IN HIM - Part 13 - Five Fingerprints of Your Identity

We're living in victory! The battle's won in victory! We've overcome whatever comes our way! No one can change the sea! We're living in victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! Hello brothers and sisters, this is Mike Kennedy with the Living in Victory broadcast. We're going to continue our series titled, In Him. This is part 13 of the series. If you haven't joined with us in the previous messages, I encourage you to go back. The Lord has provided us some great revelation that will help us. Amen? This series is based on Philemon verse 6. It says that the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgement of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus. Every good thing that is in you is because of who you are in Christ Jesus. Amen? We are holy and without blame before God, in love because of Jesus. If you would turn with me to Ephesians chapter 1 verse 3. But before you turn there, let's join together in faith. Amen? Heavenly Father, we come to you. We thank you for your goodness. We thank you for your protection, your prosperity, your healing, all that you have done for us. Heavenly Father, we ask you for revelation of your word. That we would understand who we are in you. What we have in Christ Jesus. What we can do in Christ Jesus. Father, we ask you for it. Touching and agreeing on this. In the name of Jesus. Amen. Ephesians chapter 1 verse 3 says, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. He's blessed us with every spiritual blessing.

Now this word spiritual blessing here is the same word that is used in 1 Corinthians chapter 12 verse 1. Which is referring to the gifts of the Spirit. Amen? Remember these are gifts from God from His Spirit. It goes on in verse 8 it says, To one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit. To another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit. To another faith by the same Spirit. To another gifts of healings by the same Spirit. To another working of miracles. To another prophecy. To another discerning of spirits. To another different kinds of tongues. To another interpretation of tongues. There's nine different gifts mentioned here. Now we aren't going to go into it in depth today. But if we break these down. Three of the gifts are gifts where men speaks. References are manifestations where men speaks. Three of them are gifts that do things. Powerful manifestations. Healings. Power of faith. Amen? And three of them are things where God speaks. Gives us a word of wisdom. A word of knowledge. Discerning of spirits. Now the word of wisdom it deals with the future. Plans and purposes of God. The word of knowledge deals with something in the present.

Amen? Now let's continue on and go back to Ephesians chapter 1 verse 4. It goes on to say, Just as He chose us and Him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love. God chose you before the foundation of the world. Before He said light be. Before He created the universe. Before He created the earth, the animals, the reptiles, the dinosaurs. He had plans for you and me. Before the foundation of the world. The New Living Translation Bible says in Ephesians 1.4 God chose us and Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes. Just think of that. Because of what Jesus has done we are holy. We have been made righteous. We are holy before Him in His eyes. Now you don't have to live in condemnation over all the ways you've missed it. All the areas you've missed. You have sinned because they're washed away and you have been made right in Him if you receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior. If you acknowledge your sins, ask for forgiveness, repent which means change, and receive the repentance which is a gift of God. Amen? Ephesians chapter 1 verse 5 says, Having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself according to the good pleasure of His will. Let's break that scripture down a little bit. Having predestined. Predestined means we are assured of the appointed plan and guaranteed destiny for those who receive Jesus. In other words, Jesus has a plan for you and for me. Glory to God, I received that plan. We were adopted. God has a choice and He

chose us. It was His good pleasure to adopt us. Amen? Even though He knew our sin, He knew our shortcomings, He knew all of that, He sent His Son to pay the debt for our sins so that He could buy us back. What a ransom He paid for you and for me. That's the biggest ransom note and ransom payment ever paid for anything. Now hold your place here in Ephesians chapter 1 verse 5. We're going to turn to 1 Peter 2 9. Amen? We may be here for a few minutes. 1 Peter 2 verse 9 it says, But you are a chosen generation. Now, this is what the title is based on today. There are five fingerprints of your identity listed here in 1 Peter 2 9 and 2 10. In these two verses are five key things that define us. Amen? And who our identity is in Him. You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light, who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now obtained mercy. So there's five things, a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, and then we're His special people, the people of God. Amen? And now we have maintained and obtained mercy. All five of those. Let's break each one down. Chosen, that means we're not rejected by God. Glory to God, you have not been rejected by the Creator of heaven and earth. God Himself, He receives us as children because of what Jesus did. It does not mean He accepted us as we are. It doesn't say acceptance. There are some new translations that use the word acceptance. No, He doesn't accept us in all of our weird ways, all of our sin. Amen? We must receive Him the way He told us He would be received. In other words, there's only one way to the throne

of grace, one way to be accepted by God. Amen? And that is if we repent and we receive Jesus. Jesus preached not acceptance, He preached repentance in the kingdom of God. He is a God of love, but if you go back and study Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, you find out that He preached repentance in the kingdom of God. We must come to God in the name of Jesus. Allah is dead, Buddha is dead. Amen? Jesus is the only way. He is alive and on the throne. We must receive Jesus. We must repent, and then we can go to the throne of grace and receive mercy from God. Amen? You know, I can go to the throne of God directly today. I can't go to the President's Oval Office, but I can go to the throne of the Creator because of what Jesus did, because I know who I am in Christ Jesus. And if you know who you are in Christ Jesus, just think of that. You can go to the throne of the Creator. Amen? You know, many of us have experienced times where we were rejected. We were chosen last. There's everybody in the playground picking people to be on the team, and you're the last one. You're over in the corner. kicking the dirt, hoping, not the last, please don't make me the last. And you're the last one picked, amen? Think of the things that people have chosen. Some of the crazy things, like the 1970s clothes, wrong careers because they wanted to impress people, wrong jobs, they joined a club because they wanted to be chosen by people or selected by people. You wanted to be accepted by people. But God chose you, amen? Glory to God.

People are happy because they got an award at work, something of that nature, but just think of God choosing you. Now that should make your day, amen? He chose you over planets. He chose you over all the earth, everything in the universe, galaxies, suns, and stars. There was only one thing that could buy us back, and that was the precious, priceless blood of his own son. And he was willing to pay that ransom, that price for you. My, my, my. Titus 3, 7 says that having been justified by his grace, we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. This is one of the verses that in some translations, it says, having been accepted. That can be misleading. We're not accepted in our sinful ways, but accepted because we received Jesus and the justification he paid for our sins. God receives us, but he expects us to change, to be renewed in our mind daily, amen? To walk in the goodness of God. It's not based on our performance. It's based on the gift of God, hallelujah. We need to accept the gift of repentance, accept the gift of justification by God through Jesus Christ, amen? So first of all, you are a chosen person by God, amen? Who else would you want to be chosen by

and selected by that's greater than God? There is nothing, there is no one, amen? Secondly, you are a royal priesthood. You say, I ain't no priest. Well, let's go to the word. First, royalty. Man, not just a priest, you are royalty priesthood. Man, earthly kings and princes have nothing on you, amen? See, the crucifixion destroyed the old system of the Levitical priesthood and established a new system where all who follow Jesus would become royal priest. You may not look like it today, you might not act like it, sound like it, you may not be living like it, but you have been made that, amen? In the new covenant, we are not physically born into the priesthood. Instead, we receive Jesus. We are spiritually born into this status, amen? You know, I've traveled all over the world and in India, they've got the caste system. And in the Hindu society, based on the caste, you have certain privileges. And there are certain things that only the Brahmins are allowed to do. You can't study, you can't work your way into becoming part of that division of the caste system. You must be born into it. It's not that different from how things were in the Levitical tribe in the Old Testament.

You had to be born as a Levite. But now with Jesus, we can become one in Jesus by receiving him. By accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we become new creatures in him, amen? Hallelujah. Those are the people called to minister to the kingdom. You have been called to be a royal priest, not a five-fold ministry person necessarily. What that means is you may not be called to do what I'm doing in five-fold ministry, full-time preaching the word as a pastor, evangelist, amen? But you are called to be a priest. And we're gonna talk about what that means, what does a priest do? We're called to be priests of God because of our spiritual birth when we receive Jesus, amen? You know, in Japan, Thailand, places like that, they honor and love their kings, their leaders. They talk differently about them and to them than they would normal people, just average people, because they're part of the royal family. They're given notable respect because they've got significant influence and authority. Just think of that. You have been given influence. You have been given authority in the name of Jesus against principalities, against rulers, against kings, against schemes of the enemy, against Satan, amen?

You have been given that authority. Glory to God. You're not a nobody. You're a royal priest. Glory to God. Think of that. Glory, glory, glory. You know, so we have been given a position to baptize, to set free, to lay hands on the sick, and for them to recover. Amen? To serve the Lord's Supper and take communion. You can do that at your home. Amen? You can lead people into communion. You can lead people to the throne of grace. He has appointed and commissioned us to represent Him on this earth for spiritual service, making disciples, training other people. You say, I can't do that. You're doing that just by your example, by what you do daily. Amen? See, priests do two things. They represent God to man, and they intercede for man to God. You can pray for other people, and you can be a representative of what God has done for you. You can share, hey, I'm locked up, but God has forgiven me. He's merciful. God saved me. He healed me. He blessed me here. My name's in the Lamb's Book of Life. That is part of being a priest for God. Royalty. Amen? That's who you are. You're part of the royal priesthood. In Revelations chapter 1 verse 6, it says, And He has made us king. He has made us that way. Kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen? He has made you that way. This third thing mentioned was holy. You say, huh, you don't know what I did last week. I'm not holy. Man, we've all sinned and come short of the glory of God. But if you receive Jesus, my, my, my, you are valued, and you have been made holy. You have been made righteous. That means made right in standing with Him. Hebrews chapter 10 verse 10 says, By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once and for all. Sanctified. That means set apart or made holy. The New Living Translations actually uses the word holy. It says, For God was for us to be made holy. His will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all time. That is His will. That is His desire. That is why He sent His Son. He did His part. Man, why would we reject that gift of eternal life? People are doing it all day long. To be set apart as God's holy people because of what Jesus did. Amen? First Peter chapter 1 verse 15 says, And He who

called you is holy. You also be holy in all your conduct because it is written, Be holy for I am holy. Make wise decisions, right decisions. Choose what is right. Amen? Be holy because God is holy. Amen? And He expects us as His children to live a holy righteous life. Amen? Yeah, you miss it. I've missed it. But we can choose to walk in His ways. Amen? We don't have to miss it every day. We don't have to choose a lifestyle of sin. Yeah, we're gonna make mistakes. We're human. Get right, repent, move on. Amen? The fourth thing it said was we are people of God. People of God. In other words, God is our owner. He paid the price. He ransomed us. He owns us. Just think of that. You are owned either by Satan as a servant of Satan or you are owned by the Creator. I want to be owned by God and I am owned by Him. I belong to the King of Kings. Amen? To the Lord of Lords. This is my true identity. It needs to be your true identity that you are a child of God, that you are part of the people of God, the kingdom of God. The NCV translation in Deuteronomy 7, 6 says, You are a holy people who belong to the Lord your God. He has chosen you from all the people on the earth to be His very own. He chose you. Oh, there's other people who have been chosen but they rejected it. Mmm. My, my, my. You are valuable. You know, if I had a pair of Nike shoes that I wore playing basketball, you probably wouldn't pay much for them. But if I had a pair of Nike Jordans worn by Michael Jordan in the NBA finals or in the Olympics, people would pay big bucks for them. We are children of the sons of God. We're something because of who we are in Christ. Think of that pair of tennis shoes people would pay a lot for. What did Jesus pay so that you could be ransomed? A lot more than those Jordan high tops. Amen? God looks at you as one of his chosen, treasured people. My, my, my. Glory to God. In Isaiah 43, verse 4, it says we are precious to God in his sight. He sees us as precious. Your parents may not have called you precious or they may have called you precious. Oh, ain't that precious? Sarcastically, but in God's eyes, you truly are precious. You are valuable. You are worth something. Amen? Luke 12, 24 in the New Living Translation says, look at the ravens. They don't plant or harvest or store food in barns for God feeds them and you are far more valuable to him than any birds. You are people of God. He will provide for you. He will prosper you. All your needs can be met and should be met in him. Amen? The Living Bible in 1 Corinthians 7, 23 says,

you have been bought and paid for by Christ so you belong to him. Be free now from all earthly prides and fears. We should be fear free. Amen? We should be totally void of any fears, any condemnation, living in victory. Amen? People are often ashamed of certain family members because of what they act, what they have done, you know, what they don't do. God is not ashamed of you. The New Living Translations in Hebrews chapter 2, verse 11 says, so now Jesus and the ones he makes holy, that's you and me. Amen? Have the same father, the creator. This is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them his brothers and sisters. He made me holy. My, my, my. He calls me his own brother. I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. How about you? No, you're not ashamed of it. Boldly confess it. Amen? Jeremiah 31, 3 says, long ago the Lord said to Israel, I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love, with unfailing love. I have drawn you to myself. In this verse, we find two things. One, it's an unending, constant love. It never ends. It never fades. It never grows weary or lack. Secondly, it's unconditional. He loves us, but he doesn't necessarily accept our evil ways. He doesn't accept those. He accepts us because he sees us through what Jesus has done. If you receive Jesus as a child of God. Amen? He loves us in spite of our mistakes, in spite of our issues. Psalms chapter 100 verse 5 says, For the Lord is good, his mercy is everlasting, and his truth endures to all generations. The New Living Translation of Psalms 100 verse 5 says, For the Lord is good, his unfailing love continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to each generation. That sounds like Jeremiah 31, 3 doesn't it? God is real. He is love, not fake love, not like if you do something for me, if you support me, I will love you. No, that's selfishness. If you sleep with me, I will love you. No, that's lust. Amen? Glory to God. You are more valuable than the birds and God will take care of them. Now, that is some animal that is truly on God's welfare plan. They eat and that's about it, but God chose you and he will provide for you if you turn towards him, if you repent, if you do things his way. Amen? Seek him and he'll show you how to come up, how to come out, how to prosper. Amen? Glory to God. And the fifth thing is you are a recipient of the mercy of God. The New Living Translation in 1 Peter 2 10 says, Once you had no identity, as a people. Now you are God's people. Once you received no mercy, now you have received God's mercy. Mercy has given us His forgiveness. Mercy that endures forever. Amen. His forgiveness, He doesn't put it in a box or hold it off to the side waiting for some day for you to mess up again and bring it to your attention and condemn you for all the ways you have missed it. No. When you

repent, you are washed clean. His mercies endure forever. They're washed away. He remembers them no more. You say, well He's God. He can't forget. He chooses to forget because He has truly forgiven you. Amen. When you forgive somebody, forget it. Throw it away. Cast it out. Don't think about it anymore. Amen. Think about what Jesus did for you. He loved you so much that He spread His arms on the cross, made a widespread birth saying, I love you this much, and He died for you. Amen. Because He was willing to pay the price, take upon all sin of all mankind, go to hell for three days because He wanted you. He wasn't willing to live in eternity forever without you, so He was willing to pay that great price for you. He loves you. Amen. Remember we started off in Ephesians chapter 1 and we read verses 3, 4, and 5. I'm gonna read 6 and 7. Ephesians 1, 6 says, To the praise and glory of His grace by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. That word accepted here means He graced us with His grace or His ability. Verse 7, In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace which He made abound towards us in all wisdom and prudence. Man, every spiritual blessing, He gave us wisdom. Amen. He gave us prudence. He wants us to prosper. That's who you are in Christ Jesus, what you have in Christ Jesus. Amen. Glory to God. The NLT says, All praise to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. Even before He made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ. This is what He wanted to do and it gave Him great pleasure. So we praise God for the glorious grace He has poured out on us who belong to His dear Son. He is so rich in kindness and grace that He purchased our freedom with the blood of His Son and forgave our sins. He has showered His kindness on us along with all wisdom and understanding. Receive what He has for us. Amen. Well this is Mike Kennedy with Living in Victory. Have a blessed day.