IDENTITY THEFT

Preached by Gregory W. Lee
15 January 2006

I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to Phillipians 2

1. If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion,
2. then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.
3. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.
4. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
5. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6. Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7. but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
8. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-- even death on a cross!
9. Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,
10. that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11. and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
12. Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed--not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence--continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling,
13. for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.
14. Do everything without complaining or arguing,
15. so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe
16. as you hold out the word of life--in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing.

-- Bronti Kelly was a young man in southern California with a promising future -- recently out of the military and still serving part-time in the Air Force Reserves, Bronti was working for a major department store as a salesman and developing quite a name for himself as a productive and valued employee
-- but one day, his wallet was stolen -- while walking down the street, someone picked his pocket and took his wallet -- Bronti didn't think much of it and when he reported it to the police, they said he was lucky -- he didn't have any credit cards in his wallet and it only had $4 cash at the time -- the only other things in there was his driver's license, social security card, and AF military card -- items that could be easily replaced
-- everything went along like normal for seven months -- and then one day Bronti was ushered into the personnel director's office and told he had been caught shoplifting by security guards in another branch of the store -- Bronti said that that was impossible -- he had been serving in the Reserves at the time -- he even had his reserve commander write a letter stating that Kelly had been serving in the military when the crime occurred -- but it didn't matter -- the store fired him because of his shoplifting conviction
-- Kelly chalked it up to a bad mistake and started applying for new jobs -- but for four long years, no one would hire him for a job -- he handed out his resume full of sales experience to hundreds of store managers in southern Califronia, but he was rejected each time
-- and on those rare occasions when he did get a job, he would be fired within days -- for no reason at all -- along the way, Bronti ended up filing for bankruptcy -- he lost his apartment -- he became homeless -- and he had no idea why
-- it turns out that the thief who stole Bronti's wallet took his driver's license and social security card and military ID card and assumed Bronti's identity -- and when this thief had been arrested for shoplifting and other crimes, he gave Bronti's identity to the authorities -- so, in the eyes of the law and in the eyes of all Bronti's prospective employers, Bronti Kelly was a thief and someone who could not be trusted -- for all intensive purposes, the thief became Bronti Kelly and ruined his life in the process

II. The Gift of Identity Theft (Phillipians 2:5-11)
-- identity theft is something that we should all be aware of and be concerned about -- it is a real and a growing problem in the United States and in the world -- identity theft has turned into a national epidemic -- over 9 million Americans like Bronti Kelly have their identity stolen every year -- and it ends up affecting them for the rest of their life
-- the dictionary defines identity theft as the deliberate assumption of another person's identity -- and, usually, when someone deliberately assumes another person's identity, we regard that as a bad thing
-- but did you know that there are times when the deliberate assumption of another person's identity is actually a good and noble situation?
-- for instance, in the Charles Dicken's book, "A Tale of Two Cities," Sydney Carlton switches places with Charles Darnay and stands before the executioner so that Charles can escape back to England with his wife Lucie -- Sydney was in love with Lucie, and because of his great love for her and his desire for her to be happy, he assumed the identity of Charles Darnay and went to his death with these words, "It is a far, far better thing I do, than I have ever done. It is a far, far better rest I go to than I have every known."
-- and, of course, we just finished celebrating the time when our own identity was assumed by another -- when our God and King left His throne on high and humbled Himself and became a baby in a manger -- assuming our identity and taking upon Himself all of our characteristics -- because of His great love for us, Jesus became a man and died in our place so that we might live forever through Him

-- look back at verse 5

5. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6. Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7. but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
8. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-- even death on a cross!

-- have you ever really considered what Christmas is all about? -- have you ever really pondered the significance of the incarnation?
-- God became a man -- God -- the Lord God Almighty -- the One who spoke the heavens and the earth into existence -- left His glory in Heaven and humbled Himself and took on flesh and blood
-- the Creator became the creation -- He assumed our identity so that He might rescue us from bondage to sin and death and save us from the very sins that separated us from Him in the first place
-- Paul writes here that God became nothing -- He took on Himself our nature -- our form -- so that He might share in our humanity and destroy the power of sin and death in our lives
-- every time we light the candles in the sanctuary, we recognize and celebrate the fact that God became man -- the two candles on the altar represent the dual natures of Christ -- Jesus was fully man and fully God

-- hold your place here and turn over to Hebrews 2 and listen as I read verses 14-18

14. Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death--that is, the devil--
15. and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.
16. For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham's descendants.
17. For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.
18. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.


-- the Bible tells us that He was made like us in every way -- He was born of a woman just like all of us -- He grew up and lived life in a community similar to ours -- He ate and He slept and He worked with His hands and He loved His family and His friends and His Father in Heaven -- He became a man and assumed our identity so that He might make atonement for our sins -- so that He could pay the penalty of sin by dying in our place on the cross
-- Romans 6:23 says that the wages of sin are death -- so someone has to die in order to pay the penalty for the sins that we committed in our life -- but Romans 8:3 says that God sent Jesus in the likeness of man to be a sin offering in our place
-- He who knew no sin became sin for us -- and He went to the cross and died in our place to pay the penalty for our sins

-- look back at verse 9

9. Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,
10. that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11. and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

-- Christ became a man for a reason -- He assumed our identity so that we might assume His -- and when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior -- when we believe that He was the Son of God and that He died on the cross for our sins and that He rose on the third day -- and when we ask Him to come into our life and to forgive us of our sins -- we become like Christ -- we assume His righteousness and His holiness and His identity in our own lives -- so that when God looks at us, He no longer sees us and our sins, but He sees His Son standing in our place

III. Our New Identity in Christ (Phillipians 2:1-4, 14-16)
-- so, as Christians, we are called to assume the identity of Christ in our lives here on earth -- in verse 5 Paul says that our attitude -- our mind -- should be the same as that of Christ Jesus -- and 1 Peter 1:14-16 says that just as He who called us is holy, we should be holy in all we do"
-- what does it mean to be holy as God is holy? -- it means that we assume the identity of Christ -- when we are saved by Christ, we should lose our old identity and become a new person -- taking on the personality and attitude and mind of Jesus Himself
-- this is what Jesus means when He tells us that we must deny ourself and pick up our cross and follow Him daily -- this is what Jesus means when He tells us that we have to lose our life in order to save it

-- the Apostle Paul understood this call to assume the identity of Christ well -- after He was saved and turned from a murderer who persecuted Christians, he changed his name from Saul to Paul and wrote these words in Galatians 2:20, "I am crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."
-- Paul cast away his old identity -- his old ways and his old attitude and his old behaviors -- and he was transformed into a new creation -- into a sinner saved through grace who reflected the mind of Christ in all he did -- the old Saul no longer lived -- that identity was gone -- and the identity of Christ took its place
-- John the Baptist understood this, as well -- as Jesus began His public ministry and began teaching and preaching throughout Judea and Gallilee and people began to flock to listen to Him -- some of John's disciples got jealous -- they came to John and complained but John replied -- "He must become greater; I must become less" -- in other words, John the Baptist realized that he had to give up his ministry and his identity and accept the identity of Christ

-- I think John's words should be our motto for this morning -- in Exodus 33:16, after God had brought the Israelites out of Egypt and told Moses that these were His chosen people, Moses asked God what that meant -- what would distinguish God's people from all the other people on the face of the earth?
-- I think the answer is clear -- God's people become like God -- they put aside their wants and desires and wishes and live for Him -- they become less so that He might become more -- assuming His identity and becoming more and more like Jesus with every passing day

-- what should distinguish a person who has assumed the identity of Christ from the rest of the world? -- Paul tells us in this passage -- look back at verse 1

1. If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion,
2. then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.
3. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.
4. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
5. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:

-- the first thing we have to do is to come to Jesus as our Lord and Savior through faith in His finished work on the cross -- in Acts 4:12 it says "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." -- in order to assume the identity of Christ, you must first believe in His name and accept Him as your Lord and Savior
-- Paul says that accepting Christ unites us with Him and that from that point on, our attitude should be the same as Him -- we should be like-minded -- we should be like Jesus -- having the same love and being one in spirit and purpose
-- a person who has assumed the identity of Christ is first and foremost characterized by their love -- love for God and love for man -- in John 13:34-35 Jesus said, "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
-- love is a rare thing in our world today -- it is easy to love our family and friends -- on the other hand, it is hard to love our enemies -- but that is exactly what Jesus did in His life and that is exactly what we are called to do when we begin to assume the identity of Christ in our lives
-- Jesus expressed His love of all through His life and through His ministry and through His service -- and we are called to do the same -- Paul tells us here that we are to be humble and to consider others better than ouselves -- that we are to look to the interests of others -- in other words, we are to serve others and to minister to them in the Spirit and in the power of Christ
-- there is no way that we could do that on our own -- it is only by becoming like Christ -- by allowing the Holy Spirit to live in our hearts and by allowing the power of Christ to give us strength -- that we will be able to love other people in this way
-- that is why Jesus said that others would recognize us as His people if we loved one another just as He had loved us - flip over to verse 14

14. Do everything without complaining or arguing,
15. so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe
16. as you hold out the word of life--in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing.

-- when we become like Christ -- when we assume His identity and we become less so He can become greater in our lives -- then we will shine like stars in the universe and men and women will be drawn to God through us and through our lives

IV. Closing
-- that is our goal and mission -- to assume the identity of Christ -- to reach the point where the world looks at us and doesn't see us but sees Jesus instead -- to decrease so that He might increase
-- Warren Barfield has a song called "Mistaken" -- let me share with you a few of the lyrics:
-- I shouldn't have to tell you who I am -- Cause who I am should be speaking for itself --
Cause if I am who I want to be -- Then who you see won't even be me -- Oh the more and more I disappear -- The more and more He becomes clear
--Till everyone I talk to hears His voice -- And everything I touch feels the warmth of His hand -- Till everyone I meet sees Jesus in me -- This is all I wanna be -- I wanna be mistaken for Jesus -- Oh I wanna be mistaken

-- When the world looks at you and sees Jesus instead, you can know that you have truly assumed the identity of Christ -- Christ came to earth as a man -- He assumed our identity so that He might save us from our sins and so that we might become holy as He is holy -- He became like us and died on the cross in our place so that we might inherit eternal life -- so that we might assume His identity in our own lives and lead others to Him
-- as I close let me ask you a couple of questions: Have you assumed the identity of Christ in your life? -- Have you received Him as your Lord and Savior and is your life reflecting His attitude and mind in all that you do?
-- if not, then God is calling you to make a change in your life this morning -- if this sounds like you, then I would invite you to come forward as the last hymn is played and ask God to help you assume His identity today
-- let us pray