Lost Identity
Galatians 2:20, "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me."
I cannot tell you the many people that have came to me about losing their identity. Most of us keep our identity in our wallets. Identification is something that we use quite often. Identity (according to Webster’s Dictionary) is the state or fact of being the same or individuality. One of the most common proofs of identity is our driver’s license. When you write a check, the clerk will ask you for your driver’s license number if it is not already printed on your check. Many banks require us to have our driver’s license number. When we go to insure our vehicle, we must have a valid driver’s license. The most crucial time to share our proof of driver’s license is when we are stopped by a police officer. You know you had better not even think of driving a vehicle without a valid driver’s license.
Another proof of identity that we use, is our social security card, or number. In fact, we are asked for this proof of identity so often that most of us have this number memorized. I had an 8th grade Health teacher that encouraged our class to memorize our social security number.
Thank God that he did. I use that number all the time. In fact, I memorized my driver’s license number also. Then I went a step above that, and memorized my credit card number. I used to blow the clerk’s mind at Sears, when I would recite that 16 digit credit card number to him. I even memorized phone card numbers. Now, I try to memorize Scripture.
Our identity is something that specifically denotes who we are. Today, I would like to present a message to you entitled, "Lost Identity." Our text taken out of the book of Galatians, chapter 2, verse 20 reads these words written by the Apostle Paul, "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me:"
I cannot write down on paper how many Scriptures that make reference to crucifying the old man and his deeds. Let me first clarify who the old man is. The old man is a metaphor used by the Apostle Paul to show that when a person becomes a Christian, he or she receives a new man. The old man refers to a person’s old life before receiving Christ.
Col. 3:9, "ye have put off the old man with his deeds;"
Peter referred to this old man in his first epistle in chapter four, verse three. I Peter 4:3, "the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries:"
Eph. 4:22 "put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;"
As we can see, the old man is the old life of sin that we used to lead. The common thread we see, from the Bible is this, when a person comes to Christ, as a sinner, or the old man, Christ gives he or she a new man. That is to say, a life that is free from sin. The angel plainly said in Matt. 1:21, "he shall save his people from their sins." We are not saved in our sins, but from our sins.
Joseph spoke against sin in Genesis 39:9, "how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?"
Moses spoke against sin in Exodus 20:20, "And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not."
Ezekiel said in Ezekiel 3:21, "the righteous sin not."
John said in John 1:29, "the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world."
Jesus said himself to the impotent man in John 5:14, "thou art made whole: sin no more." He said the same to the woman taken in adultery in John 8:11, "go, and sin no more."
Paul said in Romans 6:6, "our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin."
The one that has been made a new man is freed from sin. Rom. 6:7, "For he that is dead is freed from sin."
John the Revelator said in I John 1:7, "the blood of Jesus Christ...cleanseth us from ALL sin."
I John 3:8, "He that committeth sin is of the devil;"
Paul says in our text, "I am crucified with Christ." Paul is saying to us in a metaphoric way, when I repented of my sins on Damascus Road and asked Jesus Christ to be my Savior and Lord, something wonderful happened! I abolished my old sinful habits. I spiritually crucified my old man with all of his wicked ways, all of his filthy words, all of his selfish deeds, and all of his lust. I lost my identity. You may see Paul in the flesh, from the outward appearance, but the man that is inside is Jesus Christ.
This is why the same Paul could write in 2 Cor. 5:17, "if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."
"Not I, but Christ liveth in me"
That ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." Eph. 4:24. My friends, when we come to Christ, we forfeit our will to God’s will. My Bible tells me that when a person receives Christ, there is a change. Paul went from murdering Christians to exhorting and loving Christians.
There’s been a change in me,
A change in me
Oh, I’m not the one that I used to be,
Old things have passed away, since Christ has set me free,
There’s been a change, a change in me.
Paul said in Phil. 1:21, "For to me to live is Christ." He never said, for to me to live is Paul, but for to me to live is Christ. Paul no longer exists. He was crucified with Christ. Now Christ controls my thoughts, my actions, my heart, and my whole life. Paul knew that when he became a Christian, that his identity was lost forever.
Now he is identified as "Christ that liveth in me." Paul is saying the "one who did no sin" is now living inside of my heart, that’s why I can live above sin, because of "Christ that liveth in me."
When I came to Christ, I lost my identity. It is no longer Jason Horrocks that controls my life, but Jesus Christ that lives in me. I put off the old man. The hand that once had such a strong hold on that Whiskey bottle, now tightly grips the greatest book ever written, the Bible, God’s Holy Word. The feet that used to run to the bar, now run to the Church. The mouth that used to curse now proclaims the gospel. The hands that used to harm, now help the ones in need. The heart that used to hate, now is full of love. The mind that was once confused now is astonished. The heart that used to be broken now is full of joy. The mind that was once full of fear now is full of peace.
My friends, there is a vast difference when a person is saved. Maybe you are thinking, I am in control of my life. Are you? Friend if you are in control, you have not been made a new creature in Christ Jesus, and you are not experiencing true salvation.
Don’t you see? If you are living for yourself, you are not living for Christ. If for you to live is you, you are missing out on the forgiveness that God wants to give you. If you want to be in the forefront, you will never show anyone Christ. To the Christians, please let me say this, if you want to be exalted in the body of Christ, you have missed the whole message of the Bible. If you want to have control, you have misunderstood what Paul wrote to the Corinthian church. I Cor. 6:20, "ye are bought with a price." Acts 20:28 says referring to the Christians, "the Church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood." If we fail to show Jesus in our lives, we have failed at our calling of which we "have been called out of darkness, into His marvelous light."
In closing, I ask whose identity do you have? Your own or, "Christ that liveth in you?" Are you crucified with Christ, or are you still living the same sinful life that you were living before you asked for forgiveness? Can others see Christ living in you? Would you like to put off the old man of sin, and allow Christ to make a new creature out of you? Have you lost your identity?
Matt. 10:39 “He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.”
