Psalm 148:1-5
1Praise the LORD. Praise the LORD from the heavens; praise him in the heights above. 2Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his heavenly hosts. 3Praise him, sun and moon; praise him, all you shining stars. 4Praise him, you highest heavens and you waters above the skies. 5Let them praise the name of the LORD, for at his command they were created,
2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Jesus’ death and resurrection is incredibly significant and powerful in being able to not only save us, but transform us. When His precious Holy Spirit fills us, we are changed in so many ways. Today we will learn how our identity has changed now that we are alive in Christ.
Read Romans 8:9-17 two times as everyone listens
9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.10 But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness.11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.
12 Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it.13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.
14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
How amazing is the new identity that Jesus has given us by His Spirit living inside of us! Our sinful nature has been put to death with Jesus on the cross, so that through His resurrected Spirit we can be transformed. He gives us His righteousness (right standing before God), transforms our nature, enables us to walk in Spirit of life and peace, and gives us the right to be called children of God.
Jesus said to share with others what He teaches us. (Matt 28:18-20)
1. During this week, discover more about your identity as you read through the following verses:
12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—
36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.
20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,
19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household,20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.
24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,
16 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?
12 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
7 For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.
1 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
2. Now that you have learned more about your new identity in Christ, who could you share this with during the week? In pairs, go to your daisy chain and ask the Holy Spirit to highlight one or two people.
Look at your Daisy Chain again.
What is God revealing as your next steps this week with him and others?
Share this step with the group and ask someone to pray for you as you take this step in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Commit everyone’s goals to the Lord. Ask the Lord to help us be faithful and use us to start a movement of people living the MyFriends Lifestyle.