In the Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis's famous children's novels, the Pevensie children and Eustace Scrubb had little to no knowledge of who they were before entering the world of Narnia. You may know these stories, but even if you don't, here's a little bit of background. These children were little kids who had no standing in the physical world, but were given kingdoms in honor and authority in the magical world of Narnia. Aslan the Lion gives them this new identity, as they share in his ultimate rule in Narnia. In these stories, and even like our own stories, we see the phenomenon that we struggle to live in light of. The fact that identity is primarily received, not achieved. The merit of the children did not make them the warrior kings and queens that they were. It was Aslan. It was their relationship with him, his setting apart of them that caused them to be the heroes that they were. As we live out our lives, we struggle to really know this fact as the pressures of the world tell us that we create our own adventure. That we are the masters of our own destiny. That we are the captains of our own ships. As much as this is true that we should not be passive bystanders in life, it does not mean that our identity should be shaped and built by performance on what we have or do not have. These building blocks for identity can so easily topple and be lost. Instead, this week in this passage, Paul tells us that if you are in Christ, you have a more enduring identity. One that is not achieved, but received. All because of Christ and our relationship with him. In these verses we see that if you are in Christ, you are given a new position, a new focus and a new future. And this will serve Aslan this morning. And so please look at me at our first point, a new position. It must be said as we are working through this, this sermon is a little bit different than maybe what you are used to from hearing from me. We are looking at the themes that are presented in this passage, so we will bounce around a little bit when it comes to the verses. But please try and stick with me as we look at these verses. Paul begins in verse 1 with this if then statement. In Greek it is still the word therefore, but Paul is really working hard at this clause based argument, meaning that each part of his argument builds upon each other. And in the phrase if then he communicates just that. Drawing our attention specifically to the clause and question. If you have been raised with Christ, then something will be true. We will look at that then or what will be true of us in our second point. And stick with me with this new position. Paul bases the church's identity on their union with Christ. If you have been raised with him or in verse 3 you can see that if you have died with him then your life is hidden with him. Not only has the Christian been raised, died and hidden with Christ, Paul says in verse 4 that Christ is our very life. According to this, by faith we share in Christ's resurrection, his death, his second coming and furthermore this is intensified in Christ being our very life. This does not mean what modern spirituality has caused it to mean. That somehow we are sharing in quote unquote God consciousness. That is not what Paul is saying here. As I have said in past weeks, our union with Christ means what is true of Christ is true of you if you have believed in him. I will say that again. What is true of Christ is true of you if you have believed in him. The same way as you watch the Olympics and cheer on, or China or Canada and you see the statements we are winning or we won. Is the same way that we share in the success of our savior Jesus Christ. Christ has lived, Christ has died, Christ was raised and Christ will come again and even though and even from the comfort of our couch or this chair in the church we can say we have lived, we have died, we were raised, we are hidden and will be present in glory in the second coming. Unlike the Olympics as much as we use the royal we, you or I don't really share in the victory and accomplishment. You or I will not get up on the podium and wear the medal. But with Christ we do and we will. The gospel is not just to get out of jail free card. The gospel is the good news of the King Jesus Christ, a king who is calling people to himself from every tribe, tongue and nation to be his subjects and to be his co-heirs. As co-heirs we partake in all of Christ's authority, all of Christ's benefits and all of his accomplishments and in this we can say in part that the gospel is an identity project that God is giving his people a new identity in him. It is God and Christ who is changing who we are to be his people and to share in himself. In this we do not lose our personhood, we are still individual believers who share in the work of Christ and in no way do we add to the nature of Christ. Either of these beliefs would be heresy. It is as though we had no contribution to the win but still get on the stage at the end of the night and receive the reward. And as I say that, that should feel wrong. There should be a sense that in our hearts that that is not the way it should work. It's because we did not receive what we are due. We don't deserve the victory, we deserve death. But God in his mercy allows us to not give us what we deserve. He gives us his grace, he gives us the ability to stand on the stage and receive the accolade and accomplishment that he has accomplished. God has given us his mercy and his grace. He has given us Christ. By faith we have died with him to sin and the world. By faith we have been raised with him to conquer over sin, death and Satan. We are hidden with Christ now and forever, safe and secure, not being lost by him. And one day when he returns in glory we will still be with him. There is both spiritual and literal language being used in this text. And even as I explain it, and that's okay. We partake in Christ by faith through the Holy Spirit. This is a mystery but there is a literality that we have confidence that we have a new position. That we have this new position now and we will have this new position in the future. By faith we can have Christ as our very life. And if you have not believed in him, you can know this life today. It is not by your works, it is not by achieving it, it is by receiving it. By faith trusting in the work of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. And so if you have not believed in him, the invitation is to you to believe in him today. If you already have, the call for us is to see these truths in color, not just in black and white, not just forensically, but to see their fullness, to see their beauty, to see their promise, to see that our identity is not achieved but received. And this does not mean that this identity doesn't come with actions that follow our flow out of this new position. The same way that a parent or a student or a child comes with a set of actions or reactions, so does that true or so is that true with being in Christ. In Christ we are given a new position and we are given a new focus which leads us to our second point. According to Paul, if you have been raised with Christ, you should seek something different. He says you should seek the things above where Christ is. We are to set our minds on the things that are above, not the things of earth. And as I say that, you might think that Paul takes issue with the things of earth, that all the things of earth are somehow stained and wrong and sinful. And I simply do not believe that that is what Paul is saying here. Paul uses the word above and earth not to communicate that life on earth does not matter. It is part of his earlier arguments against false teachers who are teaching things that are in contrast to Christ, things that are earthly, not heavenly, things that accord with the world system of teaching instead of with Christ. They had this form of manmade religion that looked like wisdom but was not wisdom at all. So Paul is saying instead of our focus being on false teaching, would our focus be on Christ and his lordship? In Christ we are given a new focus, a new way of looking and living in the world. Our identity changes not only who we are but why we live and this is what Paul is getting at. I believe that Paul says our new focus should align and evidence that Christ is on the throne and that changes what we seek and what we want. What he says is that we should seek after Christ. In the gospel Jesus says to his disciples seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. This is not a teaching to abandon the world but instead it is to pursue Christ's kingdom in the world. Lord willing next week we will see how this is lived out day to day. What actions align with Christ's kingdoms and what actions do not. But in this passage what we see is that seeking the things above is to seek Christ in his kingdom. As he is seated at the right hand of the father and this seeking changes what we pursue, it changes what we want, it changes what we are looking for. It changes the goal that is at the end of the race. We can ask ourselves questions, does this align with Christ's kingdom or does it align with my kingdom? Does this align with the goal of my glory or God's glory? Does this evidence the fact that Christ is on the throne or that I'm on the throne? And let's think about how this might work out practically in everyday life. When it comes to the decisions of our money, our leisure, even our shortcomings, they are a reflection of what we are seeking after. How you think about accomplishment, how you think about your time, whether somebody is infringing on it. You can think that this is all mine, this is my kingdom. But what Paul is encouraging us to is a view of life that is beyond you and I. One that looks to the Lord and his purposes and his will and the reality of him being on the throne. And this affects the way that we scroll to the ways in which we read books. It changes the ways in which we pursue our careers or our studies. Changes the very fabric of our lives. The new focus changes what we seek and it changes what we set our minds on. Changes our very mindset. To set our minds on the things above changes us from the inside out. It is said that the mind is the watchtower of the soul. I'll say that again. It is said that the mind is the watchtower of the soul. So what you think on, what you desire will affect your soul. To set your mind on the things above causes you to think about life differently. It causes you to desire differently, to work differently, to live differently. To seek the things above or to set your minds takes concerted effort. It is not like setting our thermostats. It's not like you just set it and forget it. It takes effort to think on Christ, who he is, what he's done and the reality that he rules and reigns even now. As a result of who you are in Christ, we should think and reflect on Christ's Lordship. And as we do this, I believe it will change us from the inside out. The same way that when you get really focused on something and it gives you a level of tunnel vision you got blinders on, you see life differently in that state. You speak differently. You'll think differently. And I think this is the same way that Paul is calling us to a new focus, to have tunnel vision for Christ, to see the things that are above or look for the things that are above. As somebody that cannot multitask to save his life. I know this state well, not because I'm good at focusing on Christ, because I'm bad at focusing on anything other than the task at hand. If you try to speak to me while I'm writing an email or I'm writing a text, I'm hooted. I cannot hear you. I don't know what's going on. My focus changes how I think, what I'm thinking about, what I'm seeing or what I'm not seeing, what I'm hearing and what I'm not hearing. It changes what I'm trying to achieve. I think this is the kind of way and living that Paul is calling us to, not for the things of this world, but the things of Christ. Because as we have this new focus, it changes how we live. It'll change what we desire, it'll change what we think, and it'll change what we do. Like I said, there are specific ways we will see next week, this is lived out, that there is a list of do's and don'ts, the outworking of our identity. But what Paul wants us to see is that all of those do's and don'ts are rooted in who we are in Christ and why we live. He's birthed out of our new position, our new focus. Lastly, let us look at our new future. Glory. Look at me at verse four. When Christ our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. Though we have dealt with this verse in part in verse one, there's more for us to see here. Specifically, the word appear with Him in glory. We spoke about this as Jesus' second coming, which I believe is what Paul is talking about here. But we have not dealt with the idea and the word glory. It can so easily be missed. This is a statement that can either mean a place or a condition. When we say this statement, we'll see Him or her in glory, we mean that we will see that person in the presence of our Lord and we speak about it as a place. When we speak about as a condition, which I believe is what Paul is saying here, we are speaking about glorification, the final stage of salvation, where we as believers will have perfected bodies given at the resurrection, where we will be free from the penalty and power and presence of sin. And this perfected state is something that we can eagerly look forward to. It is what gives us the fuel for the ethic that will follow. This ethic follows this idea that to befit the future glory, where we are free from sin, we can put sin to death now. You can tell as I'm saying all this, I was really gearing to preach more of this text than we are reflecting on this morning, but it is to prepare us as we reflect next week. This week what Paul tells us, this week Paul tells us that today we are given the hope of glory and that we can cling to the fact that one day when Christ comes again, we will appear with Him if you were in Christ. Just as He is, experiencing the fullness of His victory over sin, death and Satan. In that day we will know the fullness of our identity that we have received. In some ways we only know this identity in part today, but in that day we will know the whole. Where when we stand with our King on His stage sharing in all of His accomplishments with Satan under our feet, where sin has ceased to exist and the heavens and earth are made new. The new identity we have in Christ is one that we have in part today if you have believed, but we can look forward to the whole. Until that day where we know the whole, may we enjoy the part and live in expectation for the whole. Let us pray.