Sunday, October 24, 2010

Human Beings

In the beginning… God created the heavens and the earth. The Bible goes on to tell us that He created all other things, land and sea, sky and air, sun and moon and stars. Then He created the things to inhabit these spaces, beasts of the fields, birds for the sky, and fish for the sea. Then He created His “crowning achievement” (if you can call anything that God does, an achievement), He created man, male and female He created them. Of course our evolutionary friends will have great problems with this thesis. To them, two random atoms whizzing through the universe, collided and the spark of life began. At this point, I have two questions: 1) Where did the two atoms come from? 2) Where did the universe come from? There was probably nothingness and then something happened and then the two atoms collided and then the universe happened and then nothing turned into something. That makes it perfectly clear doesn’t it, or does it make it more foolish? I assume that most evolutionists and atheists don’t want to think about the possibility of there being a God, because if He is, then they are responsible to Him for all they do. And they don’t want to do that.

Anyway… back to the future…. We are created and we are responsible to Him. He created us with love and purpose. Love because we were created in His image. Purpose because He wanted us to reign over His creation. Personally, I think that all the created things were created in full maturity. If you would have cut down a tree in the “Garden of Eden” you would have been able to count ten, twelve or twenty rings of age or even more. And the same would be true for the other plants and animals.

I really am trying to get to my thesis, which is human being. We really are His crowning glory, because of being created in His image. Of course, I do not think that God looks like me. There is something unique about this likeness, but I can’t explain it. And neither can anyone else. But, we are something special and love beyond our imagination.

This thing about being human beings is simply this; we are human beings not human doings. I think God wanted us to “be” more than He wanted us to “do”. Does that seem to make sense to you? I’m sitting here writing and listening to some music on my computer. The music combines and enhances what I’m writing. You will probably be surprised to know it is a kid’s album, not by kids, but for kids. Its title is The Polka Dot Bear by Barry McGuire, way back in the 1980’s. But, isn’t that what God wants us to be… kids? We can’t do anything for ourselves, we must rely on Him. And that’s called being, not doing. Unless you become as a child, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven. It’s a simple love relationship. Do I love Him enough to surrender and submit? Will I say, “Not my will, but your will be done”. If the relationship is not growing, the being is not growing. He breathed life into us, His life, and His being. His likeness should be more and more in control. When he Holy Spirit, I assume you know that the Holy Spirit was given to you when Jesus became your personal Savior. You can find this in the Gospel of John, chapters 14-17; along with some other important things. Anyhow… the Holy Spirit works in our lives, as well as the rest of the world, to convict us of sin, righteousness and judgment to come. He convicts us to make us more like Jesus, that being thing, being like Jesus, not doing more things to make “me” feel better because “I” have done all of these great things. When we “be” we “do”. When we “do” we don’t necessarily “be”. But this being happens only by submitting to the Holy Spirit.

Let me interject at this point another side-bar, side light or whatever you want to call it. God revealed Himself to Moses as “I Am”. Thus, referring to Himself as the “ever being one”. Jesus referred to Himself as “I Am”. If we are to become like Jesus, then we need to be in the process of being and becoming. We will never become or be God, but our likeness can be restored. The relationship needs to deepen every day. Do I love God more and more each day? Do I see my sinfulness more clearly every day? Am I sorrowed by that sinfulness more and more? Not that I have achieved the point I want to, but I strive to be less and Him more. Like John the Baptizer said, “He must increase and I must decrease”. By the way… John was not a “Baptist”. (A touch of humor there).

Three books I have recently read or am in the process of reading, The Wright Brothers – Overland Stage, by Tim Wright. This is a book about the local Indy band and its successes and failures, from Tim’s perspective. This is Tim’s own personal striving to “get to the top” of the music industry. So much of self was interjected into life, he and the band forgot about their Christian roots and how to allow God to direct the paths. Another book is Radical by David Platt. David had to go to a Southeast Asian country and see “church” done in such a different way that when he came back to the USA he was shocked to see how he had been following the American Dream and playing “church”, and he was the “Head Pastor” of the church. Now he is in the process of changing the “way he does church”. The third book is The Pursuit of God, by A. W. Tozer. This writer has an interesting perspective, having written his book in 1948. His main thesis is that people, the church, have left their pursuit of God for the American Dream. They have lost their awe of God and replaced it with the comforts of the world. And in doing so have lost the zeal and affection for God. Their thinking is something like this, “Oh I leave the tough stuff for God to take care of, and I can handle the little stuff”. God is not an American. We think that God has to do it the “American Way”. God’s own words are these, “Without Me you can do nothing”. When will we ever get this through our thick skulls? It’s not about me; it’s about Him and Him alone, His will, His way, His purpose. Our part and our only part is listening and obeying.

If we are to become like Jesus and we are, Jesus life was boiled down to this, “Not to do My will, but to do the will of the One who sent me”. “And the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve”. We are to serve and to be obedient.

I think I’m done, but who knows? My challenge and questions are few. Are you a human being or are you a human doing?

Ron

1 comment:

  1. Amen, may his kingdom come and his will be done in our lives.

    http://youcanfacetodaybecausehelives.blogspot.com

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