Hi everybody, Pastor Vince here. Thanks for joining me on this Friday edition of Life Lifters. Our whole purpose is to give your life a lift through a five minute blast of encouragement and scripture.

This week, we are wrapping up our first of two weeks. This is a unique thing that we're doing for Life Lifters. Usually, we have a theme for a week. This time, I'm engaged in a theme for two weeks and I hope it helps you. When you become a Christian, you have a brand new identity in Christ. So many people do not understand their identity in Jesus Christ and I want to talk to you about 10 different things that take place in your life to give you a brand new identity the moment you become a Christian. If you don't know your new identity in Christ, you won't live your new life in Christ, so it's important to understand them. So far, I've talked about four of them and today I want to talk to you about a fifth and that's this: you are redeemed.

Now, don't let that make you feel like a coupon. When I hear the word 'redeemed', I think of a coupon. "Here's the coupon for $3 off a large pizza and 25 wings, right?" Or "$3 off hummus" or, "$2 off creamer" or whatever it is. When you turn in a coupon, it's redeemed. We're not a coupon. We're more valuable than a coupon, but that has the idea of what redeemed really does. Let me read Ephesians 1:7a so you can see this fifth identity we have in Christ. It says, "in Him, we have redemption through his blood." What does that mean? We have been redeemed by Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ made the payment. Jesus Christ did everything needed to purchase us to redeem us. It has the idea that we have been freed by the payment of our ransom for sin. Sin means that we have to be forgiven. We have to be dealt with. A payment has to be made for our sins. Jesus Christ made that payment for us and when we put our faith in him, that ransom has been paid to our account. We have been redeemed.

Redeemed also has the idea that you're on a path to a new life. You say, "boy, he did that, now he's on the path to redemption." He's being redeemed. That's true. You have been redeemed and you're being redeemed. God has redeemed your life. He's helping you make up for all the nonsense of your past. You don't earn heaven, but you're being redeemed to say thank you. God is redeeming you. What a great thought that God redeemed you and paid for your sins. No self improvement campaign and no good work effort could ever be enough, only the work of Jesus Christ. As the text says, through his shed blood, can we be redeemed.

Maybe as we end this first week it's important that you know that Jesus Christ wants to redeem you, too. He wants His shed blood to cleanse you from your sin. But you have to want it too, and He'll redeem you. He'll do all the things that we're talking about this week and next week to give you a brand new identity. Do you want that? Then pray with me. Say, "Jesus Christ, I believe that you are God. I believe you paid for all of my sins to redeem me from them and the payment from the penalty and the punishment of them. Thank you for coming into my life. Thank you that You rose from the dead to prove that everything you said about yourself was true. I want you in my life. I want to live for you."

Friend, if you said that, you are redeemed. You're redeemed by Jesus Christ. It's the greatest thing in the world. Let us know about it. Email us at info@lakeshorechurch.org and we'll help you grow in your faith. Redeemed. What a great thought. Well, that's just the first five. Next week we're going to talk about five more ways. You have a new identity in Jesus Christ when you become a Christian. I hope you'll join me then. Thanks.

Hi everybody, Pastor Vince here. Thanks for joining me in this Wednesday edition of Life Lifters. Our whole purpose is to give your life a lift through a five-minute blast of encouragement and scripture.

Today, and this week and next, we're going to do a two week theme about your identity in Christ. Once you become a Christian, you have a brand new identity. Ephesians 1 gives us at least (and I could probably find more) 10 new aspects and features of our new identity in Christ once you become a Christian. These are 10 new identities. They're all encouraging. They're all amazing. They're all supernatural. And they're all super cool. And so far, I've told you in Ephesians 1:3, the first thing you are is you're blessed. In chapter Ephesians 1:4, you are chosen.

Today, I want to talk to you about a third thing that happens to give you a new identity: you are adopted. You become children of Almighty God through Jesus Christ. I get that through verse five, look at what it says. It says, "He predestined us to be adopted, as his sons through Jesus Christ in accordance with his pleasure and will". His pleasure and will refers back to the one we talked about yesterday, chosen, but here's the thing: we are adopted, we become children of the living God.

Now, this is important, because lots of people say this. I hear this and it frustrates me because it's thoroughly unbiblical. You hear people say this all the time, "We are all children of God", and my answer is, no, we are not all children of God. I say that for a number of reasons. Number one, first and foremost, this text says that we become adopted as children of God when we become a Christian. Secondly, Jesus told religious leaders, "you are of your father, the devil", so God couldn't be their father if the devil was their father. You couldn't have two more opposite fathers if you tried. Third, well, we are all the creation of God. While we are all made in the image of God, we are not all children of God; you become a child of God through faith in Jesus Christ. How do I know that? Because the text says you are adopted. What does adopted mean? You go from one family to another. You have left the family of the world and are then adopted into the family of God.

Romans 8 says that when we're adopted, we cry out to God and we call him 'Abba Father'. Adopted means what it means: that you're in the family and you have the reward of the family. You have an inheritance, you have a blessing, you have the nurture, you have everything that comes along with that family when you're adopted. In God's family, you have everything God has for your life because you're in his family. You're now a child of God—a son of God, a daughter of God—you are adopted.

Over the years, I've seen many families adopt children. I'm on record: if you're a great family and you love Jesus Christ and you want me to be someone to sign your reference papers for adoption, I will gladly do it. You know why? Because when a child who's maybe in a bad situation, maybe a child is in a foster home or a child who doesn't have the right situation, gets adopted in the Christian family, they won't fully understand it if they're young, but as they grow old, and if this family truly is living for Christ, this child is blessed beyond belief, because they're adopted. They get all the blessings that come with it. How much more exciting is that when God adopts us? It's an amazing thought that we become children of God and no longer children of the world or of the evil one. What an amazing thought. Adopted. That's your identity in Christ.

Let's pray. Father, thank You for adopting us. We are so blessed. We're so favored. We're so fortunate to call you Our Father, and for you to be our God. Help us to be children, adopted children who live for you, love you, please you and do what counts. Thank you for this amazing thing called adoption, in Jesus name. And through Jesus Christ alone. Amen. You're adopted by God. That's your third identity in Christ. We'll talk about another tomorrow, I hope you can join us. Thanks.

Hi everybody, Pastor Vince here. Thanks for joining me in this Tuesday edition of Life Lifters. Our whole purpose is to give your life a lift through a five-minute blast of encouragement in Scripture. This week and next week, we're doing something unique. We're doing a two-week theme. We're talking about your identity in Jesus Christ. Once you become a Christian, you have a brand new identity, you're a brand new person, God has given you a number of brand new attributes, blessings, and favor. I get this from Ephesians 1, which is a chapter that gives us at least 10 new identities we have. Yesterday I talked about the first thing when you become a Christian and your new identity in Christ, which is you are blessed.

Today I want to talk about the second thing that happens to give you a new identity. Once you become a Christian, your new identity in Jesus Christ and it's this: you are chosen. I get that from Ephesians 1:4 where it says this: "for he that is God through Jesus Christ, he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love, he predestined us." We are chosen, and we are predestined. That means that Jesus Christ picked you for salvation.

Now, when I say that, if you're thinking thoroughly through this, you're going, "does God pick some people and not pick others?" The answer is going to start with you and the truth is, yes. It's a divine mystery because the Bible teaches this amazing tension. The Bible teaches that whoever wills and whoever desires Jesus Christ to come to him. The Bible teaches a certain limited human free will. On the other hand, the Bible teaches in this passage and others that we are chosen; predestined. The Greek word for "predestined" means to pre-arrange. So it's a mystery.

How does free will and God's choosing of us work together? I don't know. I'll never know and you'll never know. But I know both truths are taught. My goal is not to get you to figure out the truth. My goal is to get you to appreciate this: that God has chosen you. What an amazing thought that God has chosen you. Forget all the implications and complications and everything else of free will and election—God has chosen you. He chose us before the foundation of the world. Isn't that an amazing thought, that before we were ever born, he chose us. Jesus said you didn't choose me, but I chose you. It's an amazing thought!

You might say, "God chose us because He knew what was gonna happen." No, He didn't choose us because he knew what was going to happen. That's not choosing, that's acknowledging. He chose us. He preordained it and for that we should be humble. We can't go, "well, the reason why I'm a Christian is because I'm smart, I figured it out." No, you didn't. Flesh and blood didn't reveal this to you. Jesus told Peter, you're just chosen. Now what does that mean? When you're chosen? It means this, you should be humbled before the living God, because He chose you. Out of all the people in the world God chose me. He chose you if you're a Christian. You should appreciate that. Are you humbled by that? Are you floored by that? Here's the truth. You say, "how can God choose some and not others?" I don't know, but I want to throw out another answer to that, perhaps another question to that question, which is just how could God choose anybody at all? How could God choose those who have turned their back on Him, which is all of us? But, he chose us. He chooses wisely.

Thank God for that. Let's pray Father in heaven. It's a humble thought that if we're Christians were chosen by you. The text says it predestined by you. We are humbled by this. And all we can say is thank you. We didn't earn it didn't deserve it. We weren't good enough. We weren't smart enough and weren't at the right place at the right time. No, you chose us in your good pleasure. I certainly pray that you would choose everybody and our family and all of our friends to know you. But right now, we especially say thank you that you chose us and we praise you and we thank you for it. In Jesus' name, amen. Chosen And it's your second identity in Christ. We'll talk about another tomorrow. Thanks.

Hi everybody, Pastor Vince here. Thanks for joining me in this Monday edition of Life Lifters. Our whole purpose is to give your life a 'lift' through a five-minute-blast of encouragement and scripture.

Now, this week, I'm actually doing something I've not done with Life Lifters; I'm actually going to be doing the same theme for two weeks. That means we're going to talk about this very same theme this week and next week for a total of 10 days, not just five. Why? Because I found 10 things that come from an important passage. I'm going to look at Ephesians 1 and we're going to stay there for the next two weeks. I want to talk to you about this important subject—your identity in Jesus Christ.

Here's what I mean by that. When you become a Christian, you have a brand new identity. Now, your social security number doesn't change and your address may not change either, but your destination and your relationship to God does. You are a new person in Christ and when you become a Christian, God instantly does a number of things in your life that are amazing. In Ephesians 1, to my understanding, I'm not aware of any chapter that tells you more of what God has done in your life the moment you become a Christian. Isn't that exciting? All the things God has done in your life... wouldn't you like to know what God has done in your life? Then join me every day for the next two weeks.

I want to begin today with the first thing that God does for you according to Ephesians 1, your new identity in Christ, which is this: you are blessed. You are blessed. I get that from Ephesians 1:3, where the passage starts "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ." Once you are in Christ, you become a Christian. He has blessed you. Now we use this word blessing very cavalier. We hear a lot of people say, like athletes "Oh, you know what? I perform well today and this is the blessing", or, "I have a great team, it's a blessing". But what does a blessing mean? It means you're given divine favor by God. It's interesting that the word blessing (and if you look at the Beatitudes in Matthew 5, you know, the eight blessings... blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, blessed are the meek, etc)... that idea, the word 'blessed', that means divine joy, perfect peace and inner satisfaction that is independent of outward reality. You might be going through stuff on the outside, but you can still be blessed because you have divine joy, perfect peace and inner satisfaction. In short, you have divine favor from God. What an amazing thought. Think about that! Your identity in Christ is that you have divine favor with God; you are blessed. Blessed. God's hand is on your life. You've got favor. He's doing something and you are blessed. What an amazing thought.

People say, you know, "tell me a little bit about you". Well, I grew up in Rochester, I grew up in Gates, I went the Gates Chili... Here's one, tell them this. "Well, a few years ago, I'd done been blessed." Blessed, you are blessed. You're given divine favor from God when you know Jesus Christ! The first thing is you are blessed. It doesn't matter what's going on around you because on the inside, God has given you the opportunity to pursue divine joy, inner satisfaction and perfect peace. And because you're blessed, you are blessed. Do you realize you're blessed? You are. Stop operating in negativity and start operating in the fact that you are blessed by God. It's a great, great thought and you're blessed to be a blessing since God has declared you blessed when you become a Christian. Be a blessing, because you are blessed to be a blessing.

Let's pray. Father, thank you so much that our first identity in Christ, according to Ephesians 1, that we are blessed. Thank you for blessing us. We didn't deserve it, but you've given it to us. Help us appreciate that we're blessed, and in turn, be a blessing to you. A blessing to everyone we possibly can. We ask this in Jesus' name, amen. Hey, you're blessed!