What makes us a distinct being/person?

Where do we begin and others end? What differentiates or distinguishes us from each other?

On the most obvious level, we each occupy our own physical space. We also each have our unique physical, emotional, intellectual, and creative attributes and skills. But is this all (or the main thing) that distinguishes us?

On a less obvious level, we also each have ¹our own understanding and will, i.e. we are our own unique, separate being/person. We each have our own unique perspective and experience. Though you and I may agree on what we think on any given subject, your thoughts and choices are not mine and mine are not yours. 

Having our own perspective and experience, however, is not saying reality is merely subjective. In fact, just the opposite. Even though we each experience the objective world differently, it is still an absolutely objective reality, i.e. we (as well as everything and everyone else) are who we (or they) are. We are not someone (or something) other than us. Everyone (or thing) outside us (or within us) is what it is and is not anything other than what it is, regardless of our individual experience of it.

Nevertheless, how we experience these objective realities is unique to us. If four people stand equally apart in a circle around a large oak tree - with varied and unique branches - when asked to describe the tree, will give a different description simply because of their individual vantage point/location. Yet it is exactly the same tree. 

Our experience is our own and no one else's i.e. No one will experience the very real and objective world in the same way you or I will because no one else is ²us, located in the exact same space or observing the world through our eyes (our vantage point). We are all unique with our individual vantage points, understanding, and will (ability to choose).

So two aspects distinguish persons or things. Physical location is one. You and I (or any other physical object) cannot be in the exact same location as another physical object (be that animate or inanimate). 

But for persons (rather than things) there is also a distinction between physical and non-physical. Not all persons are physical. God is not physical, but he is a very real person, just the same. What distinguishes him from other persons has nothing to do with physicality but has to do with having his own distinct understanding (thinking) and will (choosing). Again we may be in complete agreement with him but our thinking and choosing are ours, not his or vice versa. 

We can also see this distinction between the physical and nonphysical within ourselves. 

To illustrate, if we are somehow transported (i.e. have some "out of body" experience) and our nonphysical being somehow separates from our physical, the real us is the part that is aware of being out of our body

i.e. it is not the other way around where our bodies are aware of us, it is us that is aware of our body being "over there" somewhere separate from us. 

Those who claim to have had such an experience say they can see their body "left behind" so to speak. But their point of awareness is coming from them being somewhere outside and separate from their body. 

If these experiences are legitimate, this illustrates how the physical merely "houses" the essence of who we are, which is nonphysical. This is also how the Bible appears to characterize this. This also helps us to better understand how God is a person, yet has no physicality. 

So why do we humans experience our world differently from each other as well as from God? In a word we are limited (finite), God is not. Each of us is limited by location. This is simply saying we are not all-knowing, all-seeing, or everywhere present i.e. we locate only one place at a time and therefore have only ³one perspective at a time. Our understanding of what we observe is tied to that perspective at that time i.e. it is limited. 

God...the same but different.

We can not be like God physically, simply because God is not physical. So we are like God in a nonphysical way. God is a person with his own individual will and understanding. So in this way, we are the same as God. We too are persons with understanding and will just as he is i.e. We are in his image. Part of being in his image means we are a person because he is a person first. 

However, unlike God, we are finite. We are not everywhere present (part of why God can be everywhere present is precisely because he is not physical and therefore not limited to a specific location), all-knowing, all-willing, and all-able (all-powerful). 

God is infinite in every aspect of his person. God's understanding is absolute and complete because of his "allness." He is not confined to one location and knows and sees all. Nothing exists outside of his presence or is beyond His understanding. To use a crude analogy, He is the ultimate ⁴superhero if you will, without any limitations; he is everywhere present, sees all, knows all, and can do and does (sustains) all. Therefore his view and understanding of things and his ability (will) to carry out things are not partial but complete/absolute. Nothing (no one, no act, no thought) is hidden from his sight or understanding, whether it is past, present, or into the infinite future.

He is also all willing. No task is beyond his ability (power) to carry out, and nothing can thwart his ability to do so. Since He sustains everything, all that is or occurs is because he wills it to be so, i.e. He is all-powerful. Whatever He chooses to accomplish is carried out. Nothing can thwart his choice simply because he sustains all things and nothing is greater than he is. 

When I will something, it's coming to pass is contingent on my ability to bring it about. With God, there is no limit on his ability and therefore on his will. What he will's he does. Or to say it another way, it is done simply by his willing it. We get a hint of this in the creation account when it says, "and God said let there be... and it was so..." 

This, however, does not mean everything is God and God is everything because, at a minimum, nothing else has his understanding, will, or all-able (powerful) and is everywhere present.

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¹And, therefore, location as well. Wherever someone's understanding and will reside and issues forth from, another's can not reside in that exact same location/space.

²Even God himself, though he sustains everything, is a separate and distinct being.

³Which is why putting ourselves "in someone else's shoes" always helps increase our understanding of others; to see the world through their eyes, so to speak. Part of the maturing process involves stepping out of ourselves and taking on the perspective of others. The very fact we must do so further shows we are all unique and distinct, with a unique and separate vantage point. 

⁴Have you ever noticed that no superhero is everywhere present? Professor Charles Xavier of the X-Men comic series came closest with his telepathic ability but even he was not simultaneously present to everything. It's also interesting to note, he was one of the most highly regarded of mutants because of his ability.