Who Am I?
Sermon Series: Big Questions
Sermon Title: Who am I?
Scripture Reference: Genesis 1:26-28
Pastor: Nate Crew
Questions:
1. Pastor Nate used the analogy of needing a "lifeguard stand" outside yourself to understand where you are in the ocean. What are the external reference points you've used in your life to define yourself, whether good or bad? How has relying on internal feelings alone led to confusion or instability?
2. What would happen to your sense of identity if the things you've attached it to were taken away? How does this reveal where you need to root your identity more deeply in Christ?
3. Which of the five problems with expressive individualism do you struggle with most? How has trying to create your own identity become burdensome in your life? (incoherent, unstable, illusory, crushing, and excluding).
4. How does the truth that your identity is "received, not achieved" change the way you approach your relationships, work, and personal goals? What would it look like practically this week to rest in God's acceptance rather than trying to prove yourself?
Sermon Highlights:
Context:
Genesis 1–3 provides the foundational narrative for understanding human identity, purpose, and the brokenness we experience. In Genesis 1:26–28, God creates humanity in His own image and likeness—a unique status not given to any other creature. This "image of God" (imago Dei) bestows intrinsic value, moral capacity, relational design, and creative purpose on every human being. Genesis 3 introduces the fall, where humanity rebelled by trying to "be like God" apart from God—the root of all false identity. Understanding our identity requires starting at the beginning of the story, not in the middle of our own feelings or cultural moment.
My True Self
"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." (Genesis 1:27)
Your true self is a human being made in the image of God.
This means you have been given value, worth, and dignity by the Creator of the universe.
This value cannot be taken away by:
Someone who hurt you.
A boss who fired you.
A group that ostracized you.
Your own feelings about yourself.
Your mistakes, regrets, failures, or shortcomings.
Being made in God's image means you are made to be like God, but not to be God.
You find your identity in reflecting Him; you lose it in trying to replace Him.
Without this truth, there is no basis for morality, human dignity, or coherent ethics.
Genesis 1–3 provides the most coherent explanation for the world we see: beauty and brokenness, intrinsic human value, moral intuition, and our longing for something more.
My False Self
The false self is what happens when we try to build a life and identity without God
"Everything that is false about us arises from our belief that our deepest happiness will come from living life our way, not God's way."
The core of the false self believes: My value depends on what I have, what I can do, and what others think of me.
Modern culture teaches "expressive individualism" which says to look inside yourself to find yourself.
This approach has five fatal flaws:
It Is Incoherent
When you look inside yourself, you find competing loves and desires, rather than a single, clear true self.
You are not internally consistent.
It Is Unstable
You are always changing.
What you find inside yourself at 15 is different from what you find at 25 or 40.
Your identity cannot rest on something constantly shifting.
It Is Illusory (Not Authentic)
You don't actually express all your feelings; you express the ones you choose.
You suppress some desires and express others based on what culture currently accepts.
If you lived 100 years ago, you'd express different things; 100 years from now, culture will accept different things.
You're not being your true self; you're being your cultural self.
It Is Crushing
If you must achieve, create, and sustain your own identity, you carry a crushing burden.
Your life becomes a hamster wheel of performance: proving yourself to those who hurt you, rejected you, doubted you.
You can never rest because your identity depends on constant achievement and validation.
The gospel offers rest: you can receive an identity as a gift rather than work to earn one.
It Is Excluding
Identity built on self only feels valuable when it's better than someone else's.
C.S. Lewis: “We're not proud of having money, but of having more money than others.”
Your worth depends on comparison—leading to jealousy, competition, and eventual devastation when you meet someone better.
Because the false self is hollow at the core, it attaches to external things: approval, relationships, success, appearance.
When those things are threatened or lost, your sense of self collapses.
You lose your sense of identity when the things you've attached it to don't measure up or go away.
My New Self
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." (2 Corinthians 5:17)
We find our true self not by seeking it, but by seeking God.
When you put your faith in Jesus Christ, you become a new creation.
This new self is your true self, who God intended you to be from the beginning.
Your identity in Christ is:
Received, not achieved: it's a gift, not a reward for performance.
Secure: it is rooted in God's unchanging love and acceptance, not in your success or others' opinions.
Approved: you don't have to prove yourself to God; He already knows you fully and loves you completely.
Free: you are released from the burden of sustaining your own worth.
The Path to Your New Self:
Recognize where you've come up short (repentance)
Accept what Jesus has done for you on the cross
Attach your identity to Christ—the only foundation that will never change
Come as you are; don't clean yourself up first (come first, change second)
God knows you fully, receives you as you are, and makes you new
Your identity should be rooted in the unchanging truth of who God says you are, not in what you do, what you have, or what others think. Only when your identity is anchored in Christ can you walk in freedom, rest, and purpose.