15 Sermon Illustrations on Identity in Christ

Bill Smith. There may be no name more common in the English language. In a seminary class, one professor related an event that happened his first day in college. His teacher professed an uncanny command of the English language. It seemed that he always pulled out the most appropriate word for the occasion. On this, the first day of school, he was calling the roll. After recognizing each student he made some pertinent comment about his name-its history, meaning, or some historically related story. Finally, he came to Bill Smith. He said with a pause and in a reflective tone, "Bill Smith...that is a common name." Stirred from within, Bill arose from his seat and said in a loving but firm tone, "Sir, Bill Smith may be frequent but not common." Who among us has not lived under the teacher's philosophy? Thinking there is nothing special about ourselves, we have concluded that we are common, everyday, ordinary. Let us continually remind ourselves that each one of us is a chosen person, a royal priest, a member of a holy nation, a person that belongs to God (1 Peter 2:9).

“He hath made us accepted in the beloved”

Ephesians 1:6

Years ago I was preaching in the small town of Roosevelt, Washington, on the north bank of the Columbia River. I was the guest of friends who were sheep-raisers. It was lambing time and every morning we went out to see the lambs — hundreds of them — playing about on the green. One morning I was startled to see an old ewe go loping across the road, followed by the strangest looking lamb I had ever beheld. It apparently had six legs, and the last two were hanging helplessly as though paralyzed, and the skin seemed to be partially torn from its body in a way that made me feel the poor little creature must be suffering terribly. But when one of the herders caught the lamb and brought it over to me, the mystery was explained. That lamb did not really belong originally to that ewe. She had a lamb which was bitten by a rattlesnake and died. This lamb that I saw was an orphan and needed a mother’s care. But at first the bereft ewe refused to have anything to do with it. She sniffed at it when it was brought to her, then pushed it away, saying as plainly as a sheep could say it, “That is not our family odor!” So the herders skinned the lamb that had died and very carefully drew the fleece over the living lamb. This left the hind-leg coverings dragging loose. Thus covered, the lamb was brought again to the ewe. She smelled it once more and this time seemed thoroughly satisfied and adopted it as her own.

It seemed to me to be a beautiful picture of the grace of God to sinners. We are all outcasts and have no claim upon His love. But God’s own Son, the “Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the World,” has died for us and now we who believe are dressed up in the fleece of the Lamb who died. Thus, God has accepted us in Him, and “there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.” We are as dear to the heart of the Father as His, own holy, spotless Son.

“So dear, so very dear to God,

More dear I cannot be;

The love wherewith He loves His Son,

Such is His love to me.

So near, so very near to God,

Nearer I could not be,

For in the person of His Son,

I am as near as He.”

Queen Mary was so much attached to her beautiful Calais, that when, in the exigencies of war, she lost it, she affirmed in her grief, that the name would be found written on her heart. The precious name of Christ will be found on every Christian's heart.

The celebrated W. Jay of Bath used to say, that Christ's sheep were marked in the ear and the foot: "They hear my voice, and follow me."

The Scripture gives four names to Christians, taken from the four cardinal graces so essential to man's salvation: saints for their holiness, believers for their faith, brethren for their love, disciples for their knowledge. A. Fuller.

Like November roses blooming in the midst of winter's bleakness; like green oases in the sandy desert; like the "sealed" ones; like the great Gulf Stream, which flows from the Western World, through the ocean, yet distinct from it in color and warmth: so should all Christians be in the world, — of it, but not confounded with it. As the Jews have ever been a peculiar people by their manners, appearance, and religion; so should Christians, by the holiness of their lives, be distinguished from all the world besides. Bate.

The child, the courage, the philosopher, are alike certain of the sameness of their bodies at different periods of their lives. We are no more called upon to explain it before we believe it, than we are to explain any other of the simple data of consciousness.

— Hodge