NOVO 2023: Who we are
Yesterday, we talked about what we are as human beings. The main points we covered were:
Science helps us to explain the world
We are created in God’s image
We are imperfect, but redeemed
Anyone remember which of the Five Solae we covered yesterday? (Solus Christus)
Jesus is the only one who could have saved us from sin, but he did exactly that for us by dying on the cross and then rising again.
It’s all well and good to say that Jesus did that for our sin, but how do we really know? It might change what state we’re in as human beings—no longer separated from God, but forgiven by him—but what does all that mean for who we are? How does Jesus’ death and resurrection apply to me and change who I am?
That’s what we’re dealing with today: who we are. We’re thinking about identity.
There’s a lot going on around the place at the moment when it comes to identity. I have a question for you: who decides what your identity is? If you are influenced by the world around you, you would say that each person decides their own identity.
So, who decides my identity? Who decides who I am? Me.
Our society tells us that you can choose who you want to be. It can be really good to have choices, but it can also add a lot of pressure. Too many choices can make life really tricky. Some examples:
School subjects
Future career
How you want to spend your weekends
Whether you want to play sport or not
How you want people to refer to you
Your gender
When your parents were kids, they didn’t have to make as many choices as you do. They would’ve had to pick a few subjects towards the end of school and probably what they got up to on weekends to some degree, but a lot of those things were already chosen for them. Sometimes, parents used to pick the career for their children, especially if it was taking up the family business or farm. Sometimes, weekends were already pre-determined as well, which included going to church for a lot of them. A lot of choices were made for them.
That’s not the case anymore. Your parents probably still make the decisions about what to cook for dinner and that kind of thing, but you get a say in pretty much everything else. It’s not always good and it’s not always bad, but it’s very different.
Do you wish more choices were made for you? Or do you like having say in your life?
The truth is, having more and more control over our own lives always leads to choices that are about “me”. Whenever we’re given the chance, we make everything about ourselves. If things are going badly, it’s my fault. If things are going well, it’s because I made it good.
Our society doesn’t teach us about the Five Solae—it teaches us one. There’s no Scripture alone, Christ alone, grace alone etc.
There’s just me and me alone. Ego solus, that would be.
That’s not how we’re called to live. Let’s see what Paul has to say to the Roman Christians about identity:
What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.
Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.
Romans 6:1–10 (NIV)
Yesterday, we said that what we are depends on Christ alone and his saving work. Who we are, our identity, is based on baptism.
Who has seen a baptism before?
Baptism is when someone is either sprinkled with water or fully immersed in it as part of a church ritual. It’s the first thing we do when someone comes to faith in Jesus. In the Lutheran church, most baptisms we see are of babies. When a child is born, their parents bring their child to us, sometimes as early as a month old, to have them baptised. That was me, maybe it was you, too.
Why do we baptise people so early? Why do we do it at all? What’s so important about baptism?
Jesus has a lot to say about baptism. He even got baptised himself! He said that if we want to be a part of God’s kingdom, we need to be “born again” by “water and the Spirit” (John 3). We believe that baptism is more than just a symbol or a ritual—it’s a death and resurrection.
St Paul said a lot about baptism, too: “We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” (Ro. 6:4) In baptism, our sinful self is drowned and a new person comes to life.
What does all of this have to do with identity? Being a baptised person means that you can be absolutely sure that you are a part of God’s kingdom and you have new life in Him. You can be certain that in that moment of recorded time, you were claimed as His child. In baptism, God decides who you are—one of his precious children. Your heavenly Father decides your identity.
Baptism is not just a once-off event, though. Being baptised means now living with Christ each and every day. Baptism is a daily thing. Once you are baptised, there are heaps of ways to live in it:
Gathering with other baptised people to hear from God and worship Him
Having a daily rhythm of prayer and Bible reading
Being who God has called you to be (more on that in another message)
Learning more about God by reading and listening to others
Sharing your faith with family and friends
Baptism changes how we live because in baptism, we are given the new life of Christ. That completely changes who we are.
We’re looking at the Five Solae during NOVO this year. Yesterday, we did solus Christus.
Today’s sola is sola gratia: “grace alone”.
What’s grace? Let’s ask ChatGPT.
What is grace?
Grace can have multiple meanings depending on the context in which it is used. Generally speaking, grace refers to a sense of elegance, beauty, or refinement in movement, posture, or behaviour. It can also refer to a disposition of kindness, forgiveness, or mercy shown towards others.
In a religious context, grace often refers to the unmerited favour or kindness shown by a divine being towards humanity, as a gift or blessing that cannot be earned or deserved.
Not bad, but it could be better. Maybe ChatGPT can help us connect grace and baptism.
What does grace have to do with baptism?
Grace is often closely associated with the Christian sacrament of baptism. Baptism is seen as a means of receiving God's grace and becoming a member of the Christian community.
In Christianity, baptism is considered a sacrament, which is a religious ritual that is believed to impart spiritual grace to the individual who receives it. Through baptism, Christians are cleansed of their sins and are reborn as new beings in Christ, filled with the grace of God.
The idea of grace is central to the Christian faith, and many Christians believe that the grace of God is essential for salvation. Baptism is seen as one of the ways in which God's grace is made available to believers, allowing them to experience the transformative power of God's love and forgiveness.
Overall, the connection between grace and baptism is that baptism is seen as a way of receiving and experiencing the grace of God, which is a central aspect of the Christian faith.
Pretty good, but too many words. What does ChatGBC have to say about grace?
What is grace?
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.
Ephesians 2:8 (NIV)
God saves us by grace alone. That means that God saves us, forgives us our sin, and makes us a part of his family, as a gift. It doesn’t cost us anything to sign up. We don’t have to meet certain criteria or have any prerequisite subjects under our belt.
How do we get this grace? Not by anything we do—praying extra hard, singing extra loud, being a super good person. God gives it to us in specific ways—baptism is one of them. The other ones are the Lord’s Supper and his Word, but we’re just focusing on baptism today.
So, that’s the bigger picture of who we are.
Our identity, who we are, is not about what we do. We are God’s people by His grace alone.
