Who Are You? Wholeness and Identity

Have you ever heard the song "Who Are You?" by The Who? Written by Pete Townshend, the song explores themes of identity and self-reflection. Townshend penned this song after a tumultuous night in Soho, where he collapsed and was assisted home by a police officer who recognized him. This personal crisis, along with the pressures of the music industry, fed into the song's powerful lyrics, which repeatedly ask, "Who are you?"

This question is at the heart of our journey towards wholeness. Our current series, Becoming Whole, delves into the idea that everything we do flows from our sense of identity. If you're unsure of who you are, life can feel unstable. Fortunately, the Bible has much to say about identity, specifically about who we are in Christ.

Identity in Christ

The concept of being "in Christ" is pivotal to understanding our true identity. The Bible describes us as new creations in Christ. But what does that mean? It means that when we accept Christ, we are not just improved versions of our old selves. We are made completely new. Our old identities, shaped by our past mistakes and societal influences, are gone. In Christ, we receive a new, steadfast identity that does not change with external circumstances or personal feelings.

Practical Steps to Discovering Your Identity

1. Daily Reminders: Set a reminder on your phone to visit our website, www.crowd.church/inchrist, where you will find a list of scriptures about your identity in Christ. Meditate on these verses daily.
2. Reflect and Journal: Take time to reflect on what each verse means for your life. Write down your thoughts and prayers.
3. Memorize and Speak: Memorize these scriptures and speak them out loud. Let their truth sink deep into your heart.
4. Engage with Community: Join our online community to discuss and explore these truths together. Sharing your journey with others can provide support and encouragement.

CROWD | online church - Discover Your True Identity in Christ

Crowd Church, and there are a few ways that you can do just that. Firstly, you can engage with Crowd from any device during our live stream, and if you're up for it, why not invite a few friends over and experience the service together. You see, church is all about connecting with God and connecting with others, and one of the easiest ways for you to do that is to also join One of our mid week groups where we meet online together to catch up and [00:01:00] discover more about the amazingness of Christ.

You can also subscribe to our podcast called What's The Story, where we deep dive into stories of faith and courage from everyday people. More information about all of these. All of the things that I've mentioned can be found on our website at www. crowd. church or you can reach us on social media at crowdchurch.

If you're new to crowd or new to the Christian faith and would like to know what your next steps to be are. Well, why not head over to our website, crowd. church forward slash next, for more details.

And now, the moment you've been waiting for is here. Our online church service starts right now.

Sadaf Beynon: How are you

Dan Orange: doing today?

Sadaf Beynon: I'm well, thank you.

Dan Orange: Yeah.

Sadaf Beynon: Yeah.

Dan Orange: So in the, in the UK, it is Father's Day today. So I've had.

Lots of treats, um, Marmite based treats because I'm a big Marmite fan and, um, Toblerone, which is just great. Have you been doing any, um, Father's Day things,

Sadaf Beynon: um,

Dan Orange: for Jeff?

Sadaf Beynon: Yes. He's had breakfast in bed.

Dan Orange: Very nice.

Sadaf Beynon: He's had lots of gifts off the kids, lots of chocolate and yeah, he's having a good day.

Dan Orange: Yeah. So to all you, um, fathers out there and those, um.

Sadaf Beynon: Yes, it really is. It's really great to, to have God. And also as, as Dan just said, having a father to the fatherless, it's a real gift.

Dan Orange: So today we have the first, so we've had a series on the fruits of the spirit. Um, and that was the last one last week. And now we're carrying on the series of wholeness. So it's all the same.

Um. Same sort of thing. But we're moving now into what our identity is in Christ. I'm looking forward to this.

Sadaf Beynon: Yes. So I think it's Matt who's going to be doing the talk.

I'm just checking. There's no comments. Come in. But yeah, we're live. So if there's any, um, any questions, then please fire away and we'll endeavour to answer them. Yes. So I think without further ado, let's listen to Matt and see what he has to say. Hey, Graham, we are live. It's nice to hear from you. So here's Matt's talk.

Matt Edmundson: Have you ever heard this song?

Lyrics, which explore the themes of identity, self reflection, and dare I say it, existential questioning. The recurring line, who are you, is a very, very powerful question. Who are you? Because who you are, your identity, lies at the heart of becoming whole. The series that we're in, Becoming Whole. I think everything you do flows from a sense of who you are.

What does that have to do with wholeness? And to kickstart the whole journey, we're going to ask what it means when the Bible calls us a new creation. Now, these are all fascinating questions to look at. I'm going to draw all of this together because in many ways, This is so foundational to us, especially in the world in which we live, where we are told we can be whoever we want to be.

How can we have a solid foundation? How can our identity have an anchor? Well, that solid foundation, that anchor, I think discovering who we truly really are is rooted. In Christ and that becoming whole is about discovering that identity who we are in Christ. I don't think it's something that we construct or really should construct.

It's something that we receive. It's not fluid or changeable. It is steadfast and sure. Now, there's a well known story about a young guy who grew up in a pretty stable family with his older brother and parents. But he started, you know, that sort of, sort of restless feeling and sort of feeling trapped.

He gave the younger son his portion of the wealth who promptly took off for the bright lights. And at first he was happy. It was a, it was a non stop party. I mean, fancy clothes, uh, expensive clubs, flashy stuff. He was living his best life, or at least that's what he thought was going on. But the money started to run out.

But all that had gotten him, all that that had gotten him, was emptiness and brokenness. He didn't even recognize his own life anymore. So he thought to himself, you know what, even the lowliest workers on my dad's farm live better than I do. I'll go back home. I'll beg my dad to give me a job. I'll tell him I'm not worthy to be called his son anymore.

After all that I've done, I'll say, just treat me dad like one of the employees. So off he goes, and whilst he was still a long way off, his dad spots him coming down the road and starts to sprint towards him, you know, like Usain Bolt, and before the son could choke out, you know, more than a few words of his very name.

Now this is the story of the prodigal son, a powerful story that Jesus told to talk about. Uh, what it is like for God when we come back to him, but there's something else at the heart of this story that I really, really like. And I want to draw into it. It's about the son's identity. It's about who the son thought he was.

But the fact remains that our deepest, truest identity is immutable. Maybe we just need to hear our Father, our Heavenly Father, say it. Now, the Prodigal Son teaches us that identity matters because it guides our decisions and our behaviour. It certainly did for him in the story. It creates a sense of belonging and it reflects our values and our beliefs.

Now this is a great question because the phrase in Christ, I think is a central concept in Christian theology, particularly in the writings of the Apostle Paul. So what does it mean? So, imagine there's a young woman who isn't very tall, quite slight, very dainty, she might feel unsure of herself at some times, but you know what, she is in the police and when she puts on her police uniform.

And it's not because she's suddenly got super power, but because she is evil. In the police, she represents something way, way bigger than herself. It's kind of like what happens when you become a Christian, you're not in the police, but you are in Christ. You are now part of something much, much bigger than yourself.

Our identity is in Christ and in Christ, we can have confidence and courage to live very, very differently. So, how do we discover? Our identity in Christ. Who are we in Christ? Well, this is what we're going to be looking at over the next few weeks, because the Bible is literally full, I mean full of verses about who you are in Christ.

In Christ and it's in Christ we are created for good works. This tells me who I am. I am his workmanship, which is, you know, pretty radical for your self esteem. It tells me I am God's workmanship and it tells me what I'm here for and that's to do good works that God has prepared for me to walk in. God prepared them.

And I am a child of God. Not bad, eh? Two verses in. Talk about an identity shift. Want another one? Colossians 2. 10 says, And you are complete. In Him, who is the Head of all Principality and Power, just in case we forgot who Christ was. But in Him, Christ, the Head of all Principality and Power, has made me complete.

So becoming whole then, in so many ways, is about discovering who we are as a whole. In Christ. And there, there is this verse that I really wanted to dig into, and this is what we're gonna spend the next few minutes looking at. Two Corinthians five 17. Paul wrote this. He said, therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.

Old things have passed away. Behold all things have become new. So if anyone is in Christ well that's me and you. If you're a Christ follower, we are in. Christ, this is talking about our identity, who we are in Christ. In Christ, we are a new creation. All things have passed away. All things have become new, which sounds pretty epic, right?

It's the kind of place you wouldn't want to step inside, let alone call home. But there's this guy, a craftsman, who sees the house not for what it is. But for what it can become. Now he begins a complete renovation. He doesn't just slap a new coat of paint on it or fix a few broken windows. He tears down the rotten structures, clears away the debris and starts laying a new foundation.

It's a place of warmth, light, and life. It's a home. The builder doesn't just sell it on. Not this one. No, no, no. He's proud of this one. He moves in. You are that home. And Jesus is the builder. And do you know what? He has made his home with you. It's his promise. In John 14 verse 23, Jesus replied, Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching.

You see, as a new creation, our relationship with God is fundamentally changed. We are his workmanship, adopted into his family and given a place of belonging. Our sins are forgiven and we stand righteous before God, not because of anything we've done, but because of what Christ has done for us. We will come and make our home in them.

So you are no longer a slave, but God's child. And since you are his child, God has also made you an heir.

Oh, the deeper you go, the better it gets. That's who I am. I am a son of God. I am adopted into his family. And so I am a son and an heir and he has made their home in me. That's who I am. That's my identity. The Apostle Paul, the guy that wrote that verse himself, is a powerful example of this transformation.

From that moment on, he was a new man. Creation. He became Paul, a passionate advocate for the gospel and one of the most influential figures in all of Christian history and maybe all of history. He realized that who he was, was not who he had been. He was a new creation and a son and an heir of God. Now, would there have been days when Paul didn't feel like a new creation?

I have absolutely no doubt. You've only got to read his writings to find out that he suffered and struggled and wrestled and had to make the hard decisions to intentionally believe something that seemed alien and false to him. But he goes on to write this to the church in Rome. He said, do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds.

Then you will be able to test and approve. What God's will is, His good, pleasing and perfect will. Well, renew your minds, basically transform your thinking. Transforming our thinking is renewing our minds. If we think about that famous story of the ugly duckling, Hans Christian Andersen's story, where he sort of wandered through life trying to fit in, trying to be something he wasn't, constantly feeling.

So here's my challenge for you. A way to see this transformation, if you like, in our own lives. How do we do it? Number one. I want you to set a reminder on your phone. Set it to remind yourself every day at a certain time that works for you. On that reminder, put the URL, which will be on the bottom of your screens, uh, www.

I've put my favorite translation of that verse in and we have put them on that webpage, made it easy for you to go and find them. And so read through them, meditate on them. On those verses, just take one of them one at a time and think about it. Think about what it means to you and for your life. Think about how you would teach what it means to someone else if you can.

Stick with it, stick with that verse for a few days, let the truth and the power of it sink down into your spirit as you start to see yourself as God sees you, that reflection of who you truly are. Trust me, it is a remarkable journey of discovery and a key to wholeness. So let's go back to the question I asked at the beginning.

Who are you? Let me tell you, you are a child of God, an heir of God, adopted into his family. You are unique and crafted by God himself. An image bearer, someone that has been made righteous and complete and clean and whole. You are a new creation, the old has gone and all things have been made new for you and we are just getting started.

Dan Orange: Wow. Thanks, Matt. I think there was a lot to talk about in there.

Sadaf Beynon: Yes, there was a lot in there.

Sadaf Beynon: Well, there was a lot that stood out, but I think what I wanted to talk about first because it was, um, um, probably one of the biggest things that's, that, um, I took away from it is that he, when, um, brought up all those different scriptures about.

Our identity in Christ. And he brought up the fact that, um, we are God's workmanship. We are created for good works. We are children of God. We are complete in him. Um, and I was thinking actually the Bible has given us a blueprint. of how we should live.

Dan Orange: Yeah.

Sadaf Beynon: If only we would lay our sides, lay aside ourselves and just obey.

Yeah.

Dan Orange: But

So the more we're immersed in scripture, the more we are going to be like him.

Dan Orange: Yeah, I think that's, yeah, that's brilliant. That isn't it? The world and, um, or the fluid, um, things that it gives, because if there's no foundation, you can't have something solid. That's just. facts, isn't it? Things. If you're not basing your decisions and your policies and your views on something, it's going to waver, it's going to change.

Yeah.

Sadaf Beynon: Yeah. That's right. And also, I think it's not, um, it's not easy where, when Matt was talking about, um, you know, the house being rebuilt from the bottom up and those times can be painful. They can be, you can, the times of struggle, there are times of waiting on the Lord and waiting on the Lord is very tough.

And I think in those times, um, you know, it's easy to forget some of these things. And so immersing ourself in the scripture all the time helps us through those. Those hard times as well.

Dan Orange: Yeah, absolutely. And I love that Matt, he put, I wrote it down. Um, so we're new creation. We're restored to who we always should have been like, Oh, that's it.

Sadaf Beynon: Yeah.

Dan Orange: Yeah.

Sadaf Beynon: It is. It's such a comfort, isn't it? To know that because so often we can flounder based on our feelings.

And that, you know, the, the fluidity of our identity that Matt talked about, you know, how I feel, maybe I, I, I am this way because I'm feeling down in the dumps or whatever it may be. But actually, as you pointed out too, that God has already created us, he's already made us the way we need to be or the way we are in him.

And um, yeah, just need to know that or keep, keep knowing that.

I thought it was really good to explain what it, what it is when they. Put on their uniform. They are part of that. They have those authorities. But she could get a different job.

Sadaf Beynon: Yeah,

Dan Orange: that person could get a different job. There's sometimes as Matt was talking, I was thinking, if someone says someone comes up to you and says, Sadaf, who are you?

Sadaf Beynon: Yeah, I think, uh, you're absolutely right. For many people, their identity is. In their job or in their role in life, um, you know, whether it's at home or whether it's an office or whatever it is, it's what they do and, um, which is not, you know, that is a part of it. That's a part of who we are because, um, you know, we're, we are created to do good works and God's given us those opportunities.

So we grab them by both hands and we do that. For the Lord and I think, um, but there's also an element of, and I think Matt brought this out too, that what's inside of us comes out. And so, um, I think there's a verse, I can't remember exactly where it is, but like from the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.

Dan Orange: Yeah, exactly.

Yeah, brilliant. And it's, um, yeah, it is. And it's shaped that can shape our feelings rather than our feelings shaping who we are. Let's. know who we are to shape our feelings. So if we're feeling down, if we're feeling lost, we know that we're found. If we're feeling down, we know that God can lift us up because we know who we're not, who we are.

If who we are is based on our thoughts and our feelings, man, we're in for a rocky road. Yeah. Aren't we?

Sadaf Beynon: Yeah. And knowing the scripture in in those times is so important and as Matt has already created this wonderful resource on the website, which you guys should definitely check out, I think that that's a great way to immerse yourself in the scripture.

We can ask to walk and be grow in that restoration and in that that live in that life for him. Yeah, and it says to do good works that he has prepared for us. He's got those things, yeah, ready for us. I love that.

Sadaf Beynon: Yeah, when, um, when Matt gave the example of that, um, the police officer, I was thinking also about in Scripture how we are told to, um, arm ourselves in the armor of God.

Dan Orange: salvation. I want to say, yeah.

Sadaf Beynon: So, uh, we should probably look up that scripture, people know, but yeah, they did remind me of that. Yeah.

Dan Orange: Um, and I think it would be.

I'm going to start, um, looking at that, that website, that web address, um, I should be able to press the button, bring it up, but I can't, but it's crowd, crowd. church forward slash in Christ, all one word, and Matt's put down all these scriptures to find out who we are in Christ, which is, yeah, it's brilliant just to, to say it out over yourself, to, to read it out and realise this is, this is what God has for me.

I think, um, for me, there was one what we have, we have, um, sort of touched on it, but it's this, and I probably say it every week because it's that we are an heir to God, to all these things that he's, he's done for us. We've been adopted into his family. We are sons, daughters of God, not, not followers. We are followers of Christ, but it's much, much more than that.

It's to know that he's brought us into his family. Um, and, and all that comes, comes with that. If you're in someone's family, like the, the prodigal son that Matt, Matt talked about that story, the prodigal son, that the man goes away. Um, leaves his father, realizes, I, I, I, I, my, my, my father's servants are better off than me.

To know that, to know that he, he's my father and I'm his son.

Sadaf Beynon: Yeah, it's a, it's a real gift, isn't it? Um, I think we're also, we're also quite fickle, aren't we? So we are all those things in Christ. Absolutely. But we're also quite fickle. And I think we do, um, ride on emotions and what other people might perceive us to be.

It's a discipline.

Dan Orange: Yeah, absolutely is. And Graham on the, um, on the chat has put, it's good to know that God is with us at all times, especially in the hard times, he will never leave us. We are his children. Yeah. Yeah. In the hard times, in the hard times. That's the. That's the time when we need to know his, that he's with us.

We need to know his, um, his word so we can, we can rely on, we can look back at it and go, yep, that's what he's done for me. Um, and it, it could be something there's a, on a practical note is perhaps keeping a journal is to, to write down these things. Oh God did this on this day, put in my diary just so we can look back and go, yeah, that's Yeah, that was a hard time, but he came through and he helped me,

Sadaf Beynon: yeah.

Dan Orange: Um,

Sadaf Beynon: yeah, yeah, so

Dan Orange: before, before I was married, before I'd even met my wife, I used to work for a pig. Yeah. company in the UK, BT, like, yeah, so I was a little employee with hundreds of thousands of other employees.

And I got really down, like really depressed, because I didn't really have sometimes I had a lot to do. I had there was months where we just our department just didn't have anything to do. It's crazy, isn't it that someone can just pay you nothing to do. And it really, really got me down. But through that, God, God lifted me out of it.

It was a very grim time. But he, he brought me through it. Absolutely.

Sadaf Beynon: That's, that's very cool.

Dan Orange: I think, um, perhaps we should bring this chapter to an end. But we're going to continue this series. So next week, we've got Will. Um, well, no, Pete Farrington is going to be talking on the next one. Yeah, next one in the series of our identity. So I'm, yeah, part two, I'm really looking forward to this because Yeah, just to get, even if you just take one thing from each talk, it will be, it's good for me.

So we've had prayer requests through this week. People we've been praying for, had answers to prayer. Um, it's just, it's great to be able to, to pray for you. Um, yeah, so I think Sadaf, thank you very much for joining us today. It's my pleasure. And we will see you all next week. Thanks very much.

Now. By smashing the like button on YouTube or writing a review on your podcast platform, it helps us reach more people with the message that Jesus really does help us live a more meaningful and purposeful life. So if you haven't done so already, be sure to check out our website www. crowd. church, where you can learn more about us, As a church, more about the Christian faith and also how to connect into our church community.

It has been awesome to connect with you and you are awesome. It's just a burden you have to bear and hopefully we'll see you next time. That's it from us. God bless you. Bye for now.