In this message from Cornerstone Fountain Valley's Faith for the Real World series, Pastor Wes explores what it means to be human by examining Ephesians 4:20-24 and the concept of Christlikeness. He argues that placing one's identity in Christ is not merely a poetic phrase but a practical process of spending time with Jesus through prayer, Scripture, and worship until his character becomes one's own. Because Jesus lived perfect humanity without wealth, status, or earthly fulfillment, believers are called to lay aside corrupting desires and allow Christ to define who they are rather than seeking his approval after the fact.
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Unlock with your sermon →“She began to see that her worth wasn't in what she produced. It was in who she belonged to. And as that settled in, everything else, how she treated people, how she made decisions, how she handled uncertainty, started to look different.”
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Unlock with your sermon →“In his personal illustration about imitating his father, what specific habit did Pastor Wes catch himself doing that made him realize he was becoming like his dad?”
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Unlock with your sermon →“Paul understands salvation not as escape from humanity but as the restoration of humanity to its God-intended design. The sermon's central claim, that the Holy Spirit is not helping you escape your humanity but purify and restore it, is exegetically grounded precisely here.”
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Unlock with your sermon →“What does it actually mean to find your identity in Christ? I've heard that phrase my whole life, and honestly, for a long time it was just that, a phrase.”
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Unlock with your sermon →“The Holy Spirit is not teaching you how to escape your humanity. The Holy Spirit is teaching you how to purify and restore your humanity to the way that God intended.”
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Unlock with your sermon →According to this sermon, finding your identity in Christ means spending time with him through prayer, Scripture, and worship so you begin to imitate him. It is not just a phrase but a transformation process where the Holy Spirit reshapes your humanity to reflect how God originally designed you to function as a human being.
Paul teaches in Ephesians 4 that the old self is corrupted by deceitful desires and enslaved to sin. Sin is not just breaking God's law; it actively destroys your humanity. Putting off the old self means rejecting patterns that corrupt who you were designed to be and embracing the new self created in God's likeness.
This sermon teaches that Christlikeness happens naturally through consistent time spent with Jesus, just as spending years with a parent causes you to adopt their mannerisms. Prayer, worship, and reading Scripture expose you to who Jesus is, and the Holy Spirit then transforms your physical behavior and character to match his example of perfect humanity.
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