.

Ascension: “Humanity Returns with Jesus.”
Our humanity sits at the right hand of God.
Jesus returned to heaven, from where he came to “Reveal the Unseen God” to humanity. Now he sits (sitteth) at right hand of the God the Father as our advocate, knowing struggles as humans.

Other Religions: i.e. Hindu/Bahai use the term Avaita which means temporary human appearance, like wearing a mask in play.
: Budah Goal get out of human life)
Jesus Christ is Complete Revelation of unseen God.

When Jesus returned to Heaven, the Apostles like Peter taught that our worth as humans comes from belonging to God and commissioned them to reveal, to those they/we meet, who Jesus is why he came to earth.

TITLES given to us to help us know who we are:

Chosen People.

God called/chose Abram, Moses, Samuel, Isaiah, Disciples, Saul, Luke a Gentile, and You & Me.
Not out of innate ability, beauty or worth,
Simply out of Love and Knowing Potential.
Key verse: "Once you had no special relationship w/God.
Now you are people of God, through whom God will reveal himself
When God Chose Israel - were salves.
God Chooses us out of love, not our ...
Chosen as building material-temple."
(I Peter 2:11)


Royal Priesthood.

God selected Priests like Aaron, Levi, Eli, Jesus, us to provide
Access to God & Bringing others to God.
Supervise the Tabernacle, Temple-Body/Christ
Building not with stones as a Community.

C.E.B. Cranfield: "The free-lance Christian, who would be a Christian but is too superior to belong to the visible Church upon this earth in one of its forms, is simply a contradiction in terms."

A Spartan King: “Boasted of the wall of Sparta.
A visiting Monarch saw no walls. ‘Where are these walls?,’ he asked.
The Spartan King pointed to his body guards:
‘These are the Wall Of Sparta & every one a brick’.”

As long as a brick lies by itself it is useless.
Only when it is united with others under the skill
of a Master does it become a wall and building.

Foundational to any building is the Corner Stone.
The Capstone is Jesus the stone who was rejected.

"Royal Priesthood": Christians speak of the “Priesthood of Believers.”
We are given the privilege going directly to God and ministering to others in Jesus’s name.

Holy Nation.

God chose and Dedicated a particular people for His Purpose.
Called them and us,
Not to conform to the world’s standards.
Live a Life worthy of their and our calling.
Live according to His Commandments.
Jesus summarized them as:
"Loving God with all your heart, mind and soul.
Your neighbor as yourself."

Belonging to God.

God Chose us as His People ... to Reveal Himself
to the world and to Minister to the world.
We become God's people because God Chose Us and gave Us purpose.

You may not seem worth much to those persecuting you, in fact you are not, except forn what God has done for you.

God does not posses us to put us on a shelf as we do with souvenirs.
God Chose us to “declare the wonderful deeds of Him who called us out of darkness into His Marvelous Light." (I Pt. 2:9)

God is looking for people through whom He can speak to others,
who Believe Jesus is the one reconciling world to Himself.

How does this happen?
Belonging to the right race?
Coming from a Christian Home?
Growing up in the Church? NO!

By believing Jesus is God’s Chosen one.
Through him God’ plan/love was revealed.
Through him we become part of his body ...
He will return to judge the living & the dead.

"You may shut up Jesus Christ in hell with the demons. Or you may think he is a lunatic on the level with the may who think he is a poached egg. Or you may fall on your knees and call him God. But let’s not have anymore this patronizing nonsense about his being good man! He simply is not merely that. He is the God of eternity. He is the Sovereign Lord of the Universe and we either believe him and make him the foundation of our life, or we reject him and spend the rest of our lives falling over him. There is no alternative." (C.S. Lewis)

We have value because God posses us and wants to use us.
Remembering Who You Are will give you value, purpose
and a foundation when facing times of uncertainty and trials.

Because of Jesus’ ascension we know we have one who is God in the Father’s presence who has experienced everything will ever go through, including death and resurrection.

If Jesus had remained on earth, even in his resurrection body, he would only be able to be in one place at a time. Because he ascended to heaven
and entrusted his disciples and us to continue the work he began, his presence was multiplied over and over again. It would not have happened if what Jesus promised: "I will send an advocate who will remind you of all I said and did empowering you to fulifill my commission of you." (Acts 1:8)

The coming of that Advocate and Power is the Third Person of the Godhead/Trinity. I will write about on June 12, PENTECOST.