Week 3 - Beyond Labels | Month 1 - Identity in Christ
Scriptural anchor for us through Week 3:
“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. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” - 2 Corinthians 5:16–17 (ESV)
In Chosen and Known (Week 1), we saw that before the foundation of the world, God knew us and set His love upon us (Ephesians 1:4–5). In From Orphan to Heir (Week 2), we learned that this choosing was not abstract - it was relational. We were adopted into God’s household, made heirs to His kingdom (Galatians 4:4–7).
Now we face the next stage in this journey:
What does it mean to fully receive God’s naming and refuse to be defined by anything else?
From Genesis to Revelation, God does not merely work with people as they are - He calls them into something new, and that calling often comes with a new name:
* Abram → Abraham (Genesis 17:5) – From “exalted father” to “father of many nations.”
* Sarai → Sarah (Genesis 17:15) – From “my princess” to “princess” for many.
* Jacob → Israel (Genesis 32:28) – From “deceiver” to “God prevails.”
* Simon → Peter (John 1:42) – From “listener” to “rock.”
These were not ceremonial rebrands. They were declarations of divine reality - new identities rooted in God’s promise, not in human performance.
The Liturgical Echo of the New Name
In the early Church, baptism often included receiving a new name, symbolizing your new identity in Christ. White robes represented being clothed with Christ (Galatians 3:27).
Revelation 2:17 captures the mystery of this promise:
“To the one who conquers… I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.”
Early commentators like Hippolytus of Rome saw this “new name” as both a present possession and a future revelation - an identity fully known to God now, and fully revealed in glory.
Even today, every time we pray Our Father, we are speaking from our God-given identity - not as outsiders, but as family.
God’s Naming vs. the World’s Labeling
Rome hung a label, hung a sign: “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.” (John 19:19). A label nailed in mockery, a charge of treason. In divine irony, what they meant in scorn was one of the truest sentences ever written. Sometimes, the intent of a label, no matter how damaging its perceived purpose, God will put it to use for His glory and the enemies’ humiliation.
The world will try to pin labels on you too: Failure, not enough, too much, outsider. But at the cross every false name dies.
What remains is the Father’s voice: Chosen, beloved, mine (Galatians 3:26–28).
Paul captures the transformation in 2 Corinthians 5:17:
“If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
The “old” in this verse includes not only sin but every identity marker and life-defining narrative that existed outside of Christ.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, imprisoned for resisting Hitler, wrestled with identity as the world labeled him a traitor, a criminal, and a condemned man. In his poem Who Am I?, he concluded:
“Whoever I am, Thou knowest, O God, I am Thine.” (Letters and Papers from Prison, 1944)
Bonhoeffer’s point was clear: God’s voice must be louder than the crowd’s in our own head.
Billy Graham often reminded believers:
“When God looks at you, He doesn’t see your past. He sees the righteousness of Jesus Christ.”
This is not sentimental optimism - it is the legal reality of justification and the relational reality of adoption.
The Weight and Wound of Labels
Labels can be inherited, earned, or imposed:
* Inherited - family expectations, ethnic or cultural identity, social class.
* Earned - career titles, degrees, awards, or conversely, criminal records or moral failures.
* Imposed - insults, stereotypes, or narratives others assign without your consent.
Some labels flatter but enslave, tying worth to performance. Others wound, binding us to shame. Both distort who we truly are.
The gospel cuts through these illusions. In Christ:
* We are sealed by the Spirit (Ephesians 1:13–14) - a mark that no human opinion can erase.
* We are hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3) - meaning the truest part of us is secure beyond reach of accusation.
We are renamed by the One who calls things that are not as though they were (Romans 4:17).
Why This Matters Before We Live It Out
To be able to produce fruit as an ENVOY (Week 4’s focus), we must settle our identity first. Without this foundation, every attempt to serve God will be vulnerable to collapse under criticism, failure, or pride. With these vices being key tools for the prowling enemy (1 Peter 5:8), it is much safer to step out as a Son of the highest King, labeled with the authority of God.
If we don’t replace false names with God’s truth, we will:
* Slip back into orphan thinking → Striving to prove our worth.
* Depend on performance-based worth → Fragile and exhausting.
* Hide in shame-driven secrecy → Fearful of being “found out.”
This week is about internal alignment:
* Believing that God’s word over you is more authoritative than any other voice, even your own.
* Renouncing labels that have no legal right over a child of God. Name the labels, and renounce them in prayer.
Resting in your God-given name as your ultimate truth and identity as we move forward.
This Week’s Scripture Reading Plan
Read one passage each day. Ask: What does this tell me about who God says I am?
* 2 Corinthians 5:16–21 – New creation in Christ.
* Isaiah 62:2–4 – God renames His people with delight.
* John 1:40–42 – Jesus renames Simon to Peter.
* Revelation 2:17 – The promise of a new, hidden name.
* Colossians 3:9–11 – Putting off the old self, putting on the new.
The prayer we are petitioning over one another as we move through this week:
“Lord, You are the only One with the right to name us. We lay down every false label - those given by others, those We’ve given ourselves, those born of shame or pride. Speak Your truth over us. Teach us to believe it. Let Your naming be our resting place and the wellspring of our joy. Amen.”
Reflection Questions
* Which label from your past has been the most persistent in shaping how you’ve seen yourself?
* Whose opinion has been loudest in your self-definition, and how can you replace it with God’s voice?
* Which Scripture from this week most directly speaks a new name over you that you may not have considered for yourself before?
Practice for the Week
Renaming Exercise – Don’t roll your eyes, I know, I know…. group participation can feel a little high school-esque, but humor me for a few minutes today:
* Take a sheet of paper. On one side, list every label you’ve carried - from childhood nicknames to professional titles to self-criticisms and earthly accolades.
* On the other side, draw a line from each label and write the identity truths Scripture gives you in place of those earthly weights.
Example:
* “unworthy” → “chosen” – 1 Peter 2:9.
* “failure” → “more than a conqueror” – Romans 8:37.
If it helps you to see it visually, go ahead and passionately destroy the first side, as an act of renunciation. Keep the second side somewhere visible and speak it aloud this week. The truth of the Lord being spoken of yourself is far more powerful than my keys can type here in this format.
New thoughts and labels will float by us, sometimes bad thoughts, sometimes about ourselves; those thoughts are not to be claimed or held on to, let them continue drifting by, fill your mind with the nourishment of what your King calls you.
Watch / Listen / Read
Watch
You Must Lose Yourself to Find Yourself - Tim KellerThis episode explores the theme of where your identity comes from in Jesus. Tim challenges you to move past surface identities (like "good person," "religious," or "self-made"):
* “Losing Yourself” becomes a metaphor for shedding these labels to discover one’s identity in Christ.
* Nicodemus's journey parallels how religious labels or status can obscure spiritual surrender and deeper transformation.
* Tim’s exploration of the John 3 passage encourages us to go beyond labels, embracing identity not as who we are on the outside, but who we are in Christ.
Read
Spiritual Roots – RiverLife Fellowship: Pastor Byron WickerThis reflection reminds us that our identity in Christ is not something we invent or achieve, but something deeply rooted in God’s eternal purposes. It invites us to examine whether our lives are being nourished by the right labels and roots, faith, love, and trust in Christ, or by shallow substitutes that cannot sustain us.
John Eldredge, Wild at Heart: Discovering the Secret of a Man’s Soul - Link to Chapter 1
This book has challenged many believers to step beyond a safe or “tame” faith and embrace a deeper identity in Christ. One that involves courage, risk, and trust. Chapter 1 alone has some gold to offer on our M1 W3 topic. While it is framed around the language of masculinity, its central message applies more broadly: God calls His children to shed cultural labels and live as His beloved.
Listen
The Ramp Podcast: What Does It Mean To Find Your Identity in Christ?
In this episode, Micah Wood and Josh Hollingsworth unpack the phrase “find your identity in Christ,” inviting listeners to delve deeper than surface-level spirituality. They explore:
* What “identity in Christ” truly means, beyond a mantra or slogan.
* How this identity shapes your daily life, faith, and decisions, not just what you believe, but who you are in Christ.
* Practical reflections on aligning your sense of self with biblical truth, rather than cultural labels or personal insecurities.
Father Serafim -Psalm 50 In Aramaic (Jesus’s language - Aramaic)
This ancient Syriac rendition of Psalm 50 begins with a humble plea: “Have mercy on me, O God…” It models the spiritual posture of identity rooted not in self-performance, but in repentance and divine mercy. It's haunting melody carries the weight of our need for grace, and invites us to enter beyond all external and internal labels, into the quiet, eternal certainty of being deeply known by God.
Noah Rinker - Save My Soul
Noah weaves a heartfelt reflection on identity, challenging the notion of being lifted up on human church-made pedestals versus embracing the identity God has given.
Lauren Daigle - “You Say”
It’s a familiar song to most, but Lauren really hits on our weekly topic here:
“I keep fighting voices in my mind that say I'm not enoughEvery single lie that tells me I will never measure upAm I more than just the sum of every high and every low?Remind me once again just who I am because I need to know…”
📅 This Week’s 30-Min Rally Point
We’ll meet for our first 30-minute rally point this Thursday at 7:00 PM EST via Zoom.This is a space for reflection, encouragement, and activation, a rhythm of checking in, praying together, and pressing forward.
🕖 Zoom Time: Thursday @ 7:00 PM EST🔗 Click to join the Zoom call - Zoom URL
Format:
* Welcome & Opening Prayer (2 min)
* Scripture Reading (3 min)
* Teaching Recap (5 min)
* Discussion Questions (12 min)
* Heart-Level Questions:
* Head-Level Questions:
* Hands-Level Questions:
* Practice Together (5 min)
* Closing Encouragement & Prayer (3 min)
Bring a Bible, a journal, and any wins or wrestles you want to share. This is a safe space to grow.
Next week: Living from Identity
Next week in Living from Identity, we’ll move from knowing who God says we are to actually living out that truth - allowing our words, relationships, and mission to reflect our new life in Christ. If you’d like to prepare, read Ephesians 4:20–24, where Paul calls us to put off the old self and put on the new, created in God’s likeness in true righteousness and holiness.
Thank you for spending the time on this topic with us, your week is busy, and I am sure there are a lot of pressures on you. Your commitment to drawing closer to God will bear fruit.
I’m glad you’re here.
Let’s run the race - Eyes Up, Chin Up!
Grace and peace,
Sam Johnston
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit christfocused.substack.com
