Imagine you are conversing with someone—a barista, the mailman, your mom, a close friend—and the conversation turns to an error that person made and they say, "Oh that mistake was a doozy! But I'm only human." They might even grin and shrug it away, chattering on as before. In fact, you may have made this very remark yourself at some point. If so, stop it.
You and I are human beings. Our humanity is not an excuse—it is who and what we are. Not only human or merely human, but human in an of itself. As Aslan once explained, “You come of the Lord Adam and the Lady Eve... And that is both honour enough to erect the head of the poorest beggar, and shame enough to bow the shoulders of the greatest emperor on earth. Be content.”1
Be content—we were made in the image and likeness of God.2 As such, we are distinct from every other creature in existence. We were made to be fully human—that is not a flaw, it is our rôle. We do not need to become less human, but more. All persons are shattered by the Fall, torn to bits and fragments of humanity. We are often more capable of being inhumane (sub-human, if you like) than we are of being human. Restoration of humanity means being completely human.
Someone might inquire, doesn't the Bible say that we should decrease and God should increase in us?3 How does that point to us needing to be more human not less? Perhaps that is a misinterpretation of John the Baptist's statement, yet it raises a worthy point. If we are made in God's likeness, then we should be like God. Where do we take cues on how to be more like God? In the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus was the fullness of God in human flesh, but He was also the fullness of humanity in that sun-scorched skin.
Colossians two says it this way: "For in Him [Christ] dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him..."4 I swim in waters far over my head when I begin thinking of "the fullness of the Godhead", but there that fullness is, in the person of Jesus. Further, we are completed in Him, made full in Him. We do not contain the fullness of the Godhead, we are too finite for that—but we can become completely human in Christ. I leave you to wrestle with the Scriptures in how to become more like Christ. I tremble before the Spirit of God as He sets my fractured soul in a myriad of places. Being made whole hurts, but it is good. Let us be content in nothing short of being human.
_____________________
1. Lewis, C. S., Prince Caspian
2. Genesis 1:26 (NKJV)
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Gen+1%3A26&version=NKJV
3. John 3:30 (NKJV)
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+3%3A30&version=NKJV
4. Colossians 2:9-10a (NKJV)
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=col+2%3A9-10&version=NKJV
Someone might inquire, doesn't the Bible say that we should decrease and God should increase in us?3 How does that point to us needing to be more human not less? Perhaps that is a misinterpretation of John the Baptist's statement, yet it raises a worthy point. If we are made in God's likeness, then we should be like God. Where do we take cues on how to be more like God? In the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus was the fullness of God in human flesh, but He was also the fullness of humanity in that sun-scorched skin.
Colossians two says it this way: "For in Him [Christ] dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him..."4 I swim in waters far over my head when I begin thinking of "the fullness of the Godhead", but there that fullness is, in the person of Jesus. Further, we are completed in Him, made full in Him. We do not contain the fullness of the Godhead, we are too finite for that—but we can become completely human in Christ. I leave you to wrestle with the Scriptures in how to become more like Christ. I tremble before the Spirit of God as He sets my fractured soul in a myriad of places. Being made whole hurts, but it is good. Let us be content in nothing short of being human.
_____________________
1. Lewis, C. S., Prince Caspian
2. Genesis 1:26 (NKJV)
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Gen+1%3A26&version=NKJV
3. John 3:30 (NKJV)
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+3%3A30&version=NKJV
4. Colossians 2:9-10a (NKJV)
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=col+2%3A9-10&version=NKJV
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