Welcome to Waymaker Church! We are so excited to have you join us today! We exist to Encounter, Live for, and Advance the Kingdom of God!

This morning, we are going to look at another question that I think every person in this world has wrestled with or will wrestle with. What is true identity, and how do you find your identity in Christ? This is a great question, so let’s take some time to unpack it.

To answer it well, we’ll look at it in two parts:
First, how people often create their identity, and second, what it means to find our identity in Christ.

From a worldly perspective, identity is shaped by both ourselves and the people around us. It’s how we distinguish who we are from others — often to prove our uniqueness and worth. Many people build their identity on things like gender, race, nationality, sexual orientation, or disability, along with external factors such as marital status, career, education, religion, income level, physical health, or relationships.

The challenge with building identity apart from Christ is that when your identity depends on external things, your sense of stability and confidence will shift every time those things change.

When you consider this question, it hits deeply at every heart because it makes you realize that we live in a world that’s constantly trying to tell us who we are. Every commercial, every social media post, every voice around us is shouting, “You’ll be somebody when you look like this… when you own that… when people notice you…when you hit this much wealth…. when you run with these crowds.”

The world builds identity on achievement, appearance, and approval. But here’s the problem — all of that can disappear overnight. One bad decision, one rejection, one change in season, and suddenly the identity we built starts to crumble.

The Point: We all go through various seasons of change: things ranging from student to college, college to professional, single to married, no kids to kids, parent to empty nester, or worker to retiree. Along the way, we take on new roles and interests — hobbies, careers, sports, art, relationships.

None of these things are bad in themselves, but they’re not intended to be who you are. The truth is, worldly identity constantly shifts because it’s built on temporary things.

So, if worldly identity is always changing, if it rises and falls with our circumstances, our titles, or the opinions of others. Then the real question becomes: Where can we find an identity that doesn’t change? The answer is found in Christ.

When we come to Jesus, He doesn’t just forgive our past — He gives us a new identity. One that isn’t built on performance, popularity, or possessions, but on His unchanging truth and love.

In the world, identity is something we try to build.In Christ, identity is something we receive.

When you know who you are in Him, you stop chasing approval and start walking in purpose. You stop living for identity and start living from identity.
Knowing your identity in Christ is about knowing who God says you are. This is once again why our baseline is the word of God. When we know what God has said about us, and begin to live it out, it changes everything.

You find that you are no longer defined by what you’ve done, what’s been done to you, or what others think about you. You begin to understand that you are defined by what God says about you.

The moment you put your faith in Jesus, your identity is made new. The old labels the world gave you — failure, unworthy, overlooked, not enough — are replaced with the truth of who you are in Him.

You are chosen, forgiven, redeemed, and deeply loved.
2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

That means your past doesn’t define you, Christ does. Your mistakes don’t have the final word; His mercy does. When your identity is rooted in Christ, you don’t have to search for value in the world’s approval, because you already have the approval of the One who created you. And when you understand who you are in Him, you begin to live with confidence, peace, and purpose that the world can’t take away.

1. In Christ, I Am Loved.
1 John 3:1 “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.”
• God’s love isn’t based on what you do; it’s based on who He is. You don’t have to strive for love or earn it, you already have it.
• When you understand that you are loved unconditionally by your Heavenly Father, you stop chasing acceptance in all the wrong places.

2. In Christ, I Am Forgiven and Redeemed.
Ephesians 1:7 “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace”
• Your past mistakes don’t define your identity.
Christ’s forgiveness means the slate is wiped clean. You are no longer bound by guilt or shame — you are free to walk in grace.
• Remember that the grace of God empowers you to walk in the nature of the new identity in right relationship with God.

3. In Christ, I Am Chosen and Adopted.
Ephesians 1:5 “having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,”
• You’re not an accident or an afterthought. You’ve been handpicked by God to belong to His family.
• That means you have worth, purpose, and belonging that no one can take away. You’re not trying to fit in — you already belong.

4. In Christ, I Am Empowered by the Holy Spirit.
Acts 1:8 “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
• You’re not meant to do life in your own strength. The Holy Spirit lives will guide and lead you into all truth. You wont have to search for approval everywhere else.

5. In Christ, I Am a Citizen of Heaven.
Ephesians 3:20 “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,”
• Your ultimate home isn’t here — it’s with Him. That means you don’t have to be shaped by the world’s values, because you belong to His kingdom. You live differently, think differently, and love differently because your identity isn’t found in the temporary, but in the eternal.

When your identity is rooted in Christ, you don’t have to search for who you are — you simply learn to walk in who you already are.The world tells you to “find yourself.” God says, “Come to Me, and I’ll show you who I have created you to be. The key as always is to get our eyes on Jesus.

You don’t have to keep striving for a sense of identity. Jesus already paid for it. He died and rose again not just to forgive your sins, but to give you a new name, a new purpose, and a new identity. If today you recognize that you have been chasing worldly identity, I want to challenge you to make a shift. Come to Jesus, lay down the false labels and simply pick up the truth of who you are in Christ.