Who am I

“Who am I” This is one of the great human questions. It is a question that we all ask at some point in our lives. We often ask this question during times of great change and upheaval. It is a core question that shapes who we are and how we live. How we answer this question will help us answer questions of belonging, purpose and community.

However, I often see people living out their answer to this incredibly important question having never really explicitly considered the implications of this question for themselves. They simply adopt the answer given to them by others and by our broader society. It can lead to some good a positive answers; I am a child, I am a friend. Or it can lead to some fairly dubious answers; I am a worker, I am a consumer. Or it can lead to highly destructive answers; I am nobody important, I am hurt and broken.

Having a well-grounded, true and deep understanding of who we are is an important element of living the good life, and is one of the foundational orientation points of our lives. As such ‘Who am I’ is a question that the Bible spends a good deal of time helping answer.

So who does the God of the Bible say I am;

I am created in the image of the Creator – In Genesis 1 the sovereign God of the universe creates man and woman in his image. He creates them as the pinnacle of his creation and in infuses them with His own breath. He then empowers us to continue His work of forming and filling the world, to find our purpose in his purpose by creating in step with the creator.

I am broken – In Genesis 3 we see that human took a giant misstep and as a result we are broken imperfect and distorted. Whilst we remain capable of amazing acts of creation and good; our hearts fight God and we are broken, capable of causing ourselves and each other great pain and suffering.

I am loved – Despite our brokenness our creator God loves us. All through the Old Testament of the Bible we read how God despite our brokenness turns his wrath away from us. He saves Noah, He makes a covenant with Abraham, He rescues the Israelites from slavery. God’s love for each of us is ultimately expressed in him sending His Son Jesus to fix the brokenness once and for all.

I am saved – John 3:16 reminds us that God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Jesus’ death and resurrection allows me to be redeemed and saved.

I am filled – In Acts Jesus tells his followers that a helper is coming. That helper is the Holy Spirit. It is God in us. For those that believe in Jesus it is no longer they that live, but Jesus that lives in them.

I am part of a body – Paul writes to the Christians in Corinth that they are no longer individuals. Rather God has given each and every one of them, and each and every one of us gifts that we are to use not for ourselves but for the good of all around us. We now belong not to ourselves but to a body of others that work in harmony to fulfil God’s purpose in our world.

Here at Green Point Christian College we hope to help our students live reflective and questioning lives. We seek to help them answer the big questions, like “Who am I?” Our hope is that in asking this question they find the Truth of who God has made them to be, so they may begin to fulfil the good life, which is in essence living out God’s purpose in their lives.

Joel van Bentum