Fully Human - What Does It Mean To Be A Human Being?

In thinking about what it means to be fully human, I want to go back to two beginnings:

1. the beginning of humans on earth: Genesis 1:26-28

Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.

God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."

2. the beginning of the church: Matthew 28:18-20

Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Each time, humans are sent out with a task, a purpose to fulfill which I believe displays the purpose of humankind.

HUMANS ARE SUB-CREATORS

Human kind starts when God creates Adam from the dust of the earth and then the first command Adam and Eve receive is to create more life. Our sexuality is a big part of what makes us fully human because we get to participate with God in creating life. Likewise, Jesus’ first command to the church is to make disciples. We get to participate with God in the creation of spiritual multiplication.

HUMANS ARE IMAGE BEARERS

Being the Imago Dei here on Earth, authority is bestowed upon humans in Genesis to be God’s royal representatives over everything. In Matthew 28 Jesus reassures His disciples that He has the authority and therefore is able to bestow it on them. Being made in God’s image, we are responsible handle our authority the way Jesus handled His: by becoming a servant. As Dan Wilt pointed out, we are called to be stewards and care-takers. In order to better fulfill our calling to represent God we are called to worship because “You become like what you worship.” (Wright 148)

HUMANS ARE RELATIONAL

By being fruitful and multiplying life spiritually and physically, we are automatically creating community. It has never been all about the individual, the “me”. Dan Wilt points out that it’s a “cosmic salvation.” Christ redeemed the whole created order, not just the individual. This is important to keep in mind since as we just saw, we are created in the Image of God, given authority to be care-takers of the people to whom and the environment to which we relate.

HUMANS ARE SALVIFIC STORY-TELLERS

As image bearers of God, we are given authority to multiply spiritually and physically, thus growing in community. These are all intricately woven together but would not fit right if weren’t for this last attribute. Telling stories of hope and salvation is HOW you multiply spiritually. No one can become a disciple if they don’t hear about Jesus!

The Kingdom of God

In the book Simply Christian, N. T. Wright describes three ways in which we would typically think of God’s space interacting with our earthly space.

Option One: Overlap the two spaces completely and say that “God is everything and everything is God.”

Option Two: Hold them completely apart and claim that the two do not interact.

Option Three: The two “overlap and interlock in a number of different ways” (Wright 63)

Wright then proceeds to explain how Option Three is the only one that is consistent with scripture.

My understanding of the theological phrase, the "Kingdom of God" has been challenged by this section of Simply Christian because I realized that although I know that God is living and active in this world, I still have parts of Option Two in my brain. On page 128 Wright says that “people who have assumed a worldview something like Option Two have looked for evidence of the Holy Spirit’s presence and work in, not in a quiet growth of moral wisdom, a steady, undramatic lifetime of selfless service, but in spectacular “supernatural” events such as healings, speaking in tongues, wonderful conversations, and so on.”

This is my struggle when I’m praying for something and do not see the results I expected. There have been a couple people in my church who have passed away from cancer after many prayers for healing and I was angry with God for not showing up. Yet according to Option Three, God’s Kingdom was there, He was present through it all.

In Essentials in Worship Theology, Dan Wilt presents four theological ideas on the Nature of God:
1. God as Creator
2. God as King
3. God as Trinity
4. God as Savior

Of these four ideas I believe that the idea of God as King has the most importance for the next 10-20 years. I relate this idea to how it will affect my generation because mine is the next to step up within that time frame to be leaders in society.

Dan says “To know God as King, and to artistically express God as King is to:”

“1. …Acknowledge that actions, and not personal feelings, are the primary indicator that we have chosen to follow God.” This is important because we are taught to think individualistically and do what feels right. The diminishing percentage of successful marriages is evidence that we are making more decisions based on how we feel. As worship leaders we must teach people that we need to put aside feelings and make a conscious decision to follow God.

“2. …Recognize that all national commitments are subordinate and subject to our commitment to follow Jesus and his ways.” This is important because as Christians who are trying to live out the guidelines that God has set for us (since He knows what is good for us), the government will continue to make decisions that do not line up with the Bible. They will call us narrow-minded for believing that something is wrong when the law declares that it is perfectly acceptable.

“3. …Retool the language of worship music and liturgy to terms indicating the foundational actions of the Christian life – namely surrender, allegiance, loyalty and commitment.” I think that we all struggle to varying degrees with selfishness and the words “surrender,” “allegiance,” “loyalty,” and “commitment” can be ugly words. Yet these four words, when put to action, bring about maturity and will bear fruit.

A Reflection on "the four echoes of a voice"...

Here is my response to the discussion question of Week 1 of my worship theology course:


In the book Simply Christian N. T. Wright describes four echoes of the voice of God that reflect his heart: our sense of justice, our thirst for spirituality, our need for relationships and our response to beauty. The echo that most resonates with me as evidence of God’s reality is the need for relationships.

On the What is Worship DVD, Brian Doerksen discusses how from Genesis to Revelation, the Bible is a story about relationship. That is why we seek times of intimate worship, because we are made in God’s image (Imago Dei… Genesis 1:26-27). He is himself an intimate relationship between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. There are countless times in the Bible where God works through a person to do mighty things (Moses, Abraham, Paul, Esther, etc.). Our amazing God could most certainly accomplish anything on His own (He made the universe, for Pete’s sake!) and yet He is driven by His love for us to include us in the adventure as His plan is worked out through history.

The four echoes mentioned in Simply Christian are shown in the worship songs we sing such as:

“How Great is Our God” by Chris Tomlin – Justice: “Darkness tries to hide and trembles at His voice…”

“Consuming Fire” by Tim Hughes - Spirituality: “There must be more than this…”

“This is Life” by Laura Woodley – Relationship: “Eyes can’t see the way You hold me…”

“Beautiful” by Sam Lane – Beauty: “You are beautiful, beautiful…”

We are made in the image of God and these echoes of the Creator’s voice show a glimpse of who He is. While the need for relationship is one that speaks loudest to me, each one is equally powerful in expressing the heart of God.