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Identity: Whose Are You? (Part 3)
- Dr Alfonse Javed
- Feb 8
- 10 min read
Updated: Feb 20
When we surrender to Jesus, His love, peace, and eternal hope permeate through us. Others see it and want what we have.
John 1:29-36 - 29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” 32 And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33 I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.” 35 The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!”
What is identity, and who has the authority to define yours? Over the last two times, we have explored the two dominant views shaping our culture and identity: essentialism, which says identity is discovered within, and existentialism, which says identity is created by will.
The problem is that both fail because, though they appear opposite, they share the same fatal flaw— they place the crushing burden of defining identity on the individual. They expect you to discover yourself, create yourself, and justify yourself.
People need to know the radical alternative: Gospel Identity. This is not an identity you achieve; it is an identity you receive from whose you are. However, there is a catch. You cannot receive Gospel identity without total surrender to Christ's authority as master and owner. This is where many stumble, including Christians.
John 1:29–36 gives us a clear and compelling picture of true surrender. Twice, once in verse 29 and again in verse 36, we hear the same command: “Behold the Lamb of God.” That repetition isn’t accidental but intentional. It tells us that surrender does not begin with effort, but with focus. Unless our gaze is fixed on the redeeming Christ, the Lamb of God, we will never truly yield our lives to Him because we cannot truly surrender to a Savior who we have not first learned to behold.
Grammatically, “behold” means “Look now!” but contextually, it means more of an attention shift that implies staying fixed or “don’t look away”. When you put the grammar and the context together, the sense is this: “Break your gaze away from everything else and fix it decisively on Jesus.”
When we don’t do that, we treat Jesus like a software update— an “add-on” meant to make our life run a little smoother. But in our text, we see that Jesus isn’t an update; He is an entirely new operating system. True surrender to Him isn’t just saying “I believe;” it is saying “I yield.” Therefore, though about 2.6 billion people, that is, about one-third of the global population, identify themselves as Christian, many, if not most, are as lost as the rest of the world. What is lacking is the total surrender to Christ's authority as master and owner.
The Big Idea
When you are rooted in Christ, you don’t achieve identity; you receive it with the cost being total surrender to Jesus. The question is, what does total surrender to Jesus mean? We find the answer in John 1:34-36. So far in John 1:29-33, we have seen that when our identity is rooted in Christ, then Gospel identity changes the way we see Christ and speak of Christ. Today, we will see how it changes the way we surrender to Christ.
Gospel Identity Changes the Way We Surrender to Christ
Before we walk talk about the text, we must recover a biblical understanding of surrender because when we think of surrender, we usually think in military terms of a defeated, broken enemy forced to wave a white flag.
But biblical surrender, especially to the Lamb of God, is something far deeper. It is not a forced defeat; it is a voluntary trust. It is the difference between a prisoner handing over his weapons and a patient handing over the scalpel to a surgeon. One is a loss of freedom; the other is the only way to save a life.
Biblically speaking, true surrender is to yield control, release ownership, and submit willingly to the authority of Jesus as both Savior and Lord, in Greek, kurios, meaning master and owner. A true and mature disciple knows and obeys that.
If we want to move Jesus from being an add-on to our lives to making Him the authority over it, then John 1:34-36 outlines three steps for total surrender to Jesus: we must recognize Him as the rightful ruler, relinquish our right to reign over to Him, and redirect others to the righteous redeemer.
Recognize the Rightful Ruler (John 1:34)
Surrender always begins with recognition. Notice how John, in John1:34, does not call Jesus a prophet, a reformer, or a moral teacher. He declares Him the Son of God. The verse reads, “I have seen and I have borne witness that this is the Son of God.” John bore witness to something that was considered blasphemous by the very religious people in Jerusalem who sent a group to investigate him in the earlier verses of John 1; in the case of Christ, a crime that led to His crucifixion. John cared less about the consequences as he recognized Jesus as the rightful ruler. In the biblical culture, sonship meant authority, inheritance, and representation. John recognized that all.
Today, America needs more prophetic voices like John, who can fearlessly, honestly, and unapologetically recognize the rightful ruler in their private and public life. A lesson that we learn from John 1:34 is this: what he saw is what he bore witness to; he saw the Son of God, and to Him, He bore witness.
The problem is that people “behold” Jesus today, but they don’t all see the same Jesus. Some see a teacher and a moralist, and others see a prophet and a healer.
When we see a moralist, we bear witness to morality, and morality becomes our identity. Talk to the legalists of our day. They will talk less about Jesus and more about dos and don’ts. Their identity is in rule-keeping and not in Jesus.
When we see a mere teacher or prophet in Jesus, we revere him like a teacher or prophet. Talk to Muslims, and they will tell you that they respect and revere Jesus. They will tell you He is their prophet and that He is coming back. They will argue that His name appears in the Quran more than that of their own prophet Muhammad.
Those who see a miracle worker in Jesus bear witness to His miracles. Talk to those who are confused with the healing and prosperity gospel. To them, no Christian should be sick or poor.
However, to those who see the Lamb of God, they bear witness to the Son of God, the rightful ruler of all; that changes everything. John sees the rightful ruler and bears witness to Him publicly, irrespective of the repercussions, that Jesus is the Son of God.
Think of an embassy. When you step inside, you are no longer under the laws of the surrounding city— you are under the authority of the nation that the embassy represents. To confess Jesus as the Son of God is to say: “My life is now His territory.” You cannot surrender to someone you merely admire. You only surrender to someone you recognize as sovereign, the rightful ruler.
Application
Ask yourself: Is Jesus merely an accessory to my life, or is He the foundation of my life? If He is not Lord, He will always remain optional. Exam in your own life— where is Jesus most often treated as an add-on rather than the authority?
Relinquish the Right to Reign (John 1:35)
John 1:35-36 reads, “35 The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!”” John is at the height of his influence. He has disciples and a platform.
Yet the moment Jesus appears, John steps aside. What John did before his disciples is a subtle but powerful moment of letting go instead of adding on. The idea I want us to capture is that when we recognize the rightful ruler of our lives, we step down from the throne of our heart and intellect. That is true surrender. Just as two rulers cannot reign over the same territory, Christ cannot and will not reign over a life that is already ruled by someone or something else. The problem is that most Christians fail to give full control over to Jesus. They struggle to relinquish their right to reign over to Jesus because they confuse obedience with surrender.
If obedience is like following a GPS, then surrender is moving to the passenger seat. John was willing to move to the passenger seat so that Christ could gain control.
Application
Don’t just recognize Christ’s right to rule your life, relinquish the reign to Jesus. For that, first, you need to identify the steering wheel you are still holding, whether reputation, career, anger, or your control. Second, ask, what does “moving to the passenger seat” look like practically in your current season of life?
Redirect to the Righteous Redeemer (John 1:36)
John 1:36 continues, “and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!”” John knows he cannot redeem anyone, so he redirects his disciples to the righteous redeemer of whom he already spoke in John 1:29, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”
When we invite Jesus not to advise but to rule, then our surrender results in redirection. First, it redirects our focus, and then the focus of others. When Jesus is the authority, our primary goal shifts from “How do I get what I want?” to “How do I point others to what He has done?”
If you don’t hold the control of your identity tightly in your fists, you will no longer have to fight to maintain that control, and your hands will be open to receive what Christ wants for your life. Then every place becomes sacred, and every conversation becomes holy because it draws people to the righteous redeemer and not you.
Not too long ago, I was talking to a dying believer in the hospital. I encouraged him that during his last days, he should turn his hospital bed into a pulpit. When we truly surrender to Jesus, we redirect our pains to praise Jesus. Then, whether you are in a bedroom, a boardroom, a classroom, or a hospital bed, that place becomes sacred because your life points beyond itself.
Application
If you were to surrender to Christ, first learn to redirect your mind, thoughts, attitudes, and behavior to the righteous redeemer; the fruit of that would be in redirecting others to the righteous redeemer.
Closing Thought
As I close, true surrender that turns disciples into mature disciples as we move us from seeing Jesus as an add-on to the authority over our lives is selective commitment turns into absolute allegiance, prayer as a request turns into prayer as reporting and identity from performance turns into identity from grace.
Action Step
This week, identify one disputed territory in your life and say: “Jesus, You are the authority here. I yield. You lead.” For that to be true, you must stop resisting God’s rule and start resting in His reign. The question is, is there a “disputed territory” where you sense resistance to surrender? What makes it hard to yield there? Jesus modeled surrender in Luke 22:42 in Gethsemane and said to the Father, “Not my will, but Yours be done.”
Appeal
Don’t leave without understanding what true and total surrender means:
recognizing Christ as your Lord (master and owner), not merely admiring Him as Savior.
relinquishing the right to reign over your life and also the reins of self-rule, self-direction, and self-protection.
placing your life under Christ’s authority, trusting His wisdom and His purposes more than your plans.
Surrender is not weakness; it is faith expressed through trust in Jesus. It is not losing your life; it is finding it (Matthew 16:25).
Gospel identity changes the way you see, speak, and surrender to Christ, but true surrender is when Jesus stops being an add-on to your life and starts being the authority over it. The question is, is Jesus merely an add-on to your life, or is He the authority over it?
Seeing Jesus produces reverence, speaking of Jesus produces witness, but surrender to Jesus produces transformation. It is the transformed life that bears fruit. When people see that fruit, they want to be more like you; they want to get what you have.
A couple of years ago, a Hindu student came to Jesus, and when I asked why she wanted to follow Jesus, she said she wanted what her Christian fellow students have.
If in the first century, that radical life-transforming total surrender shook the very foundation the Roman Empire, one of the most powerful empires in history, it can do the same today. Rome conquered with the sword; Jesus conquered by becoming the sacrifice.
The truth is, when we surrender to Jesus, His love, peace, and eternal hope permeate through us, provoking holy jealousy. Is your life provoking holy jealousy? Do people want to be like you and want what you have? Has the Gospel identity changed the way you see, speak, and surrender to Jesus?
Inductive Bible Study: Observation, Interpretation, Application
Observation: What Does the Text & Message Say?
What titles does John the Baptist use to describe Jesus in John 1: 34 and 36?
What actions does John take when Jesus walks by in John 1:36?
Who is present with John when he makes his declaration about Jesus?
What repeated phrase do you notice in this passage? Why might repetition matter?
What does John not do in this text that might surprise us, given his popularity and influence?
Interpretation: What Does It Mean?
Why is John’s declaration, “the Son of God,” such a strong authority claim in the first-century context?
What does John’s willingness to point away from himself reveal about his understanding of surrender?
How does the title, “Lamb of God,” reshape common expectations of power, leadership, and authority?
Why do you think surrender must precede receiving a Gospel identity?
How does this passage challenge the idea that obedience alone equals faithfulness?
Application: How Should We Respond?
Where In your own life, where is Jesus most often treated as an add-on rather than the authority?
What does “moving to the passenger seat” look like practically in your current season of life?
Is there a “disputed territory” where you sense resistance to surrender? What makes it hard to yield there?
How might your identity shift if you truly believed it is received, not achieved?
Who is watching your life right now, and what direction does your life currently point them toward?
What is one concrete step you can take this week to say, “I yield; You lead?”
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