Our Grace Identity

How We Find Our Identity…

I am What I Acquire

I am What I Feel

I am Whatever I say I am

Psalm 8 (NIV)
For the director of music. According to gittith
A psalm of David.

 1 O LORD, our Lord,
       how majestic is your name in all the earth!
       You have set your glory
       above the heavens.
 2 From the lips of children and infants
       you have ordained praise [b]
       because of your enemies,
       to silence the foe and the avenger.
 3 When I consider your heavens,
       the work of your fingers,
       the moon and the stars,
       which you have set in place,
 4 what is man that you are mindful of him,
       the son of man that you care for him?
 5 You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings [c]
       and crowned him with glory and honor.
 6 You made him ruler over the works of your hands;
       you put everything under his feet:
 7 all flocks and herds,
       and the beasts of the field,
 8 the birds of the air,
       and the fish of the sea,
       all that swim the paths of the seas.
 9 O LORD, our Lord,
       how majestic is your name in all the earth!

1. The more you realize the glory and majesty of God, the more we will see and realize the glory and honor of our own individual self

Our identity is not discovered inside out or outside in, but in reflection – in reflecting on our more perfect image in God!

Psalm 8:1, 4-5 (NIV)
     O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth…what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.

We have a rational aspect

We have a personal aspect

We have an eternal

We have a creative aspect

Our sense of our deepest value becomes secure when we realize that God is mind-full of us in every detail

Genesis 1:26 (NLT)
     Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us.

2. We discover ourselves more completely and flourish in our identity through relationships

Proverbs 11:14 (NKJV)
     Where there is no counsel, the people fall; But in the multitude of counselors there is safety.

Proverbs 24:6 (NASB)
     And in abundance of counselors there is victory.

Hebrews 2:6-9 (NIV)
     "What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?  You made him a little lower than the angels; you crowned him with glory and honor and put everything under his feet…Yet at present we do not see everything subject to him. 9But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

3. We become ourselves most fully when we discover God’s grace found in the perfect person, Jesus Christ

Romans 12:3 (Msg)  
    … Living then, as every one of you does, in pure grace, it's important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him.

My identity: I am already deeply loved based on what Christ has done for me – nothing good or bad I do can take that away after I receive His grace

Our life changes when we are secure in our identity based on the fact that we know God loves us!

Titus 2:11-12 (NIV)  
    For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. [12] It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age,