Moving from Doing to Done: A Casual Chat on Our New Identity

In this "unplugged" episode, Austin Gardner invites you into his home during a quiet Easter break to discuss the heart of the New Covenant. If you’ve felt like you’re clocking in as an employee rather than resting as a child, this episode is your permission to stop the striving. From the "City of Refuge" to becoming "partakers of the divine nature," discover why your identity is a gift to be worn, not a goal to be reached.

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Transcript

Relaxed Intro And The DNA Of Grace

Austin Gardner 0:27

Well, I'm kind of coming to you relaxed today. It's uh Easter break. My house is just about empty. Everybody's gone off somewhere. And I just wanted to share with you some of the things that God's teaching me at this very moment. You know, I've been, if you follow what goes on on W Austengardner.com, which is like the that's my hub, that's the center of my ministry. I am writing on the DNA of grace, the DNA of grace. By the way, how you like the hat, you know. I figure President Trump can wear a cap anywhere he goes all the time. I'll be able to get my hat and just walk in here right quick and drop this down in the video for you and uh on the podcast. But anyway, I'm I'm trying to talk to you that listen to me about moving from doing to done, which is hard for me. I'll be honest with you, it's hard for me as I work on doing that. So there are some things that are going on. We are trying to become what we already are. We are in a performance trap. We forget what it feels like to be a daddy, and we wouldn't want our children having the attitude towards us that we kind of have towards our father. Religion gives you a ladder, but grace gives you a seat at the table. Are you God's employee clocking in and out? Or did he call you his child? Are you his child? You see, there's a great deal of relief when you realize you are fully known. God knows the worst about you and he still loves you. There is nothing left to hide. Let's be honest. He saved us when we were yet sinners. He saved us when we were weak and ungodly. He saved us when we were at our worst. He knows us. He made us, and so we are making a major mistake when we think we have to somehow impress Him. You know, He said, You have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but there is a spirit of adoption. That's where we cry have a father. That's Romans 8, 15. And I'm afraid that we have turned it into something that it's not and was never meant to be. I think we have moved from him being our daddy and God to him being our judge, which he will judge, but it's a rewards seat for us. Every Christian is going to preach that to you. It's a rewards seat. If you're honest, we don't really believe that you're going to face your sin when you get to heaven. I mean, we say it a lot. You'll hear preachers and they'll make the comment, yeah, when you get to heaven, you'll face that again. You'll answer for that. But we all know better than that. And almost any preacher you ever listened to knows better than that. They know there's no condemnation to them. They know it's a rewards seat. You might suffer loss and not get the same number of rewards, but we know that. Now, I want you to go to wallstagarder.com. I really believe it'll help you. I want you to go through the blog and just go through all the DNA articles. I want you to realize we see ourselves as grasshoppers and instead of seeing who we are in Christ. Do you remember the giants and the 12 spies? Two were good and 10 were bad. They saw themselves as grasshoppers. The Bible's clear, they saw themselves as grasshoppers. They were self-conscious. I have lived much of my life that way, so worried about what you thought and so worried about what others thought. And I need to be Christ conscious. We don't need a repaired version of our old self. We need to realize that we're a brand new species. The old us is dead, and we are trying to perform CPR on the corpse and bring him back. In Numbers 13, 33, it said, and there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants, and we were in our own sight, on our own sight as grasshoppers. So are we in their sight? Because we figure if how we see ourselves, that must be how they see us. But we are a new creation. We are not who we are in our ability. We are in Christ. I'd like to take you to the idea that we dwell in God and God dwells in us. All of our sin has been completely and totally removed. We have been legally pardoned. It's not just that, which is where the judge says, I'm going to let you go this time. This is a total dismissal. Your sin is gone. You are in the Holy of Holies. God isn't there looking down. He's in here looking out. You don't invite Jesus into your mess. He's already in the middle of your mess, and his presence is what's going to clean it up. Know you not that you are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you, 1 Corinthians 3, 16. That's very different than what we tend to act like or think. The next thing I'd call your attention to is learning Christ. It's participation, not imitation. You see, all of our sin is gone, and we are now indwelt by God. So you don't act like Christ. Christ acts through us. Most people learn Christianity. That means they learn the rules, but you have not learned Him. You don't try to mimic a vine if you're a branch. You just sit there and let the sap flow. The branch and the vine and that relationship. That's a Bible relationship, John. Gospel of John. Stop trying to do your best for God. Your best is nothing. His life is everything. But you have not so learned Christ. I've been preaching that. If so be that you heard him and been taught me as the truth is in Jesus, we are in Christ. The problem is we've been in Adam so long, and we think that's who we are and how we act. I spent some time with you already on those cities of refuge, but I bring them back to you. There's mercy even in the hard times. When you fail, you don't run away from the light, you run to it. You run to the light because the light's where the healing is. Grace is our city of refuge. Joseph told his brothers, it wasn't you, but God. God was doing a work. That's the perspective of a man who knows he's in the covenant. Now, therefore, be not grieved nor angry with yourselves that you sold me hither, for God did send me before you to preserve life. So I would like to challenge you to learn a little bit about who you are. I have been amazed at how much my dad influenced me. There was a time when I rebelled against my dad, and I thought, I think all kids want to rebel against and be different and maybe get out of their dad's orbit. But as I got older and as I missed him, I began to think about who he was and what he did, how much he affects me. I walk like him, I look like him. It's amazing. So you can go to bed tonight and know that the scoreboard is destroyed. The shepherd isn't looking for the reason to kick you out. He's looking for a reason to bring you home. I am the black vine, you are the branches. He that abides me, and I and him the same shall bring forth much fruit, for without me you can do nothing. Do you understand what we've got going on here? Do you see what's happening? We are enjoying him. We're learning from him, and uh that's who we are, and that's what's happening. And I don't know how to tell you this, but to say, you and I are so blessed. You and I are in Christ, and he is in us. I'm going to be looking at the verse about the divinity in us. It just popped into my head as I was talking to you. See, let me see if I can real quick pull up uh my verse. It's in 1 Peter, if I'm not mistaken. I'm looking for it even as I talk to you because I think you would enjoy hearing that verse, and we'll just add that in today and look at it. Uh let's see, participant, partakers, partakers of divine nature. Have you ever listened to that? Have you ever paid attention to that verse? It's just uh uh it's an amazing verse. And uh it's a life-changing verse when we realize God is in us living his life. Jesus is in us living his life through us. So uh 2 Peter chapter 1 and verse 4 says, partakers of the divine nature. It means that uh that we are learning, we've escaped the corruption of this world through lust. We're growing in virtue and knowledge and self-control and perseverance and godliness and brotherly kindness. And so we have a new identity. We're in a new person. And we're not who we were. We are totally different. Well, that'd be a good one to study on a while, won't it? So I hope you will. Thank you. And thank you for letting me come to you so casual today, just kind of drop it in on you. Been working on quite a bit of stuff today, around the house, just excited about who I am in God. You know, and even today, he's dealt with my heart about relaxing and trusting that he is doing what he is going to do and he's gonna work it out, and I need to leave it in his hands. Don't you feel like that's what you ought to do? Maybe the Lord dealt with your heart today. I pray he did. Now, if you would share this with somebody, I'd appreciate it. Invite some other people to listen to it. Man, I thank you for being around. God bless you.