How to define who you are is not a simple equation, but has many contributing factors. Yet, it is vitally important for it is eternal.
‘You define who you are’, is a bold sign outside a technical institution. That is saying that which you achieve will define who you are. Is this a reality of how to define who you are? Does the number of qualifications I achieve describe the exact nature and scope of who I am? Or, am I just some nameless number in the eight billion people on this earth?
What Defines Who You Are?
Defining a person is a complex equation, but in simple terms it is about who you are as a person. It takes biological factors, consciousness and intelligence to define what kind of person you are. It is also about how emotional and empathetic you are, and what is your moral standing?
Language and the ability to communicate, besides your social and cultural context, all play a part in your personhood. Then there is your legal position with certain rights, responsibilities and protections under the law. But is that all that it is about?
World View
The world view says your capabilities, limitations and achievements defines the real you. Tell someone you are a professor of something and that instantly places you in a certain position in their mind.
It was once the custom to define a person as a son of – Johnson, Masterson, Branson, Thompson. Others say to know your identity is to define you. That is why some women opted to not take their husband’s surname name when they married, being determined to retain their own identity.
Still others claim you are defined by what you do, or by the things you have achieved. You are instantly defined if you have climbed Mt. Everest, or are an author or artist, or a well known film star.
Education and achievements do play a major role in defining who you are. Yet that too is not a reality, for some who never finished their formal education became the greatest inventors of all time, such as Thomas Edison.
Nationality also plays a huge role in defining who you are. You often find certain common characteristics in people from a particular nation or region. Compare a Scot to a German, or a person from Japan to one from Thailand.
Biblical Defining of a Person
You are made in the image of God and to begin with you are either a Jew or a Gentile, though there is a more common definition. The bible states that you are born a sinner. Thanks to Adam everyone is born with a sin-nature and no one is exempt from this. It is not that you want to do wrong, but that you are wired to do wrong, Romans 7:19,20.
From the highest educated person to the beggar on the street. All are equal in that they require a Saviour for the wages of sin is death, Romans 6:23. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, Romans 3:23.
That death is not just being absent from the body as in physical death, but eternal separation from God. Only by accepting the atoning death of the Son of God can we have eternal life, John 3:16; 10:2, for God created you in His image for His own possession 1 Peter 2:9. His desire is that you enter eternal fellowship with the Great I Am who I Am, Exodus 3:14, the Creator of the universe.
Defining Jesus Christ
Throughout the bible you see many names given to both God and Jesus Christ. When you reach the Gospels Jesus is the Light of the world, The Way, the Truth, and the Life, the Door and many more names. He is called the Son of Man, but most important of all, He is the Son of God, Luke 1:35.
Moses asked God for His name and God answered, I Am Who I Am, Exodus 3:14. That is a definition of vast significance, for it is impossible for the human mind to define who God is, for He is far above and beyond us. He is the Creator of all, the upholder of all and the infilling of all. How do you begin to comprehend that? I Am Who I Am reveals the totality of God who is total and complete in Himself.
In the Garden of Gethsemane all Jesus said was ‘I Am’ and a cohort, 300-600 Roman soldiers fell flat on their backsides, John 18:6. How defining is that?
How to Define a Believer
It used to be that to be called a Christian was a very defining statement. Today, it has become a loose statement, simply meaning you are not of another following. It does not mean you are a true follower of Jesus Christ.
The bible says that ‘believers’ are defined by who you are in Christ. When you accept Christ’s atoning death, spiritually you have died and your life is hid with Christ in God, Colossians 3:3.
Paul said he died daily to self, 1 Corinthians 15:31. Jesus said we are to deny self, take up the cross and follow Him, Matthew 16:24. This is a daily dying to selfish desires and a yearning to do only the will of the Father, just as Jesus came to do the will of the Father.
When you are Born Again, John 3: 3, spiritually you become a new creation 2 Corinthians 5:16. That is a way of life, not following a man-made religion for you are a ‘new species’, with a life sold out to following Jesus Christ. It is a heart attitude, not just a public show. The bible says, As a man thinks in his heart, so he is, Proverbs 23:7. That is the true definition of who you are.
Benefits of Being Defined as a Believer
When you are defined as believing in Jesus Christ you take on everything that is Christ. You become the righteousness of God, 2 Corinthians 6:21, with an open invitation from the Father to enter His throne room. Paul says you are already seated in heavenly places, Ephesians 2:2, for you are in this world, but not of it, John 17:11.
You are an adopted son of the Majesty on high, and fellow heir with Christ, Romans 8:15,16. You are a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people chosen for God’s own possession,1 Peter 2:9. Our task is to grow to a mature person in Christ, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fulness of Christ, Ephesians 4:13. It’s all about the type of relationship you have with Jesus Christ, through the enabling power of the Holy Spirit.
Who You Are Defines Your Future
The bible says we cannot imagine the things God has in store for us, 1 Corinthians 2:9. To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne, Revelation 3:21.
There is no greater accolade than being defined by being hid in Christ Jesus for only then can we know the peace of God that passes all understanding, Philippians 4:7. Only in Christ will you discover and develop the real you. A definition that will take a unique You into eternity.
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