To be truly human ends up being truly like Jesus, or for those who are redeemed in Jesus, it is being changed into the image of God in Jesus.
Sin renders us less and less human, truly human. Centered in ourselves, turned in on ourselves we end up losing our true selves. When we use other humans we lose what it means to be really human. Rob Bell in Sex God has a helpful chapter on this. This is a part of being turned in on ourselves. Everything is to serve us, even God, if we believe in him.
We are naturally bent on a self-destructing mode; we want our way instead of God's way. Instead we must take the way of Jesus. In doing so, because of Jesus' true humanity, and he taking our falseness so we could take his reality to become like him, we begin to become what we were created in our unique ways to be.
This is neither something we can invent or imagine, or even understand so as to experience just by reading about it. It takes a commitment of faith to an ongoing walk in Jesus together- no less. To be truly human means being in right relationship to God as well as to other human beings, including ourselves, and to the world God has made.
We must shun all false paths, everything the world has to offer, taking only the path found in God in Christ and found in the Story we read in Scripture. We begin then to find our true story as part of the real Story, being truly human because we're in right relationship to God and to others through Jesus.
Just a little sketch on this. What might you add related to this?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
8 comments:
I like this definition of sin. So often I hear people attack Christianity as a set of absurd rules that make no sense. (The Year of Living Biblically, for example.) But this recasts the entire concept of sin in a way that forces people to see the Christian worldview. To sin is to reject our own purpose as God's creation.
God's advice isn't just for our own good. It's the only good.
(Sex God. Now there's a provocative title.)
i keep hearing this idea of being truly human. i think you represented it well here. we get nervous because we dont want to sound like humanists, but it is very true that we are only truly human when we are walking with christ and living out his purposes. good word ted.
Mark,
Yes, I agree (on sin).
The title is really about connecting our sexuality with God. The content I think has been good and would make most any conservative Christian happy. I'm giving it a listen hearing Rob read it himself, a copy I got from our library system here.
I will add that Rob communicates very well, and some of the ways he does it really connect with the younger generation.
Joe,
Thanks. Yes, to be a secular humanist ends up losing one's humanity, though some of their concerns, as I recall, are good. Leaving God out of the picture, and then, of course, his revelation to us in Jesus is another story.
I can't recall what well known evangelical of the past, probably still alive today, called Christians the only true humanists.
What you describe here is exactly the reason why I believe marriage is such a critical part of the Believer's journey.
If we cannot become selfless to the person that we profess to love the most (to the exclusion of all others) then how can we become selfless to anyone else?
Scripture encourages no other relationship like this: "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself up for her."
I've been idle for a while. Hope you come over to see my responses to your recent posts at Preparation4Eternity.
You're awesome, Ted! I'm blessed.
Kim,
Thanks and I look forward to learning from what you have to say on that. It is more important in our lives than we most often imagine- our relationships with our spouses for those married, and with each other.
i like the fact that you bring up about faith and an ongoing walk. there is just no substitute for that. we can not get away from that basic ongoing walk in faith anymore than we can get away from our need to breathe.
good morning from indiana!
Post a Comment