Built and Designed to be You

Have you ever wanted to be somebody or something else? Like you turn on the hit TV show “The Voice” and hear an amazing singer and long to have a voice like that. So much so that you begin to imagine you have this amazing singing voice that could fill and auditorium and wow the judges?

Or maybe you were watching the football game and wish you had the skills to be the lead running back. You find yourself filling your free time daydreaming about being the brilliant lawyer with the photographic memory of your favorite TV series.

Truth be told, we all see other people’s talents and desire to be like or better then them. Most of us have these desires in fleeting moments with the knowledge that it is just a daydream.

I remember, as a kid, playing “Tony Hawk Pro-skater” on my XBOX. I loved that game! I was not a skater myself. No I tried that and failed miserably. Yet I loved this video game where I could become something I wasn’t. I created my own skater, built up his skills and accessories. Then I would conquer all the skate parks in the game.

Yet my fantasy wouldn’t end when I turned off my box. I would find myself dreaming about skating. I would daydream about being a world-renowned skater. I’d even look at old warehouses, fences, parks and malls, in real life, and imagine the perfect skating route through there.

In my obsession for this game, during that season of my life, I was able to always keep it in the proper focus that it was just make believe. It was fun to think about and play, but in reality I would never be able to skate the way I dreamed about. I don’t have the balance, the skill or the fearless attitude to attempt such stunts. And I was ok with not being that.

When Make Believe Impacts Reality

What happens when our fascinations with our thoughts collide with our reality? Above I describe a fascination with a silly game that even affected my offline imagination, but it never got hold of my belief of who I am. I did not seek to find my identity in that game, in my clothing style, in my abilities, or in living out the fantasy. However, there are so many struggles and fascinations we face that could adversely affect our reality.

We may not recognize at first when our fascination turns to an unhealthy obsession. We may not even notice the subtle changes we are making to live out a “new reality.” Sometime early in life or in a moment of weakness, we become exposed to a way of thinking that feels like it is setting us free. We find ourselves going back to this thought and build up on it until it becomes a constant form of release.

“If I could just be the way I envision myself, I wouldn’t have this hole in my heart.” Each of us face the struggle from a unique perspective, but the struggle is still the same. “If I was just athletic,” “If I was just smarter,” “If I was just from a different ethnic group,” “If I was just a girl,” or “If I was just not here anymore” are types of question that plague many people today. Somewhere a thought popped into their head that caused them to question their current reality and now life as they know it is unsatisfying.

Consider a young boy who sees the attention that his sister gets for being a princess. He already knows he isn’t like other boys because he doesn’t like sports, cars or grunting. He gets teased for being feminine and his sister gets doted on for the same characteristics. He begins thinking life would just be easier if he was a girl. This leads to a fascination with girls clothing and even imagining getting a sex change. In his struggle to understand his own identity, he fills the void with a fascination to escape. He becomes less and less secure in his own skin and wants out. The question is, will his emptiness be filled by this change, or will it only be magnified?

God Created You As You

Sometimes we get this idea that we are just part of a mold. Almost like the idea that we are a product of an assembly line that makes everybody the same. However that is far from what God reveals to us in the Scriptures. From the opening chapter of the Bible God tells us that He created us in His image (Genesis 1:26-27). If we consider this passage for a moment we see three important truths: God created us, He created us in His image, and He created us male and female. God has a specific plan for who we are to be and He doesn’t make mistakes.

In the second chapter of Genesis (2:7), we see that God got on His hands and knees, got His hands dirty, and formed man. We are His special creation that He breathed His breath into. We only will understand the fullness of joy in living our lives according to His will.

King David express so many great truths of God specifically creating you to be who you are in Psalm 139. You were no accident because He “knit you together.” God Himself put you together, from your DNA to your toe nail, He created you specifically. He saw your “unformed substance,” which means He knows how you are wired. He knows what makes you tick, He knows your passions, your fears, your desires, your hopes and all those things you try to keep buried in the closet. He knows you so very well. So that we can agree with the psalmist, we are fearfully and wonderfully made.

Although we are created specifically by God and made in His image, we all were born in sin (Romans 3:23). Sin mars the image of God in us. Sin creates doubts about who we are and our importance. Sin separates us from the God who created us. It is sin that causes that great void in our lives that we seek to fill with so many obsessions. The young man above thinks his problem would be gone if he was a girl, yet it would only be the beginning of seeking to fill the void. He would continue to search in new places because nothing will fill the void left by sin except Jesus Christ.

That is why Jesus came to this earth, to solve our sin problem. He lived a perfect life and went to the cross on our behalf so that we could have forgiveness of sins and find peace with Him. When we chose to follow Jesus, we will see how He is the answer to our tough questions and our deepest longings.

When we surrender to Christ, we find that He is working in us, creating a masterpiece of our lives for His glory and our good (Ephesians 2:10; Romans 8:28). He begins to restore the image of God as it was intended in our life. Our souls searching finds rest in Jesus Christ.

Reconciled Reality

When we see that Jesus is the answer to the emptiness in our soul, He sets things right in our lives. We see that trying to be something we were not designed for is a rebellion against our Creator. We see that God has uniquely and creatively created us the way we are. He has gifted us each uniquely, to be different and that different is good.

For the struggles with sexual identity above, if these teachings are true, then the answer for this young man is not being a girl and it is not in being a man. No the answer is being in Christ, being a Christian man. His views of manhood being rooted in sports, cars and superficial macho-ness caused him to question his own identity. Yet true manhood is only found in Jesus Christ, our Creator.

There is a real enemy who seeks to rob us of our joy, yet Jesus came to be our joy. He promises that when we find ourselves in Him, He will give us abundant life (John 10:10). What are you struggling with today? How can knowing that Jesus specifically, brilliantly and creatively designed you to be you bring rest to your struggle?

Identity Crisis: What are you Reflecting?

Read: Genesis 1:26-27; Psalm 8; 2 Corinthians 3:18; 1 Cor. 4:16; Ephesians 5:1; 1 Thessalonians 1:6

Today we are living in a day and age where more and more people are living with an identity crisis. They don’t know who they are. Common expressions of the day read: “find yourself” or “look within yourself” or “I don’t know who I am.” Hardly a week goes by that I don’t hear someone question their identity.

What is your identity? When you look into the mirror or pause long enough and look into your soul, who are you? Your true self, your personality, your sense of worth and purpose, these are what make up your identity. It is your true self, just being you and we would think that it would be easy just being yourself, right?

The Fatal Flaw

In the beginning, identity was handed down from our Creator and was never to be the subject of a search. He created us with His fingerprints all over us, His purpose and plan were clear and readily available. Yet our first parents, Adam and Eve, saw fit to look for their identity somewhere else. Instead of seeing their identity in their Creator, in His mission and purpose, they bought into the lie that rebellion would bring true life, true knowledge that would satisfy them.

The moment they ate the forbidden fruit everything changed. Instead of the free expression of their true self, their identity before their Creator, they found themselves questioning who they were, their standing before God and their very existence. Instead of openly walking in the garden and joyfully talking to their Creator, they hid themselves. They received knowledge, but it was damnable. They were separated from the One who created them.

This human condition has been passed to all of us. The reason we question our identity and live in fear each day is because we are sinners separated from the Author and Giver of Life. We are looking to the forbidden fruit for meaning and purpose and it continually skews our identity.

Our Plight

The search for identity is not imaginary and it is not something to be taken lightly. It is a constant battle for every human being. We are stuck in a rat race trying to find the answer to our questions. Not feeling like you belong anywhere, where nobody really knows you and you are afraid to let anyone inside of your heart is a fearful and lonely road.

You might think this is only a pursuit of unbelievers, but many believers in Jesus Christ struggle with their identity because they continue the search for something else to define them. Like the Peter was willing to have faith to step out of the boat onto the churning sea, but looked away from Jesus and began to sink. For a brief moment he experienced the fullest expression of his true identity standing on the water with Jesus, but the storms of life distracted him and he sank. Yet Jesus is faithful who saved him when he cried out for help.

The Scriptures tell us that the eyes of man are constantly searching and are never satisfied, it is a warning that when we are looking in our own wisdom we will never find the answers. Some are looking for their identity in their relationship with their parents, or their dad who is not even in the home. Some are looking to their boyfriend or girlfriend and the recent break up has destroyed them. Some are looking for their identity in their job, in their body image, in their sexuality, in the party scene, in their video games, in pornography, in academics, in sports, in popularity, etc. Each of these will leave you empty and unsatisfied.

The True Source

The Bible is very clear that Jesus Christ is the author and giver of life. He spoke the world into existence and formed Adam and Eve with His very hands. Psalm 139 tells us that everyone is “knit together” by Him. As our Creator He says He has created us with His image built in.

What is an image? As John Piper shared, so many will argue what precisely being made in the image of God means through the expressions of emotions, will, creativity, etc. However, no matter what the particulars mean the very essence of an image is to image something.

Being created in the image of God means we were created to reflect something, our Creator. Our identity is wired into the very DNA of our existence, we exist to bear the image of God. We exist to reflect God to others.

Passive Image Bearer

Followers of Jesus Christ believe that every human life has value and is important. Their value does not come from their wealth, their social status, their abilities or academic astuteness. Instead their value comes from the fact that they are image bearers of God.

This is why Christians fight against abortion, injustice, and slavery. This is why we seek to feed to homeless, care for the orphan and send missionaries. This is why we talk to our friends at school and pray for our families. Every human being is created in the image of God.

Unfortunately, do to sin they don’t realize this. Everyone has the innate sense that there is something more, but they don’t realize that is tied to the image God created in them. They bear this image passively because God created them with it.

Active Image Bearer

As followers of Jesus we should seek to actively live out our faith, to be Image Bearers to this lost and sin sick world. As reflections of the Light of Jesus Christ, we are to be a beacon to this dark world.

We continually seek to be more an more like Jesus by spending time in prayer, in the Bible and in communion with fellow believers. As we do this, the Holy Spirit works in and through us to shine the truth about Jesus to the world.

When your eyes are fixed on Jesus your true identity is known. You are a special creation of God, adopted into His family, forgiven of sins, and called to His mission. As a child of the One True King your identity is solidify and this changes everything.

Being an Image Bearer

Without Jesus Christ there is a constant search for meaning and identity. We will constantly search and try new things to give us an identity, but in Christ we find our true identity as an image bearer of God. This changes everything. Every relationship we have is redefined. Every job, passion, and enjoyment is colored anew.

Being an image bearer means we imitate Christ. When people look at us they should see Jesus. We should spend time in the Gospels, in the Bible and learn of the character and heart of God and live it out. Our attitude, speech, passions and character begin to change. As we remain in Christ we will become more and more aware of our identity in Him.

Again an image is created to image something. Your identity is what you are reflecting. What are you reflecting in your life? Is it a constantly changing image based on your search? Or are you reflecting Jesus to this lost and dying world?

Smoke and Mirrors

This week we are beginning a new seiries called "Blueprint" and looking at how God has created us on purpose. We will explore what that purpose is and how it impacts our daily life.

Read: Romans 1:18-20; Jeremiah 1:5; 29:11; Ephesians 2:10

It’s the moment you have been dreading since you started back to school. You walk into science class and the teacher begins to start talking about origins, specifically evolution. She creates a case for the Big Bang theory of the beginning and shows an overview of foundational principles that will establish the direction of everything you will learn in science class. You dreaded this moment because what she is teaching is inconsistent with what you have learned at church and read in your Bible. It’s awkward and confusing.

You have a strong desire to believe what the Bible says, but your teacher is very persuasive. She has demonstrated scientific “fact” over and over again that “proves” the earth is 3.5 billion years old and that all of nature has evolved from one source. She uses phrases like, “all the scientists agree that evolution is fact,” and “no intelligent person disputes the claims of evolution.” It’s intimidating to admit you don’t agree with all the scientists in the world. You believe you are intelligent but her claims are that its ignorant to disagree with evolution.

One of the biggest problems you have with evolution is the very fact that life becomes meaningless and purposeless if it is only here by chance. What makes your existence significant if you are just randomly popped into existence? Yet to disagree would be committing academic and social suicide.

The danger is that confusion will lead to compromise and compromise will lead to capitulation. Now you are confused and uncertain about what to believe, but seeking to fit in will only render you to, not only tolerating it but owning it.

That’s when your teacher makes a quick condescending statement concerning a group of people called “creationists.” She takes a few jabs at anyone who believes God exists and concludes with, “is anyone in here a creationist? Does anyone in here disagree with the established views of evolution?”

What are you supposed to do? What would you say?

The problem with the above scenario is that it misrepresents the argument. Your teacher has bought into lies and continues to teach them as fact. Skewed and twisted information is wrong, even when the majority believes them. Not only that, very specific lies are being told when it tries to represent the entirety of the scientific community in favor of evolution.

The Bible describes what is happening in Romans 1:18-20 when it states that sinful humanity desires to suppress the truth. It explains that mankind wants to live their lives the way they want to and therefore will do whatever they can to replace God’s truth with their own. The teaching of evolution is just a fancy trick to distract you, it is a magician’s smoke and mirror trick. They will overwhelm you with “facts” that cause you to miss the big picture.

The Big Picture

We are no accident. The earth, nature, animals and humanity did not just randomly appear, but were intentionally created. God had a purpose in mind when He spoke the world into existence. The Bible is the book that we can turn to in order to find the truth about the origins of life. Genesis 1-2 open with the beautiful truth that God spoke the world into existence in 6 days. They tell of God forming mankind out of the dirt and breathing life into him. They tell us that creation was “very good!”

The Bible also concludes in Revelation 21-22 with the New Creation that will be perfect. In between is the story of the plight of humanity, how our parents fell into sin in the garden. How we tried to work off our sin and keep failing. How God loved us enough to send Jesus to this earth to live a perfect life, die a sinless death and conquer death by rising again from the dead. How God, through the gift offered us a free gift of salvation through Jesus so we can be reconciled with Him.

What evolution doesn’t offer you is purpose and meaning. God gave us the Bible so we would know that the goodness of the original creation will be restored one day. That everything that exists, the universe, the earth, all of creation, exists for a reason. He created on purpose.

Genesis 1:26-27 tells us that He created mankind in His image, a very special part of creation. Not only in original creation, but every human that has ever been born was known and formed by Jesus (Psalm 139) for a purpose (Jeremiah 1:5).

The Bible has the answers for where we came from and why we have meaning and purpose in our life. Evolution has nothing of substance, just a bunch of conjecture and smoke and mirrors. What they don’t tell you is that it takes faith to believe that evolution is true, that matter has come about from nothing accidentally over billions of years. The Bible says you need to believe by faith that God spoke the world into existence with meaning and purpose.

The Decision

The simple truth is that confusion does exist because we live in a broken world tainted by sin. The choice is left for you to decide. What are you going to believe? Evolution cannot be proved or repeated. It makes a conjecture and builds a theory and claims to have facts, yet it is really a belief system, a religion.

God does exist and He wants you to know Him. He has written Himself on all of creation so you would know that He exists. Look up at the stars in the night sky, consider the beauty of flowers, the immensity of the ocean, the majesty of the mountains, perfection of the sunrise, you cannot help but be caught by the resplendent genius of the Creator.

King Solomon wrote that God has set eternity in our hearts, the innate knowledge that there is something beyond us. That something is God and He is wants you to know that you are not an accident, that the laws of science do not contradict His creation, and that there is a way to be reconciled to Him through Jesus Christ. Evolution will leave you empty. God will give you abundant life. What will you decide?

...To All The World

My first missions trip was both out of a desire to serve God and to see the world. I always wanted to visit Ireland and now I had the chance to go there and serve God! It was a win either way I looked at it. No big deal, other then the fact that I had only just turned 15 years old right before leaving on the trip for the entire summer. Oh and I had never been on a plane and had not even started High School yet.

My parents had prayed for years that their kids would serve God and when the opportunity came for me to go for an entire summer, they supported me. I’m sure a part of them just wanted me out of the house for the summer, just kidding. Looking back, I am so thankful for my parents heart for missions and how that was passed on to me and my siblings.

Missions is a term we use to talk about taking the Gospel to others people around the globe. From the very beginning, missions has been at the heart of the Church. We see many nations and languages represented in the conversions at Pentecost and shortly after we read all about Paul’s missionary endeavors across the known world. Most believers will recognize, at least intellectually, the importance of missions. But when it is costly we tend to shrink away. My parents did not.

Short term missions trips had a huge impact in my life. In Ireland I learned the importance of a daily quiet time with God. Christianity was a practiced religion to me up until that point, then I began to really understand the relationship with Jesus my parents told me about. I was so excited about Jesus I wanted others to know. Our trip was mainly a work trip, but I joined a group from our team on an evangelism outreach in Dublin. We didn’t see any converts, but I remember stumbling through a Gospel presentation with a few people. I had a lot to learn, but I was thankful for the opportunity.

A few years later I found myself in Trinidad with the same organization, Teen Missions International. I again signed up for a work trip, but there was an unusual amount of rain that year, so our leader declared, “Let’s go house to house!” Trinidad is a Caribbean island that’s main language is English, which made it very easy to talk to the islanders. I was really scared to talk to strangers and I allowed my insecurities to keep me from speaking up. I was the oldest member of this team and I was paired up with two of the youngest and quietest girls, yet I let them do all the talking. I know, real brave Brad!

All of a sudden I heard someone say, “I’ll talk at the next house!” I was looking around to see who said that, but when the girls declared, “alright Brad you can do this!” I realized it was me. I couldn’t believe it, but that’s what God wanted me to do. We met an 83 year old woman who was a Hindu her entire life. I showed her the Bible and walked her through the Romans Road to Salvation and at the end she accepted Jesus Christ! I was so excited I wanted to tell everyone! I rain to the next house and shared with them. That was the beginning of a summer that forever shaped my life.

I have so many stories I would love to tell, but my stories are not the point of this post. My parents understood that as Christians we have a responsibility to tell the World about Jesus and they passed that on to me. And it is this truth I want to pass on to my youth group and my church. I praise God for the opportunities that our church has taken to go to the World with the Gospel. I hope that more and more opportunities arise because I know personally how important those trips are.

Jesus did not say “For God so loved Akron” or “Ohio” or “America” or etc. He said He loves the “World”! It is our job to throughout this world and tell others about the amazing love of God. As John Piper puts it, as Bible believing Christians we are either going, sending or disobedient.

Some need to be goers! Have you ever considered world missions? Do you know that there are over 2.5 billion people in this world who have never heard about Jesus? Would you consider being one who would take the message to them? A goer is one who loves to tell people about Jesus. A goer is one who is willing to step out in faith and trust God to provide. A goer is one who fixes their eyes on the high calling of Jesus and not on the comforts of this world.

We don’t all have the means or opportunities to travel to foreign countries, so how can we fulfill this command? If you cannot go, then you must send others. You need to support believers who are going to the mission field. Through prayer and financial support you help the message go into all the world. A sender is not just one who works a job and gives money. A sender is a believer who is called to live on mission in her own community and support those who go abroad. Giving money should never be an excuse for not sharing your faith.

Unfortunately the vast majority of Christians live in disobedience. They show up to church, youth group and small groups, but they never tell anyone about Jesus. They may squeak out a “God loves you,” from time to time, not realizing that almost all world religions say that same thing. Their faith walk is dull and boring and they are scared to get out of their comfort zone. This is not what God has called His children to do.

Prayer is a vital part of missions. Let’s begin by praying that God gives us opportunities to share Jesus with others right where we live. Let’s begin to pray that God will send people to the world with the Gospel. Let’s consider adopting a foreign country by praying for that country regularly. Let’s pray for opportunities to go! Don’t get stuck in apathy, learn to be a goer or a sender by living on mission today!

Read: 

Acts 1:8; John 3:16; Matthew 28:18-20; Romans 10