Who Am I? Rediscovering Our True Identity This Advent

As Advent begins, Bishop Nick Baines invites us to pause and ask one of life’s most searching questions: who am I? In his new York Course, Who Am I?, he explores what it means to find our identity not in titles or achievements, but in the God who comes to us in love. This season of waiting and wonder becomes a time to look afresh at who Jesus is—and, through him, who we are called to be.

By Bishop Nick Baines

It is not unusual for me to be asked “Who are you?”. Usually I struggle to know how to answer. I could offer a whole range of identities and all would be true but inadequate. I am a son, father and grandfather, a husband and a friend, a bishop and a linguist, a parliamentarian and musician, a Liverpool fan and writer of a number of books, broadcaster and about to retire. Within all those descriptors there are many stories to tell and colours to fill in.

But, I think the question goes deeper than this. If all of those elements that make me me were to be stripped away, what would be left? What would I be worth? Would I matter? You can see why the question matters, because it has to do with what it means, fundamentally and essentially, to be a human being.

'You can see why the question matters, because it has to do with what it means, fundamentally and essentially, to be a human being.'

As a Christian, I turn to the Bible and find a clear thread running through like blood through veins. Oddly, however, the beginning of an answer is to be found in a different question. In Genesis 3 Adam and Eve have done what God required them not to do and they hide from him once they know they can be seen through (‘naked’). It is God who takes the initiative, walking in the garden in the cool of the day and asking: “Adam, where are you?” Indeed, where am I? Hiding?

In Advent, as we begin a new church year, we prepare for the birth of Jesus by slowing down, creating space for thinking, opening the question of who God is and what we see of God in the baby of Bethlehem. In other words, we seek our identity in someone else – Jesus.

It can sometimes be a big mistake to oversimplify a deep mystery. But, it can also be helpful. I think we can say the following with confidence: we read the Old Testament asking (subliminally?) ‘What does God look like’? The answer we get in the New Testament is that God looks like Jesus of Nazareth. Then we conclude that we (the Christian Church) must look like the Jesus we read about in the gospels – the Jesus who shows us who and how God is.

I said it was simple!

So, in Advent I go back to these basic questions of identity and meaning and try to look afresh – honestly and bravely – at what sort of Jesus I hope to find. I remember Andrew Lloyd Webber bringing Jesus Christ Superstar back to the stage and television while looking for someone to play Jesus. I thought this was a gift to the church as his search begged the question of what sort of Jesus he was looking for: meek and mild, dangerous upstart, courageous prophet, and so on? The question I asked of him was simply: are we open to being surprised by the Jesus we find?

And this brought me back to Genesis - because when we think we have found Jesus, we discover that he has already found us.

'When we think we have found Jesus, we discover that he has already found us.'

Adam does not go seeking God in the garden in Genesis 3; rather, it is God who comes looking for him, asking that searching human question: “Adam, where are you?”. It is the prophets who come to speak of God to a people whose vocation has got lost. It is in Jesus that God breaks into the complex, beautiful and dangerous world we all know. So, I ask myself how I will respond to a God who doesn’t wait for me to get everything right, but comes into the world, motivated only by love and grace and mercy.

This is why the question ‘Who am I?’ can only be answered by asking ‘Who is Jesus?’ and then by finding my own identity in his.

'This is why the question ‘Who am I?’ can only be answered by asking ‘Who is Jesus?’ and then by finding my own identity in his.'

The former Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby discovered that his father was not actually his father. When asked by a journalist how he coped with this rather startling revelation – and while still in that moment of startlement – he simply replied in words to the effect of: “My identity is in Christ. That does not change.” In other words, his most fundamental identity is not in a label or a name or a story, but in the person of Christ. It was a remarkable and powerful statement.

So, my answer to the question of who I am begins with the God who created us, taking the initiative in coming to us, loving beyond reason, reaching out with mercy and grace, and offering a life in and with him that defies the violence of the world and the narratives of suspicion and competition.

The Jesus who will come among us at Christmas should bring renewed surprise. I should see him afresh – through eyes re-shaped by the story of God, of incarnation, of justice and of peace. Advent is for reading and living that story anew, fuelled by curiosity and a readiness to wonder. And in him I can begin to explore who I truly am and why, ultimately, I matter.

As Bishop Nick reminds us, Advent is more than a countdown to Christmas, it is an invitation to rediscover ourselves in the light of Christ. When we allow the question “Who am I?” to meet the deeper truth of “Who is Jesus?”, we find that our true identity is already known and cherished by God. Who am I? offers the perfect companion for this journey of reflection, honesty, and renewed hope.

Get started easily with our two free York Courses guides. One will help you lead a Who Am I? group study with confidence, and one will show you exactly what to order for your Advent course.

You can download both guides below. 

Explore more inspiring Advent Bible studies and group resources — including Listening to the Music of the Soul and other reflective titles to deepen your journey of faith this season.