Chosen And Sent - Part 1 by Pastor Philip Olubakin: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

You Are Chosen — The Foundation of Identity

John 15:16

God said it plainly: you did not choose him — he chose you. He ordained you. He sent you. This is not language for professional ministers or those with oil dripping from their heads. It is the language of every believer who has been born again. You are chosen, ordained, appointed, and sent.

Ephesians 1:4-6

Before the foundation of the world, God had you in mind. You were not an afterthought. He adopted you — not because he had no choice, but because adoption is always a deliberate act. An adoptive parent walks into a room full of children and points to one. That is the weight of what God did when he chose you. It was his delight. It was his pleasure. The Bible says it gives him joy.

John 17:23

Jesus, praying to the Father, asked that the world would know that the Father loves his children with the same passionate love he has for Jesus himself. Not an inferior love. Not a diluted love. The same love.

God loves you as much as he loves Jesus.

Your Works Did Not Qualify You — But They Can Disqualify You

This is a critical balance to understand. God chose you before you were born — Jeremiah was told this before he even took his first breath. That means your works did not earn you into God's plan. But your works can disqualify you from walking in that plan.

• Samson — chosen before birth, but his works disqualified him. He died with the Philistines.
• Saul — anointed king, yet David wrote that he died as though he had never been anointed. Anointed but destroyed.
• Solomon — the wisest man alive, yet women pulled his heart away from God. His praise to God was cut short.
• Eli's household — God promised the priesthood would remain in his family forever. But the sins of his sons caused God to revoke it. God spoke to Eli repeatedly. Eli did not act.
• Judas — one of the twelve. His name would have been written on the pillars of heaven. But the spirit of greed destroyed him.
• Gehazi — positioned to receive the anointing of Elisha. But greed overtook him and he disqualified himself.

God did not change his mind about these men. They changed his plan for themselves.

1 Peter 2:9

The Scripture declares: you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. You are here by God's design. Your life is not a random series of events — it is a curated journey by a purposeful God who wrote a book about you before you were born.

Six Things That Attack Your Identity and Stop You from Being Sent

Understanding your assignment in God's kingdom requires you to confront six forces that try to undermine your sense of identity.

1. Your Past

   Your past does not define your identity. The Bible says if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature — not a refurbished one, not a renewed one. Paul killed people, threw people into prison, did unthinkable things. Yet he said, I forget the things that are behind. Your past is your history. God's story about you is what counts. The past will try to put a ceiling on what God can do through your life. That is a lie.

   You may also like

   

   Manifesting Spiritual Reality

   by Apostle Joshua Selman

   arrow_forward

2. Your Pain

   Pain and wounds — not the things you did wrong, but the places where you were hurt — will try to stop you. People have left the church because of pain. People have refused to love because of pain. But Psalms 147:3 says he heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. 1 Peter 5:10 says after you have suffered a little while, the God of grace will restore you, strengthen you. Don't let your pain define you.

3. Your Parents

   Your family background does not define you. Your parents' limitations, their failures, their patterns — none of these write your destiny. 1 John 3:1 says see what kind of love God has given us, that he calls us his children. You belong to the family of God now. That is who you are.

4. Your Present Circumstances

   Where you are right now does not define your identity in Christ. 2 Corinthians 4:17 says the present affliction is light and momentary, working for a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. Your current bank account, your current situation — none of it defines you. Romans 8:18 says the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with what is coming.

5. People's Reactions

   How many likes you get does not define you. People have redefined themselves, deleted things, abandoned their assignments, all because of how people responded to what they posted. Galatians 1:10 is direct: if you seek to please men, you cannot be a servant of Christ. Some assignments are not popular. Not everyone is called to a billboard. God works with the few.

   • When 10 of the 12 spies came back with a bad report, 3 million people agreed with them. God said all of them would die in the wilderness.
   • When Jesus said unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood you have no life in you, the crowds left. Jesus did not change his message.

   Sometimes you will stand alone. You must have your own convictions.

6. Pressure and Timelines

   There is no pressure in turning 30. There is no deadline in age. Age is a number, not a verdict. Don't let anyone put you under social pressure or make you make decisions out of fear or comparison.