Who Are We?

As a human race, who are we? Really, who and what are we? This has a huge impact on how each of us answer the question of our purpose. What is our purpose if any? In otherwords, why do we exist? Throughout human history we have struggled towards answering these questions. Most try to answer these questions through religion. To complicate things, all religions are not equal. The common belief that all religions are merely different paths to the same place (Heaven) is not possible once you dig into the major religions of the world. This is especially true of orthodox Christianity which holds that Jesus is the only way to Heaven. I bring up orthodox Christianity because they also hold that the Bible has been inspired by God and is thus without error of any kind. Many probably disagree with this and before you read further I would suggest you check out the following book:

The New Evidence That Demands a Verdict
By Josh McDowell
ISBN: 0785243631

I bring this up because it's important to note that my my view of who we are is essentially based off what the Bible says about who we are. So, what does the Bible say about who we are and what our purpose is? Since my world view is based off of scripture, it would only be fair for me to list the passages I'm refering to. The two verses I would like to address are:

"You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being."
Revelations, Chapter 4, Verse 11

"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, 'Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.'" Genesis, Chapter 1, Verse 27-28

The first verse tells us of our position in the universe in relation to God. It fairly blatently says that we were created by the will and the power of God. It also explains that because God created all things he ultimately rules over all things. This includes us as human beings.

The second verse is important because it tells us much about our orgin. First, it should be noted that we were created by the same God that created the heavens and the earth. Second, he created us in his own image. But what does this mean? It means that God created us in such a way that we share certain aspects of his identy. How are we the image of God? The majority of Christian leaders would not suggest that God created us in the same physical image, but rather we are similar in spirit. We both have creative ability and the ability to make choices about how we want to live our lives. We are also both responsible for our choices and the effects they have on those around us. And finally, we both have the ability to experience emotions such as love, anger, and even mercy. This verse is also very important because it gives us a glimpse of what our purpose here on earth is suppose to be. God clearly gave humanities first couple (Adam and Eve) a directive to rule and population the earth.

In short, we were created by God to rule and populate the earth. This answers most of the basics of the who we are question and even gives us a glimpse as to what our purpose as a human race is. Of course God has made each of us unique in many ways, yet we still have a common identity that defines who we are as a human race. These differences are also a large part of our world view and how we define who we are.

Where Am I? >>