Who Am I? [Part 1]

Pastor author and Bible teacher Alan Wright.

If you really want to know your you will not only believe in Jesus, but also practice these sort and pausing exit with any law, now he comes like rising up to the to the pinnacle of the Mount Everest Pastor Alan Wright welcome to another message of good views that will help you see your life. Deliberate excited for you to hear the teaching today.

In the series Galatians is presented at renewal the church in North Carolina able to stay with us throughout the entire program I want to make sure you know how to get our special resource right now. It can be yours for your donation this month made to Alan Wright Ministries so as you listen to today's message go deeper as we send you today special offer.

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Now let's get started with today's teaching here is Alan Wright right for some good news there so June agree, slave or free, male or female in Christ you are all one in Christ are all sons your heirs.

You have been so radically accepted through the blood of the Lord Jesus that is revolutionized the whole sense of belonging for your life and nothing can ever remove the security from your life. It changes everything to know who you really are about 30 to nearly 30 years ago when I fall in love with my wife.

She was education major Carolina. She had an assignment to do what even I want to go on a date. She was working on some projects he had to do a she was early childhood educators you doing a bulletin board had all the different pictures of kids doing different things. She was cutting them out and so I told Rod help with her project as if I never cared a lot about the project. I really wanted on a day whether, but I help cut out the pictures of the children and the things and remake in the Baltimore thing and she said we need a title to go across the top. That's what's really important and so I blurted out I want to say who am I? And she said okay and so she turned and the assignment and the teacher education professor wrote her back here in A+ and said this is profound. I can you know you asked the existential question of life that you know every child is asking this question, who am I in a lie where to come up with such a great thing like that amount of cynicism on my first things to impress my life. I came up with.

Who am I and and we got to go out to remove your whatever word I do, but now here I am 30 years later I realize it is the great lie in every child asking who am I got along job along in a family not belong in a society to do and accepted here, or is there something wrong with me and I'm not acceptable yet. Who am I and how to how do I belong here. It's, it's the question that is in the heart of every human being, and Paul and his astounding epistle to the Christians in Galatia is writing to people who have been duped into believing by some Judea stick Judaizing teachers that have been teaching that in addition to the grace of the Lord Jesus which you received by faith. In addition to what Jesus is not on the cross and his resurrection, and through the outpour of the Holy Spirit. In addition to this saving redemptive work of God. You also need to keep certain ceremonial laws like like circumcision or dietary laws. You need to you need to do some things in order to be acceptable or to be accepted if you really want to know that you're in, then you will not only believe in Jesus, but you also practice these certain laws. This is what he's been saying is been building this case up to this point of the of the sufficiency of the sublime work of the Lord Jesus Christ and giving his his life in our place that he died that we might live that he became a curse that we would be blast that he was rejected, then we might be accepted this exchange. This glorious heart of the gospel was at stake and Paul say no you can't mix it with any law, and now he comes like like rising up to the to the pinnacle of the of the of the Mount Everest of the audit all of the gospel itself when it comes to this glorious revelation of our acceptance in Christ and and and is laying this out in Galatians chapter 3 I want to pick up reading in verse 24. As we move towards our verse for today. Verse 28. Let's let's get a little running start verse 24 so then the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith is, were no longer under a guardian for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God through faith in me just pause and say what we've seen in recent messages is that the law is good and that the law is from God, but the law never was able to empower anyone to live out the obedience that the law required.

In other words, balls and wind in the law.

If it were not safe to all the law pointed out to us, our transgressions, and the law. Therefore pointed us to our great need for Jesus.

And so Paul is making this beautiful and sophisticated argument to Jewish believers that Abraham, to whom the promise was spoken came 500 years before Moses, to whom the law was given the promise came before the laws of the law can't nullify the promise. If you start thinking you're going to live under the law is your means of acceptance, then your you are really like a prisoner under a prison guard and hear what he uses the image of a guardian in wealthy families in ancient Rome. They would often hire or perhaps even have a slave it would be a guardian for the other young children, it wouldn't be the teacher. They wouldn't really be the schoolmaster of some translations say they would be a strict disciplinarian that would follow the child around often in pictures. These guardians were depicted with a cane or a rod. They were variously described as is very harsh and they would keep the child and in line and so what was saying is that the law is like this. If you if your under the law, then it at least it's serving this this function that is designed to try to just keep guard around your life and there's there is therefore says something that is that is good about the law and just the law can never make you good the law can never can never do that. It's okay thing that there something that would be be guarding as I thought my friend Richard Moore my Vandals rent and he has daughter just two weeks age different from our 17-year-old been in and Rich was teaching and this is the Bible college to some young students there and I was saying my daughter should not be dating any of you all and us it all be looking at are no begin around her and he says just remember if you ever do that. I'm not afraid to go back to jail. So that was to assess Richard Victor for a ride there, but it does got a good you got some I look and after you like that what Paul is saying, though, is that you were not intended to live your life like your under a prisoner guard or or a custodial guardian this post to go around as they do this don't do that year you did too much you should eat more green beans need to go to bed earlier. You need to get up, make up your bag clean up your you're supposed to grow that the vision that Paul is talking about here something so much greater than living under the law. That's that's what is been taught medicine comes towards this magnificent crescendo in Christ. Verse 26. You are all sons of God through faith.

For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ there is neither Jew or Greek is neither slave or free is either male or female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring and heirs according to promise. It's who you are is where you belong. You can know it for certain is the opposite. Like in the in the world is it that wherever there's any form of law is mixed in with the gospel, it creates a a a wall of hostility, it created is good creates an eight who's in and who's out and in and it can seem so arbitrary and and so anyways I love Dr. Seuss ever heard of his snitches was stars on their bellies. Now the star belly snitches had bellies with stars the plane belly snitches had none upon VARs that challenge right will have more teaching in a moment from today's important series an option for 99 days in a row. Someone tells you, I love you my letter for site when you feel cherished. The what would happen if I'm hundred seen person sad that Shayna got enough for me to measure about the Colletti anymore. When that one day contaminate the meaning of the other 99 days when 1% of conditional love poison. The other 99% will just 1% of lies enough to spoil grace instead of locking introducing unlimited capacity for fear if I don't measure up. When my having rejected when the Judaizers infiltrated the Galatian church.

They pass Apollo is outraged and read a letter that describes the essence of the gospel of grace and why it must not be mixed with any form of Alan Wright's 12 message idea series trumpets the power of the gospel in order to set you free empower you with pure grace.

It's called Galatians and asked the gospel discover the purity and power the grace of God.

When you make your gift to Alan Wright ministry said I will send you Pastor Alan's messages in an attractive CD album with your digital download as our way of saying thanks for your partnership. We are in our final days of offering the special product.

Call us at 877-544-4860 877-544-4861 come to our website Pastor Alan.like today's teaching now continues here once again is Alan writing those stars were so big they were really so small you might think such a thing wouldn't matter at all, but because they had stars all the star belly snitches would brag where the best kind of snitches on the beaches with their suits in the air, they would sniff and they'd snort will have nothing to do with the plane belly sort whenever they met some when they were out walking the bait hiked right on past them without even talking, and so his story goes on the rhyme continues to explain all the that the feelings of inferiority of the plane belly snitches had because they didn't have the stars on their bellies and so they were never acceptable and they were never accepted, and so they wanted to be accepted and thus comes along an entrepreneur named Mick Dean who continues quickly Sylvester Mick monkey Mick being put together a very peculiar machine and he said you want stars like a star belly snitch, my friends, you can have them for three dollars each. And so it was that all of the plane belly snitches go through the machine and now they all have stars on their bellies, just like the star billing snitches.

The problem now for the star billing snitches who always knew they were accepted because they have stars on their bellies. Now everybody has a star on their belly. So who can know who's in and who's out so you might guess it Mick being ever the entrepreneur says belly stars are no longer in style, said Mick being what you need is a trip through my star off machine. This wondrous contraption would take off your stars so you won't look like snitches who have them on VARs and that handy machine worked very precisely removed all the stars from their tummies quite nicely then with snoops in the air.

They paraded about and they open their beaks and let out a shout. We know who is who we know there is and adapt the best kind of snitches are snitches with out will as you can imagine, the story goes on.

Now the snitches that do have stars on the bellies realized that to be really and you need to not have a star on your belly and so they too began to go through the star off contraption and pretty soon what you have is a wild extravaganza of people going through the various machines. All the rest of that day on those wild screaming beaches. The fix it up. Chappy kept fixing up snitches off again on again and again it out again through the machines they raised around and about again changing their stars every minute or two they kept paying money. They kept running through until neither the plane nor the star bellies knew whether this one was that when our that one was this one or which one was what wonder what one was to story ends pretty happy with Dr. Seuss and I'm quite happy to say that the snitches got really quite smart on that day, the day they decided that snitches are snitches, and no kind of speech is best on the beaches that they all the snitches forgot about stars and whether they had one or not upon VARs is so arbitrary is an I was what time I was a kid I was.

I was in a high school party of some chai with a bunch of people all around my house and it was boring and in his standing there and I didn't really want to be there and those of my friends around. I don't know why some. I was feeling was so role of electric tight black electrical tape that was building shelters fill around in one of the guys I got a piece on his nose black electrical tape and is a black electrical tape is is all you okay and like I like it and so a couple others we get these of black electrical tape on our nose. Then we had about 50's had black electrical tape comes knowledge and say let's go walk around the obit and so is Darla grantor is like nowhere where went with that bully got black electrical tape on those documents we made up some reason or not, you know, I have some important symbol or not, but it was a spicy reset when Yasser buys Dylan and the people stars and where can I get the tape and tell you the truth I within a hours time required is 75% of this unit 500 is about 75 got black tape on the nose only was it didn't have black people in is because they couldn't find that the blessed black tape to get on to their their nose in the numbing is the idea why the black tape is on their noses just if you could be in you got black tape on your nose or if you go to be in young star on your belly or you don't have a star on your about to be in the new Habitual circumcision. We keep dietary laws or you don't associate with Gentiles or your mail or your female or your it seems so arbitrary and weird lawn towards the wall because we are so desperately wanting to know who we are and if you don't know who you are. If you don't ever have a deep sense of this burning accepting presence in your life then you don't know it deeply, inwardly, and thus the attraction to the law law is a means by which identified some unintended somebody to help. So if you want to be and you be attracted to the law. Is this something you can do to make yourself acceptable what Paul's been leading up to Swiss physician Paul Turney.

I was a medical doctor. He began midway in his career treating people more spirit, soul and body, and became a really profound writer and physician of the soul, and underneath all that attorney a teaches is that that we are not born is as persons we become persons we are born as living human beings in an end and and yet you become a person with it with an identity and you, you discover that personhood and that and that if we don't ever have that profound accepting place where we can discover who we really are, then heat.

We are what he called personages. We enter were relate with others. According to ideas in things and principles and rules and party labels attorney a right to become a person to discover the world of persons to acquire the sense of the person to be more interested in people as persons than in their ideas with the party labels means a complete revolution changing the climate of our lives it. It is the say essentially that when a child comes into the world that that child shut the little children. It is amazing there. There's little children who have not learned anything else from the world. There are amazing date they can they see something that they like and they giggle, or they they smile, or they squeal for something they don't like. They frowned, they scream they cry to let you know I want that I don't want this like that I don't like that and in and there's something that's incredible about the freedom of a little child to to be like that the child is wanting to emerge into a person unique person made by God in his image with a unique destiny and end, and what happens it to a greater or lesser extent, is that the child looks around and realizes that people are at times disappointed in me and don't seem to accept me as much based on certain behaviors are certain things that I do and is a very complicated dance and parenting because you wanted to accept her child fully, unconditionally and lovingly, and yet also train the child up in the way they should go. But even in the most healthy of homes we can do this perfectly, we don't do this perfectly.

We have times where we are more tyrannical trying to make the child in the something that we want the child to be, because our own satisfaction and other times in which we are passive we miss moments of instruction where we are reminding a child of who they are and and we we don't do this perfectly that it's an wonderfully intricate and beautiful dance and thankfully for from mostly grow up in a in a healthy home they they find that they have another healthy boundaries that are established in that home, they can try out who they really are and what they're supposed to do with their life and discover their personhood. Be a person Turney I say you you have to be able to do say no I don't like that yes I like this I want to go this direction. I feel like this your thoughts, your desires are who you are. This all matters.

You see an end yet and yet the parent is there instructing so that is not just Ali is bound up in the heart of the child. What delicate and in beautiful balance, but is never done perfectly so you growing up and you realize that that that that when I did this this this. My mother was disappointed in me and so you begin to adapt. I want to be accepted, so you won't be running there's some identifying right way with this message and getting her more of it as we conclude this teaching on our next broadcast, but Allen is in the studio and back in a moment with additional insight on who am I teaching for today in our series on Galatians.

Our final word is coming up next to the power of blessing your life, discover God's grace filled vision for your life by signing rights, free daily breast he went to fill your heart with grace and encouragement. Allen writes a daily blessing. It's free. I'm just a click away.

Pastor I got away a mountain for 99 days in a row. Someone tells you, I love you my mother forsake when you feel cherished.

But what would happen if I'm hundred day that same person.

Sad sugar get enough for me to measure about think I love you anymore.

When that one day contaminate the meaning of the other 90 days when 1% of conditional love poison. The other 99% will just 1% of lies enough to spoil grace instead of locking introducing unlimited capacity for fear if I don't measure up. When my heavy rejected when the Judaizers infiltrated the Galatian church a possible policy outraged and read a letter that describes the essence of the gospel of grace and why it must not be mixed with any form of Allen writes 12 message I series trumpets the power of the gospel in order to set you free empower you with pure grace. It's called Galatians and asked the gospel discover the purity and power the grace of God. When you make your gift to Allen Wright ministries today will send you Pastor Alan's message as an attractive CD album with your digital download as our way of saying thanks for your partnership. We are in our final days of offering the special product.

Call us at 877-544-4860 877-544-4864 come to our website. Pastor Alan.like for the one who hesitant if I with these teaching and I can't wait for the conclusion of an exhibition of the broadcast. What you take away today. Just remember, we tend to live out of our identity. We behave and we think, in accord with how we view our own lives here.

Daniel is the important thing we tend to believe about ourselves with the most important person in the world to us says about which goes far to explain why it has to be the Christ and the word of God is the most important truth that we could ever pay attention to learn who you are in Christ and then you'll live out today's good news message is a listener supported production Allen Wright ministries