The New Identity & The Resurrected Life
Theme: Breaking the chains of shame by discovering who died and who lives.
Introduction: We often carry the weight of shame for past mistakes and past traumas and totally forget that the Bible teaches that once we are covered by the blood of Jesus we are no longer even that same person. This teaching is an exercise in talking about the past no longer in the first person but in the third person perspective. I am John. What I did was the old John. We are not the same person. It’s not a convenient "get out of jail free card" because it comes with all of the change in me that you have seen since Jesus became not just my savior but the Lord of my life.
Last Sunday, on Easter, we heard about resurrection. We heard Romans 6:3-5 preached: "Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life."
But here's what I've learned: most people hear about Jesus rising and they leave feeling good about it. They don't grasp that they rose with Him. They don't understand that their old self was buried in that baptism. They still feel defined by who they were before.
That's what we're here to address this week. This isn't about another spiritual idea. This is about taking what the Easter sermon teaches and helping you live it.
Many of you carry shame. Deep shame. Not just for the mistakes you made, but for the person you believe you still are because of those mistakes. You did something terrible, and now you're convinced that thing defines you. You believe you are still the person who committed that sin. You're the person who hurt that person. You're the person with that addiction, that affair, that rage, that lie. And here's the cruelty of it: shame is so powerful that it keeps you from even believing the gospel.
Jesus says you're forgiven. Jesus says you're a new creation. But shame whispers back: "Yeah, but you know what you really are. You know what you did. That's the real you."
The teaching today is designed to break that lie. Because it is a lie. Wouldn’t it feel great to be able to assign all of our past mistakes, all of our hurts, habits and hang ups, all of our traumas and the hurtful things people have done to us over the course of our lifetime… take them all and just assign them to someone else? That wasn’t me… that was him/her. That didn’t happen to me… that happened to him/her. This is the most crucial step to that freedom.
I. The Discovery: Two People, One Shell
In a Discovery Group, we aren't here to recover or "fix" the old version of ourselves. We are here to discover the reality that the old version is dead.
The Problem: We stay "stuck" because we keep identifying as "the person who failed." We try to "recover" a life that God has already sentenced to death.
The Truth: You are a new creation inside the same "shell."
The Positional Reality: 2 Corinthians 5:17. "The old things passed away; behold, new things have come." This is a factual, objective claim. Your spiritual ancestry changed from "In Adam" to "In Christ."
II. The Biblical Model: From Jacob to Israel
The story of Jacob is the ultimate picture of this identity shift. Jacob means "supplanter"—he lived up to that name. He cheated his brother, ran for his life, spent twenty years trying to survive on his own strength. Then one night he wrestles with God at the Jordan. When the dawn breaks and he sees the face of God, everything changes. God says, "Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome."
Jacob limps across that river, but he's a different person. Not because his circumstances changed. Because his identity changed. The old Jacob—the supplanter, the deceiver—that person died in that wrestling match. The new Israel—the one who struggled with God, walked across the Jordan. Same body, two different people.
The Old Man (Jacob): His name meant "Supplanter" or "Cheater." He lived out of his own strength, deceiving his brother and running in fear.
The Wrestling Match: At the Jordan, Jacob wrestled with God. He didn't win by being stronger; he won by refusing to let go until his identity was settled.
The New Man (Israel): God said, "Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel."
The Result: Jacob limped across that river, but he was a different person. The "Supplanter" died in the dirt that night. Same body, different life.
God Changed Jacob’s Name: The bible models for us exactly what we are to do. God says, “I can’t call you by the same name anymore”… so, why should we?
III. The Third-Person Practice: The Language of the New Creation
To break the agreement with shame, we must learn to speak the truth about our history. We practice speaking of our "Old Self" in the third person because that person is not you anymore.
Romans 6:3-5: You were "baptized into His death." Your old self was crucified and buried.
Galatians 2:20: "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me."
The Third-Person Audit:
"The old me committed those sins. The old me suffered those traumas. I am sorry for what that old man/woman did, but I do not associate with those actions anymore. That person died with Christ. I have been made new."
IV. Real Transformation: The Evidence of the Crossing
This is not a "get out of jail free card." It is an admission of total surrender. When we can say that we have now made Jesus (not just our savior) but the “Lord of our life” things change.
The Cost: The old self didn't just get "erased"; he was executed.
The Evidence: If there is no change in your life, you haven't made the crossing. The transformation is real because the death was real.
The Process: 2 Corinthians 3:18. We are being transformed "into His image with ever-increasing glory." The "New Creation" is a position you hold, but the "New Life" is a discovery you walk out daily.
V. Relational Healing: Living with a Resurrected Life
This is where the teaching meets our families, spouses, and children. Shame dies when the "legal owner" of the sin is gone.
For the Member: When a past mistake is brought up, don't get defensive. Agree with the truth: "I am sorry the old me did that. I hate that it hurt you. But I am not that person today. I am a new creation, and I’m asking you to join me in discovering who God is making me now."
For the Family: Colossians 3:13. Forgive "as" the Lord forgave you. God doesn't just "overlook" your sin; He acknowledges that the sinner died and the New Creation is debt-free.
The Danger of "Uncovering": Proverbs 10:12. Love covers sins. If you keep bringing up the past, you are "uncovering" a grave. You are insisting the old, dead person still exists. And… 1 Corinthians 13:5 says, “love keeps no record of wrong.”
VI. The Final Verdict: No Condemnation
Romans 8:1: "There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."
Shame requires a target. If the "Old Man" is dead and buried, the Accuser has no one to point his finger at.
Closing Declaration: "I am not who I was. The old me is gone. I am a resurrected life in a familiar shell, discovering the freedom of being a child of God."
Addressing the "Guardian of the Past"
1. The Conflict: Justice vs. Identity
"There are some here tonight who may feel a deep resistance or disconnect to this teaching. You may feel that if you stop identifying with your trauma, you are abandoning the wounded child you once were. Maybe, you’ve been a Justice Warrior for so long that you don't know who you are without the fight.
But hear this: The 'Old You' who was hurt is safe now. That person died with Christ and is now hidden in Him. You don't have to demand justice anymore because the debt has been settled at the Cross. You aren't betraying that child by becoming a New Creation; you are finally giving that child the peace they’ve been waiting for. You are free to stop being a victim and start being a son or daughter."
2. The Shift: Transferring the Advocacy
We need to realize that the "Old Self" was the one who suffered. When we insist on staying in that identity to fight for justice, we are keeping ourselves locked in the same room as the trauma.
· The Truth: You don't have to be the Justice Warrior anymore because the Old You was already vindicated at the Cross.
· The Reframing: You aren't abandoning that child; you are finally letting that child rest. By speaking in the third person—"I am sorry for what happened to the old [Name]"—you are acknowledging the injustice without letting it define your current life.
3. Relinquishing the Gavel
Real freedom requires us to stop demanding justice from the people who hurt us or from our own past.
· Romans 12:19: "Never take your own revenge... for it is written, 'Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,' says the Lord."
· The Discovery: You can stop fighting for that child because God has already taken up the case. When you step into your identity as a New Creation, you aren't leaving that child behind; you are placing that child in the hands of the only Judge who can actually make things right.
Why this is crucial for the "Discovery" Group
In Recovery, people often talk about "healing the inner child" for years. In Discovery, we recognize that the "Old Man" (including the wounded child) has been encompassed in Christ’s death. We don't have to keep that child "alive" through our pain to ensure the injustice is remembered. God remembers. The Cross covers it. Now, we can discover who we are without the weight of the courtroom.
Process Group Discussion & Activation
The Third-Person Exercise: Everyone take 60 seconds to speak about their biggest area of shame in the third person (e.g., "The old John was a slave to lust...").
The Resurrected Proof: Share one specific "fruit" or change your family has seen that proves the "Old Man" is truly gone.
The Cover: (For couples/family members) Is there an "Old Man" behavior you are still trying to hold your spouse accountable for? How does it change things to realize that person was crucified with Christ?