In this video, Bryce talks about what our identity is in Christ.
Chapter 1: What is the identity crisis?
What's going on, guys? Welcome back to another episode of the Bryce Crawford Podcast. I'm Bryce, and in today's episode, we're going to be talking about identity crisis. What do you have your identity in? What are you identifying as or with? And how does God see you? What's your identity in Christ? And what do we do about it? Super psyched about this episode, guys.
Sorry I missed an episode last week. I was taking a little vacation break. We just got done with our live podcast show in Atlanta. It was an incredible night of worship and words. So guys, to those that came out to the Atlanta show, thanks for coming. More dates and cities soon. Coming soon.
But let's talk about identity crisis because I think that this is something very important for us to dive into and kind of dissect because... What we don't understand is that a lot of people lose their identity in many different things. And one reason this was on my heart, we're filming this on June 1st. I don't know if you guys know, this is the first day of Pride Month.
We've actually got a whole month's worth of preaching the gospel at pride parades and pride events and things like that coming up this month. But when we're at these pride events, we're noticing that people are identifying with their sexuality. Oh, well, just let everyone love what they want to love or just love this and that.
Chapter 2: What does the Bible say about identity?
So we're going to be talking about identity and what that looks like and things like that. But first, we have to understand what our identity is. and then what our identity is like in Christ. What does the Bible say about all these things? Well, first of all, I just want to go ahead and say that in 2 Timothy 3, Timothy actually describes what most people are going to be like in the end times.
And this description is what people are naturally like already in a world of sin. He says people will be lovers of self, lovers of money,
Proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness but denying its power. Avoid such people. That's just the life of sin Timothy describes.
So you know what your identity is before Christ? You're a dirty, rotten sinner. That's pretty crazy to think about. And you know what? We have to understand that and recognize that about ourselves first in order for us to need God. You know, that's the first beatitude in Matthew chapter five. He says, blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Your identity before Christ is one that is broken, desperate, and in need of someone outside of themselves in order for saving. You need someone or something outside of yourself to save you. And why is that the case? How's that porn working out for you? How's that sex working out for you? How's the drugs, alcohol, the substances, or even how's the sexuality working out for you?
None of it's going to work. And the reality of sin and the reality that Timothy is describing in 2 Timothy is that it's going to be this endless pit of despair. You're going to be a lover of self. And when you go home and get real with yourself, you're going to be so depressed, so anxious and so lost and so confused and heartbroken.
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Chapter 3: How does sin affect our identity?
You're not going to know what to do with yourself, but you keep going back to that sin struggle because it's familiar. And honestly, that was the story of my life, man. Like I grew up, I've never done drugs or alcohol, but my vice growing up was porn. I got exported to pornography when I was in the fifth grade.
And one of an outlet of frustration or an outlet for my depression or anxiety before I was a Christian was pornography. And what I realized when I was doing that was I didn't want to go back to pornography when I would get real with myself. But I kept going back because it was familiar because I thought, well, maybe it's going to work this time.
Another vice I had when I was in school and high school was people please. And I thought if I could get everyone to like me. then I would feel better about myself. And to be honest with you, that was when I started to lose myself because I would be a completely different person to this person and a completely different person to that person and a completely different person to that person.
And before you know it, I had lost myself in the opinions of other people. I didn't even know who I was in myself. I was so focused on being a completely different person. I would put someone else down to someone else to get one person's approval and then talk back behind the person's back I just got their approval of just to make the other person feel good.
It never worked, but I kept going back to it. Why? Because it was familiar. Just because your sin habit or struggle is familiar doesn't mean it's beneficial. It could actually be the poison that's killing you. The vice, the sin struggle that you think is helping numb the pain is actually slowly killing your heart and your soul. And so who are you?
I mean, Proverbs 14 actually tells us that there's a way that seems right to a man, but in the end, he leads to death. As sinners, right? Because we are born into a world of sin, we have this sinful nature. Our way leads to death. So many of us are living our life based on what feels good, what feels right, this, that, and the other. Well, feelings change like chaff in the wind.
I mean, one week they were praising Jesus laying palm leaves while he's riding a donkey, praising him, wanting him to become king. And then a week later, they're chanting, crucify him, crucify him, kill him, the king of the Jews. So people's opinions change like chaff in the wind. What makes you think that your feelings aren't going to change?
One week you might be totally against substances, and then the next week you might be so broken you're down to pick up the bottle for the first time.
I mean, if you're not in the Word of God, if you're not founded on something that is sustainable, then you're going to be in your feelings, and your feelings are going to turn you and toss you like the waves of the ocean, and you're not going to know who you are. but we need something to build our rock on, something firm. That's the crazy thing about Jesus Christ.
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Chapter 4: What is the solution to our identity crisis?
This timeless piece of Bible scripture, this timeless doctrine of Christianity has been impacting generations for thousands of years and hasn't needed to be altered or changed to impact and change people's lives. So the term of being saved is actually being born again, being born to who you were caused to be. Romans 3.23 says, for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
The fact is you and I are broken. We're born into sin. We're born with a sinful nature. We're born naturally rebelling against God. We're born naturally relying on our feelings. So no wonder we're going through an identity crisis.
And this is the wake-up call of maybe it's finally time to realize, man, the bottle, the pills, the sexuality, the community, this, that, and the other, the stealing, the robbing, whatever you're doing, it's not going to work, it hasn't worked, and it won't work. But Jesus Christ, this timeless being who broke through the barrier of time and space, which his doctrine, his perfect doctrine,
flawless, righteous doctrine has actually saved us from ourselves and is impacting generations before, during, and will impact generations after us. We don't need anything but Jesus. And because of our sinful nature, you know what? We deserve death.
So your identity before Christ is a sinner, someone that deserves to be punished, someone that deserves to take accountability for the things that you've done wrong. But then there's this verse in 2 Corinthians 5. Where Paul is writing to the church of Corinth about the ministry of reconciliation, we have to understand what was going on in Corinth.
Back at this time in Corinth, you had people who were lovers of self, lovers of money, who were involved in crazy sexual immorality. So if there's any crowd that needs to be spoken this message to, it's them. And this is the crowd that America needs to hear this message from. In verse 16 of 2 Corinthians 5, it says, From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh.
Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. This is the verse. If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come. Romans actually tells us that we are justified by the blood of Christ that was worked on the cross. So when you put your faith in Jesus Christ,
what he did on the cross, that he really paid for your sin, that he paid for your wrongdoing, the nature that you have, the sinful nature, the actions that you do of sin, the condition of the world's sin, when you put your faith in Christ, that he has taken away and paid the penalty of sin, the condition of your soul, the condition of the world, the condition of your actions, when you put faith in them, it wipes your slate clean as if you've never done anything wrong.
That's forgiveness. Forgiveness is canceling the debt someone owes you. We have this unpayable debt towards God with our sin, the conditions of our state, the conditions of the world, the conditions of your actions. We have this unpayable debt towards God that we can never pay in anything in this world. So we have to pay with our life.
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Chapter 5: How can we find our true identity in Christ?
And verse 21, it says, for our sake, he made him to be sin who knew no sin so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Jesus Christ, who knew no sin, became sin on the cross so you and I could become God's righteousness. What does that mean? The standard for heaven is perfection. You know yourself better than I do. You know the mistakes you just made in the past 24 hours.
You know the mistakes you've made the past three months. You know the sin habit that you just can't shake free from. You know how broken you are. And you know, if you stood before God, just as if I were to stand before God right now, we don't deserve to be in his presence. The standard of heaven is perfection.
But 2 Corinthians, Paul writes, he who knew no sin, he who was perfect, became sin, past, present, and future on the cross so that you and I could become what? Righteousness, perfection, the standard necessary to enter into heaven.
The blood of Jesus Christ is this robe of righteousness that actually cleanses us from our sin so that we make the standard, so that we can stand before God, so that we can become united with Christ in relationship with him. It's powerful. John chapter one says, but all who did receive Christ, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. So what's your identity?
Maybe you're identifying with money right now. Summer's up. You got a summer job. You're making a load of money. Maybe you're identifying with how much sex you can have with people. Maybe you're identifying with the drugs, the alcohol, the party life. Maybe you're identifying with your 4.0 GPA that you're trying to keep up with in the summer classes.
But the reality is, is those things are just as shaky as the opinions of man. They're going to fail. But Jesus Christ doesn't change his mind about you.
And when you put your faith in someone that isn't going to change his mind about you, when you put your faith in someone that's perfect, eternal, and just, that has once and for all killed sin on the cross, you realize that your identity is not perfect. your GPA in school. Your identity is not money. It's not sex. It's not drugs. Your identity is not how many bodies you have.
Your identity isn't how much money you make. Your identity isn't your GPA in school. When you put your faith in Christ, Jesus takes you from a dirty, rotten sinner to now you've become his child. To all who believe in him, John 1.12 says, you've been given the right to be called children of God. John 8 gives this interesting dilemma.
He says, and you'll know the truth and the truth will set you free. And then he says, everyone is a slave to sin. And then he says, but a slave is temporary, but a son is forever. You don't have to live like this anymore.
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Chapter 6: What does it mean to be born again?
Blessed are you, brother or sister listening to this, that recognize you need someone outside of yourself to save you. Blessed are you, brother or sister, when you're sick and tired of numbing the pain with substances, with Netflix, TikTok, food. Blessed are you when you realize you're sick and tired of that and you need something that will sustain you. For what do you inherit?
kingdom of heaven when you recognize hey i am a sinner and i'm in need of someone outside of myself to save me and you put your faith in christ you now become a child of god and the thing you inherit for recognizing that you need jesus christ is more of him a few verses later last thing i'll close with is jesus blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see god
anyone watching or listening to this, you know right now, whatever sin struggle you have, whatever addiction you're holding to right now, whatever it may be, you understand in this moment what you need to give up to God. You understand right now, if you're watching or listening to this, you know what things are holding you back from God.
And all knowing God is waiting on you to invite him into a relational aspect where you confess things that he already knows you're going through. He's looking for trust. He's looking for sincerity. And that's why Jesus is blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God. When you get honest with God, the reward for deep, sincere honesty with God is more of him.
You can give 99% of yourself to God and the 1% you're withholding back is this one sin struggle that you just don't want to give up. You're still unknown to God. You're not trusting him. You're not being honest. But the reality is this transparency leads to transformation. When you look at John 4, the woman at the well, all of her cards were on the table. Yeah, I've been ran through.
I've had five different husbands, and the dude I live with now isn't even my husband. What does Jesus say? I will give you water where you don't have to thirst anymore. A lot of you are thirsty out there. You're looking to the money. You're looking to the drugs, the substances. Another joint, just one more joint, man, and then I'll put it down. Man, just one more time.
I'm going to sleep with her one more time or sleep with him one more time and then I'll be good. You don't need that, man. You need Christ. You need Jesus. So I'm going to pray for us really quick. What is your identity? Well, there's two types of people listening to this. You got someone who doesn't know Christ at all who needs to recognize, hey, I'm a sinner. I'm in need of Jesus' saving grace.
I'm broken. We're going to pray that God reveals that to you, reveals his love to you and that you'll come to know that. And then there's other people who may be a Christian who don't view themselves the way that God sees them. And so they let their sin bind them in shame and guilt and they hide in the coward.
And I want to tell that person that's a Christian, first of all, submit, give that up to God. But second thing, man, you're God's child. It's not who you are anymore. You need the strength of the spirit of God to help you. So Jesus, thank you so much. that you set us free from our addictions. Jesus, thank you that you set us free from ourselves.
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Chapter 7: How does 2 Corinthians address identity?
Let them recognize under your power and the tugging of your spirit that they need you. And second, I speak to those who already are putting their faith in you, God, but there's sin that is holding them back from knowing more of you, God. But you give them the strength to give up every sin habit towards you so that they can experience the fullness of you, God.
God, we just ask to continue to move in our lives. God, we love you, praise you. In Jesus' mighty name, amen.