LEADERSHIP LETTER ARCHIVES

A MONTHLY READING

FOR ALL ARC LEADERS
February 2007

Human Identity

Men and women are made in the image of God; therefore, each human being is special and important with individual integrity that must be respected.  Each of us was created to find the fullness of our identity in personal fellowship with God, for whom we are made.  The present human condition is fallen and abnormal.  The corruption of sin has affected all human activities.  Nevertheless, substantial healing from this corruption comes through regeneration in Jesus Christ and obedience to Him.  Complete healing and full restoration will come to those who belong to Christ at the resurrection of the dead.

We show honor and respect to all men and women, young and old, whole and infirm, born and unborn.  We honor and respect the dignity of human life from conception.  We deplore abortion and euthanasia as commonly practiced and approved in our society today, just as we deplore repressive and abusive treatment of men and women in any sphere of human activity.

--ARC Common Concerns

“I’m only human.”

We commonly offer this as an explanation for some kind of failure or inadequacy, as if to be human by definition means to be a low, weak, cringing creature.

The truth of what it means to be created a human being couldn’t be more to the contrary.  When God envisioned a human being, He saw something magnificent:  beautiful to behold, invested with wonderful capabilities and capacities, vitally alive in heart, mind, body and spirit, fit to be entrusted with the care of all the rest of creation.  More than that, a human being was uniquely designed both to be a part of the physical/material/temporal world and also simultaneously a spiritual being, viable for eternity.  Unlike any other creation, we bear the imprint of God’s own image.  What He is in the infinite, you and I were designed to be in miniature.  Staggering thought.

Furthermore, we do not exist as one generic lump of collective humanity.  We are individual people, no two of us exactly alike, each of us reflecting a unique facet of who God is.  No one can reflect your facet except you.  Now that’s a tremendously high calling.

Why does this sound so hard to believe?  Because the ravages of sin are deep, wide, terrible and present in every particular of our humanity.  “Fallen,” we say.  Indeed.  Fallen tragically from a glorious, lofty height.  The loss is bigger than we know.  We look laterally and compare ourselves to each other for an estimation of how we are doing as human beings:  “better than him; not so good/strong/wise as she is . . . .”  Ultimately pointless comparisons.  But the real standard of true humanity we are to be measuring ourselves against is Jesus Christ Himself.

Next to His towering life, we find how far short we fall.  Next to His vital substance, we find how hollow and dead we have become.  In the presence of His great, strong heart of self-sacrifice, we discover how shriveled, stingy and self-protective we are.

But, at these moments of self-awareness (“poverty of spirit” - Matt. 5:3), we cry out for--and receive!–the mercy of the gospel of God’s grace.  God’s gifted salvation not only forgives sin, but then “gets to work” restoring the ravages of sin’s effects in us.  We begin to become truly human again.  Rightly understood, “sanctification” is simply the restoration of the glory of what it means to be a human being.  Some days we experience thrilling steps of forward progress; other days we wonder if we’ll ever make it.

But, “make it” toward . . .  what exactly?  Ultimately, we are looking forward--living forward–to the day when we will be completely transformed to be able to live fully and finally at our full stature as redeemed human beings; to be, at last, the “me” God has always seen me to be in Christ.  It’s the identity captured in the “white stone name” prepared for each one who appears before God on the Day (Rev. 2:17).  Then we will all say with a gasp, “So, this is what it means to be human!”

Until that Day, having a God-informed “anthropology” makes a world of difference how we live here and now.  A few implications:

-   We don’t settle for whatever may be “normal.”  We aspire to real greatness in everything that makes us human.  And we call each other on in grace to more and more Jesus-likeness.

-   We treasure human life.  No one is a throw-away, whether inside the womb or out, whether fully functional or impaired, whether in youthful health and vigor or in elderly decline.

-   We look for–and find!–God’s image in any and every human being.  No matter how twisted the wreckage of a life, a person is a God-created, image-bearing person.  We start our relationships on that basis, not performance, intelligence, looks, finances or hope for the redemption of anyone.

-   We do our part to take care of our physical health, as well as that of others, because our bodies do matter.

-   We hold men and women alike in great honor; we value children; we appreciate cultural, ethnic and racial variety without partiality or prejudice.

-   And we desire, pray for and work for God’s kingdom values to supplant any human oppression, injustice and abuse.

God’s salvation enterprise is no thin, brittle, merely doctorial matter of intellectual faith.  It seeks, finds, rescues, redeems, restores and releases people to be– well, glorious!  So, rejoice–and breathe, stretch, dare, think, design, care, create . . . !  You are “only” human.

--Jerry King