Restore Church

The third gospel identity I presented in my Sunday message at Grace & Truth was that of a learner of God.

Far more often than being called believers (just a handful of times) Christians are called disciples (some 262 times!). The term disciple can be translated as pupil, learner, or follower.  In the mystery of His incarnation even Jesus was a learner (Luke 2:52). And the most frequent designation for one Jesus redeems is disciple – again, some 262 times!

So how do we live out this learner identity?

First, we seek to learn about God through general revelation.  When I talk about this particular gospel identity with my children on the way to school I remind them that they can learn about God even from someone who is not a believer & who even gives a wrong interpretation of the facts.  In short, we can glory in the mind & majesty of God as we learn about numbers or finger painting or frog parts or parts of speech! They all tell of God if we will listen.

Second, we are to get into God’s special revelation. We are people of the book. We don’t worship the book, we worship the God of the book, & one of the ways we do it is by getting into the book to learn of the God who has rescued us. We do this through personal reading time, family devotional time, informal studies, small groups, corporate worship gathering, & many other ways. We draw close to the Incarnate Word through the written word. We are to unashamedly love rich God-centered doctrine. What priority does Scripture have in your life?

Third, we must respond to what we learn. This is really important, & sometimes overlooked. Remember,  the word disciple carries the meaning of following. We have not truly learned until we follow, that is, until through the power of the gospel we seek to obey.  I’ll close this post with an illustration you can hear in the last minute of this Francis Chan clip.

The second gospel identity I shared in my message last Sunday was that of a child of God.

John 1:12-13 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

Ephesians 1:5 In love he predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.

1 John 3:1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.

When Jesus saves us we are adopted as full sons. In the ancient world daughters had no legal rights of inheritance, but in God’s kingdom all who who come to Jesus become full members of His family (Col 3:11). We have full acceptance with the One that really matters. That’s means we don’t have to jockey for position in the hierarchies of humanity. We don’t have to look to non-gods for what only God can give—real identity and purpose! The fact that we are children of God should fend off the constant assault of idolatry that emerges from within. And that fact that we are children of God should spawn gratitude motivated and grace empowered obedience. Because we are children of God we are freed to obey out of our acceptance and not for it! We are also reminded by being children of God of our family responsibilities. As brothers and sisters we are to care for each other, work through issues, love each other, and be faithful to each other. The Christian family is not going to be the Cleavers but we are to be cleavers because we have a Daddy who delights in us all through the work of the Son of His love!

The way to “become” in the Christian life is to know who you already “are” in Christ.  Gospel living flows out of treasuring your gospel identity.  To that end I shared at Grace & Truth yesterday morning 5 Gospel identities true for every believer.  They are powerful, they are practical, they are portable & they are all Christological – rooted in Christ! I regularly share these with 3 of my kids in the few minutes I have with them in the car on the way to school because I want their daily living to flow out of the gospel.  At Restore Church we will strive to keep these 5 identities before all those God calls into the church.

Yesterday I began with Identity #1, Worshiper of God. We read from  one of my favorite passages, Revelation 7:9-12.

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands,  and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”  And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God,  saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

I love this text because it highlights the centrality of the gospel, the diversity of God’s people, & the point of it all, God’s glory. But the Gospel identity that is obvious from Revelation 7:91-2 is this – when by the gift of the Spirit we repent & place our faith in Jesus we are plugged into the reality of what is going on right now & forever, worship. We become worshipers of God! Through Jesus the curtain is pulled back, we see the glory of God, & worship results.  You simply can’t help but worship, in the same way you can’t help but rise to your feet & shout when your team hits a walk off homer!  We gather to celebrate all that God is to His people!  And because being a worshiper of God is the new DNA of every Christian we worship when we scatter.  “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” wrote Paul in I Corinthians 1:31.  In everything we do we are to glorify God & enjoy Him. That’s worship.  And that’s worth thinking about every morning before we put our first foot on the floor to start the day.

Oh yeah, I invited people in the message to think of pictures that could communicate the various identities. Here are a few pics I grabbed off the internet. Any pics you would add?