Thinking Theologically
About Being Human
What does it mean to be human?
Genesis 1 sets up the first ACT of our story: Creation
Creation of our world, of humanity, and the creation of the life-giving relationship between us and God.
Notice how the creation story is about God taking the wild and waste (or formless and void) primordial chaotic waters of un-creation and bringing his loving order, goodness, and life-giving potential to bear upon it. Each act of creation sets up the hope of the land bringing about life. Existence is not something that happens automatically, it is the result of divine calling and blessing.
^ Shortcode ^
We are a physical / spiritual hybrid being
As human beings, we are created from the dirt of the earth but also filled with divine breath.
This is God’s intentional and good design. You were made to have a body but you are also more than just your material body, you are filled with God’s divine animating breath – His life.
Humans are beings with physical bodies and spirits. When our bodies and spirits are separated we are no longer living in the ‘very good’ of our intended design as God’s image-bearers (that’s why death is such an enemy to God’s creation – it undoes the physical/spiritual unity that we are meant to display right at the very core of our identity).
Thus, we’re called to live out a deep and life-giving relationship with God, in harmony with one another, and at work ruling and bringing about the raw potential of God’s good world: planting gardens, having families, growing neighbourhoods, and seeing God’s project brought forward.
Test Yourself
Answer
Talk it Through
-
1.4 – Who Am I?
Respond in paragraph format to the following prompt:
- Do I think of my life as a gift? And if so, how do I spend my time and live my life because of the goodness of the gift that I have from God?
-
4 Replies
-
My life is absolutely a gift! This is something that I have come to learn over the years being a Christian. Being totally candid, I would admit that it’s not something that I had recognized at one very dark point in my life. However, as I have learned and grown to accept this as fact, it has changed a lot with regard to how I live and use my time. I would use the example of physical gifts that I have received throughout my life: gifts given to me by someone else reflect that person’s love for me. I am, sometimes to my detriment, a very sentimental person. If I lose or break a gift from someone, I feel terrible and have been known to shed a tear or two. This would be a similar approach to how I view the gift of life. It’s something that I need to treasure and take care of and use for the purpose that it was given. I would be remise if it were squandered and not used as designed. I’m not perfect, and I often do waste away my time, but it always comes back to letting God lead.
-
Well said, Brian. It is neat how you compared gifts from humans to our heavenly father’s gift of life. This reminds me of how quantitatively different God’s love is when compared with human love. C.S. Lewis made a distinction between human love, which he called “need-love.” In other words, when I say “I love you” to someone, I hope that they reciprocate! However, God’s love doesn’t flow out of a need to be loved back. So Lewis called God’s love “gift-love.” Lewis put it like this in The Four Loves: “In God there is no hunger that needs to be filled, only plenteousness that desires to give.”
-
-
Yes, my life is definitely a gift and because of that I want to take care of myself spiritually and physically. I want to learn more about who God is and how to be the hands and feet to share the good news to others. I want to be physically strong so I am able to do the great commission. Because of the gift of life from the beginning in Genesis and the gift of life when Jesus died on the cross and rose again, I want to glorify him and honor him in all ways that I can.
-
I do believe my life is a gift. I have recognized this from the time I’ve had the proper understanding of what life is. But I’ve understood it in a very different way than other people. My life is a God breathed miracle in itself. The world said there was a 25% chance of survival for not only me but also my twin & God said he needed us in the world.
Because of this I’ve always tried to live life with a purpose, to candidly talk about my life and experience, with God & because of God. But it’s nice to be reminded of that, because it becomes to easy to lose sight of that, if God isn’t at the center. This has been such a refreshing lesson!
Log in to reply.