Series Theme: Identity in Christ or in Crisis:  Discovering Who You Are in God!
Main Scripture Focus: 1 Peter 2:9 & Romans 8:37

“But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:”

“Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.”
Series Purpose: To help believers recognize and overcome the false labels, past experiences, relationships, failures, rejection, and circumstances that can distort their understanding of who they are in Christ.

Romans 6:3-4 “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”

Colossians 3:1-4 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.  For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Introductory Notes in PDF Below

 

 

 

 

 

Central Verse

2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

 

Background / Devotional Scriptures

Genesis 32:24–28; John 4:4–30; Luke 7:36–50; Exodus 3:10–12; Judges 6:11–16; 2 Samuel 9:1–13; Psalm 51:10–12; Luke 22:54–62; John 21:15–17; 1 Corinthians 15:9–10; Romans 8:1; Ephesians 2:10; Philippians 1:6

 

Key Terms

• Reputation-Based Identity — Allowing what people know, remember, or say about you to determine how you see yourself.

• Inadequacy-Based Identity — Allowing weaknesses, insecurities, or feelings of not being enough to define you.

• Failure-Based Identity — Allowing a mistake, sin, disappointment, or failure to become a permanent definition of who you are.

• Identity in Christ — Understanding yourself according to your relationship with Christ and what God says about you.

 

Introduction

An identity crisis occurs when something other than God becomes the primary source of how we see ourselves. Sometimes it is what happened to us. Sometimes it is where we came from. Other times it is what people think about us, what we think is wrong with us, or what we have done wrong. The danger is that something that should only be part of our story becomes the definition of our entire life. A reputation can become a name we believe we can never escape. A weakness can make us believe God cannot use us. A failure can become a prison of guilt and shame. Second Corinthians 5:17 reminds us that when we are in Christ, we are new creatures. This does not mean that our history disappears, but it does mean that our history no longer has the final authority to tell us who we are.

 

Brief Review of the Previous Lessons

In our first lesson, the man at the pool of Bethesda showed us the danger of a victim mentality identity. He had suffered for thirty-eight years, and when Jesus asked if he wanted to be made whole, he immediately explained why he could not get into the pool. His circumstances were real, but Jesus challenged him to move beyond them: “Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.” We learned that what happened to us can affect us without becoming our identity.

 

In our second lesson, Jephthah and Rahab showed us the danger of a background-based identity. Jephthah was rejected because of the circumstances surrounding his birth, while Rahab was known by her reputation and occupation. Yet neither person's beginning prevented God from using them. Their stories taught us that our background may explain where we started, but it does not have to determine where God can take us.

 

​​​Reputation-Based Identity — “I Am What People Say About Me”

Reputation becomes an identity crisis when we allow the opinions or memories of other people to have greater authority than what God is doing in our lives. Sometimes people continue to remember an older version of us long after God has begun changing us.

 

Jacob is a powerful example. His history included deception and manipulation, and even his name was connected to his reputation. Yet in Genesis 32, after wrestling through the night, Jacob was told, “Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel.” God was showing him that his past behavior did not have to remain his permanent identity. People may continue calling you by an old name even after God has begun doing something new in you.

 

The woman at the well also carried a reputation. Jesus knew that she had been married five times and that the man she was presently with was not her husband. Yet Jesus still spoke to her, revealed Himself to her, and offered her living water. She eventually went into the city declaring, “Come, see a man…” and many believed because of her testimony. Jesus knew everything about her and still saw purpose in her.

 

In Luke 7, the woman with the alabaster box entered Simon's house already carrying a reputation as “a sinner.” Simon saw what manner of woman she had been, while Jesus saw repentance, love, and faith. Jesus told her, “Thy sins are forgiven” and “Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.” People may remember your reputation, but God's grace can give you a new direction.

 

Inadequacy-Based Identity — “I Am Not Enough”

Sometimes the problem is not what other people say about us but what we continually say about ourselves. We focus on our weaknesses, education, age, appearance, experience, personality, or abilities and convince ourselves that God cannot use us.

 

When God called Moses, Moses asked, “Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh?” He later complained that he was not eloquent and was slow of speech. Moses saw his limitations, but God answered, “Certainly I will be with thee.” God did not base Moses' assignment on Moses' confidence in himself. He based it on His own presence with Moses. Biblical confidence is not simply saying, “I can do anything.” It is knowing that if God calls us, He will be with us.

 

Gideon also saw himself very differently from the way God saw him. When the angel called him a “mighty man of valour,” Gideon responded that his family was poor and that he was the least in his father's house. Gideon saw “least,” but God saw what he could become through obedience. Sometimes the greatest identity conflict is between what God says about us and what we say about ourselves.

Mephibosheth struggled with this as well. Because he was lame in both feet and had lived away from the royal court, he described himself to David as “such a dead dog as I am.” Yet David restored his family's land and gave him a permanent place at the king's table. His physical condition remained, but his condition did not cancel his position. Weakness does not mean worthlessness.

 

Failure-Based Identity — “I Am What I Did Wrong”

Failure-based identity can be especially difficult because sometimes the thing troubling us really was our fault. We sinned, made the wrong decision, ignored wisdom, or disappointed people. The danger comes when we move from saying, “I failed” to saying, “I am a failure.”

 

David committed serious sin involving Bathsheba and Uriah. When confronted, however, he repented. Psalm 51 records his prayer: “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” David experienced consequences, but his failure did not become the final sentence over his life. Grace does not pretend that failure never happened; grace shows us that failure does not have to have the last word.

 

Peter denied Jesus three times after confidently insisting that he would remain faithful. Scripture says Peter went out and wept bitterly. Yet after the resurrection, Jesus restored him and told him, “Feed my sheep.” Later, the same Peter who denied Christ publicly stood and preached Christ publicly on the Day of Pentecost. The place where we failed does not have to become the place where our story ends.

Paul had persecuted the church before encountering Christ. He never denied his past, but he refused to make it his permanent identity. In 1 Corinthians 15:10 he declared, “But by the grace of God I am what I am.” Paul remembered what he had done, but he understood his life through the grace of God rather than through permanent shame.

 

Walking in Your Identity in Christ

To walk in our identity in Christ, we must first recognize the false labels we have accepted. We should ask ourselves, “What have I been calling myself that God has not called me?” We must then replace those labels with the truth of God's Word. When the label says rejected, Scripture says chosen. When the label says worthless, Scripture says God's workmanship. When the label says condemned, Romans 8:1 says there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.

 

We must also understand the difference between conviction and condemnation. Conviction leads us to repent and return to God. Condemnation tells us that because we failed, God can never use us again. If we have repented, we should not continue punishing ourselves for something God has forgiven.

 

Finally, we must accept that God is still working on us. Philippians 1:6 reminds us that He who began a good work in us will perform it. Jacob had to grow. Moses had to learn. Gideon had to develop courage. Peter had to be restored. Paul had to mature. Being in process does not mean that we are failures.

 

Personal Reflection

• What old label have you continued to answer to?

• Are you allowing your reputation, your weaknesses, or a past failure to have more influence over your identity than God's Word?

• Is there something God has forgiven that you are still using to condemn yourself?

• What does God say about you that you need to begin believing?

 

Conclusion

Knowing our identity should also change how we think and live—we look to Christ, put off the old life, put on Christlike character, allow His Word to shape us, and live in a way that reflects His name. When we know who God is, know who we are, and recognize the voices that oppose that truth, we can move from an identity in crisis to confidently living our identity in Christ.