"I'm only human!"

There have been sermons preached about our predisposition (a built-in habit) to avoid responsibility. The way it has been taught you would think that those born of the Spirit were spending all their time looking around for excuses to do nothing. But take another good look at that quote. Is it expressing a convenient excuse for failures ... or is it really suggesting that being "human" is the CAUSE of them?

We are so used to the failings, limitations, and down-right evil oozing out of the "empty thing" that we have made some pretty big assumptions about what a "human" is. You and I have been understandably DECEIVED to see it other than what it is. While we have come to agree that Jesus was a perfect man, we have considered Him to be the EXCEPTION. The fact is that Jesus is the DEFINITION of what it means to be human. Everything else is an aberration, a deviation, from the real McCoy!

What is man, that You remember him? Or the son of man, that You are concerned about him? You have made him for a little while lower than the angels; You have crowned him with glory and honor, and have appointed him over the works of Your hands; You have put all things in subjection under his feet. Psalm 8:4-6, as quoted in Hebrews 2:6-8

Now, here is the main reason we are so confused about understanding humanity: we have been trying to define it by itself and it CAN'T be done! We have only succeeded in describing the deviations of the vessel that was originally created to be the representation of God in the physical world.

Have you ever seen a "hermit crab"? It is a sea creature that claims empty shells for its temporary home. It is temporary because the crab and the shell are not one organism, and the crab has to find a new home when its pants are too tight. The original inhabitant is in union with the shell and both grow together. The shell is actually produced by the "mollusk" inside. When the mollusk dies, the shell dies. A foreign life takes over that has nothing in common with the original inhabitant. If you have seen a hermit crab you may have been fooled into thinking the two (crab & shell) were interconnected. It surprised me the first time I watched a crab trying out new houses. :)

When the life departed from the shell it produced an emptiness. There is a saying, "Nature despises a vacuum". The shell was like a sponge soaking up something else to replace the vacancy. The replacement does not define the shell; it is a deviation of the original purpose. But the fact that the two seem to work together so well gives the impression that they were made for each other. We have accepted the deception as defining humanity. But only Jesus defines humanity - He is "God dwelling in the flesh" (the meaning of "Emmanuel") - the perfect union. Pontius Pilate (the governor who gave the command to crucify Jesus) had no idea of what he was saying when he stated, "Behold, THE MAN."

Who YOU are is found within this reality of Jesus Christ. The old inhabitant (that replacement for the life of God) has been dealt with by His death as He condemned sin in the flesh. You are not the deviant anymore. You have been freed to experience what it means to be truly human.

Jim