Who Are You??

(last week's senior high message, first in the Identity series)

What do you see when you look in the mirror?

I know for girls, we tend to be hard on ourselves. Freckles, awkward features, disproportionate or unhappy about color, shape and size. Boys mostly see awesome. :)

Have you ever wondered what does God see when He looks at you??

The Word, which is the only truth you can build your life on, says this about you.

Genesis 1:27 So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.

You may think that was about Adam and Eve, but you were created in His image too.

Let your brain sink into that for a moment, made in the image of God. To be like Him, not to replace Him. We were created to be companions with God, to have relationship with Him.

You all know the story of Adam and Eve. And you probably know about their great fall. Let me refresh your memory.

Genesis 3:1-7 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

² The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, ³ but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”

⁴ “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. ⁵ “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

⁶ When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. ⁷ Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

So thus, Adam and Eve lost right relationship with God and opened themselves up to sin and sickness and ultimately death.

Fast forward 4000+ years and enter you.

You were born into sin. Hate to say it, but that’s just the way the world works. Want to challenge me on that? Have you ever taken something that wasn’t yours? (stealing) Ever wanted something that belonged to someone else? (envy) Ever stretched the truth a bit? (lying) Ever thought you were better than someone else? (pride)

You see, thanks to Adam and Eve, we are all sinners. Don’t get too upset, you probably would have made the same choice. In fact, at first opportunity, you did. The first time you wanted a cookie and your mom said no and you threw a fit, you entered into sin all on your own.

Now let me share the good news. Even on that day, way back 4000 years ago, God knew we’d choose sin. And He had a contingency plan all along. Genesis 3:15 is His first reference to His salvation plan. Jesus came and lived a perfect life free from the entanglements of sin. And He died on a cross in our place, paying our cost for sin, for all mankind.

See, you were so valuable that God was willing to pay anything to restore relationship with you. Jesus was His most valuable asset.

Even when you didn’t know who God was, He knew about you. While you were living it up in sin, doing whatever you wanted whenever you wanted, He had His eye on you.

It’s kind of hard to picture it.

Let me share a clip with you from a favorite movie of mine.

(set up, Jean Valjean is a broke prisoner who has served his time. The bishop opens his home to Jean, and during the night Jean steals his silverware and runs off. He is found the next day and this is the bishops reaction.)

See, we were liars, thieves, idolaters and haters before we met God. And He loved us anyway. He loved us so much that He bought us with a price. A tremendous price. A price that could only be paid in blood. Just like Jean Valjean, you have been given a new future. It is your choice what to do with that future.

“You were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.” 1 Corinthians 6:20

Remember that a very high price was paid for your life. Honor God with your life in response to that sacrifice.

(Pass out silver forks with ‘paid in full’ tags on them.)

Altar: There are two kinds of people in this room right now.

1.) Maybe you are listening to this and thinking “this is all new!” or “man, I didn’t think of this in this way before.” Maybe you are at a place of making a decision to accept the price Jesus paid for you tonight and move forward in your life with Him. I want to give you that chance now. If your heart is pounding in your chest and you feel like you might want to run out the door and throw up, there’s a good chance God is dealing with you about your salvation. This is your moment. Make a decision now that will affect your eternity, just as much as the silver affected Jean ValJean’s. See, he went on to live a full life, impacting many people around him with love and compassion.

2.) The second group of students in this room have forgotten the price God paid for your soul.. Or cheapened it. You know what Jesus did, but you have let the message of the world sneak in the cracks. You have stopped at salvation and never moved forward to lordship. We need to walk in the light of our salvation every day. Responding to God’s love and mercy, sharing our life with God, allowing Him to lead us, and sharing our story with the people around us. Remember the high cost God paid for you. You need to start living like Jean Valjean, passing out compassion and love to the people around you. Declaring Jesus Lord of your life. Living your paid for life to the fullest, and enjoying relationship with the creator.