By Pastor Stephen Hess –
The beginning of a New Year is often an occasion for people to make a fresh start in their lives. It is a time when many people ask the question, “What do I want my life to look like this year?” and when they set goals or resolutions for the year. New Year’s resolutions are not bad, but I would argue Christians should have a totally different approach to such a practice. As God’s people, our primary question should not be, “What do I want my life to look like this year?” but rather, “What does God want my life to look like this year?” Our calling is not to conform our lives to our own desires and designs but to conform our lives to God’s desires and designs, which means conforming our lives to his word.
One of the stunning truths about the Christian life in the Bible is that God does not call his people to be something we are not. In fact, it is quite the opposite: God calls his people over and over to become who we already are! Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” A person who has a relationship with Jesus is a new creation with a new identity and a new calling. This calling is to live out our identity by becoming more and more like Jesus. In other words, we are called to become who we are in Christ!
As we begin the year 2021 at Highview, we are going to explore what it means to “become who we are in Christ” by starting a new sermon series on the Book of Ephesians. Ephesians is a wonderful book to explore this topic because it provides us with both the foundation and the application that we need to become who we are.
The first half of Ephesians provides us with the foundation that we need to know who we are. The first three chapters are a rich exploration of our identity in Christ. We will explore how Christians are those who have been chosen, predestined, and adopted in Christ. This means that God is our Father, and we are his children. We will explore how Christians are those who have been made alive by God’s regenerating power and saved by grace alone through faith alone. This means we have nothing to boast about before God and are completely dependent upon him for salvation. We will also explore how being in Christ brings us together into new spiritual family—the church—and how being reconciled to God reconciles us to one another. In summary, the first half of the book is an exploration of who we are in Christ.
But Ephesians doesn’t just provide us with the foundation we need to know who we are; it also provides us with the application we need to become who we are. The second half of the book explores how our identity should shape and transform every part of our lives. Paul begins chapter 4 with these words: “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called” (Eph. 4:1). In the verses that follow he unpacks how we should live in our personal lives, our relationships, our churches, our families, our marriages, and our communities. Paul says that in all things we are to “put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph 4:24).
Life over the past year has been disrupted in so many ways, which has left many Christians feeling disoriented. One of the best ways we can reorient ourselves is to come back to God’s word and remember who we are. Therefore, I hope you will join us on Sunday mornings as we begin our journey through the Book of Ephesians, and as we begin the New Year, I encourage you to make this resolution: Resolve this year to become more and more who you are in Christ.