A New Way of Being Human

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The last few months we’ve been talking about the new-creation kingdom Jesus launched through his resurrection, and the invitation he offers his followers to come and be a part of it. So far, we’ve discovered that followers of Jesus are invited to see his Father God in a new way as they walk in his kingdom, which leads them to see themselves and others in a new way as well. When they accept his offer to participate with him in his kingdom, they realize that they have become a part of a new kind of family, and because Jesus puts no restrictions on who he will welcome into his family, neither can his followers. We also discovered that the relationships in this new, inclusive family can best be described as covenantal; meaning they involve value, commitment, and love.

If you walked with us through the previous Kingdom Story series, this new-creation kingdom that Jesus reveals may sound vaguely familiar. Think back to that symbolic Genesis creation story. In that story, we saw our Father God create an abundant kingdom in which he dwelled with his human, image-bearing children in intimate, loving relationship, and where the children were blessed and invited to live in harmony, fruitfulness, and peace with one another. A kingdom where humanity was given a unique identity and a covenant purpose—to partner with their Creator in an intimate, covenantal relationship, so that he could bring his good, wise, just, and compassionate rule to creation through them. Humanity was created to reflect God’s good, loving, light-filled, life-giving image into creation as his image-bearers, and to reflect the worship and praises of his very good creation back to him. They were blessed, so that they could bless others and help life to flourish and grow.

Of course, if we continued to follow the story, we know what happened next. The kingdom was split and separated through deception, selfishness, and mistrust; the covenantal relationship was shattered; humanity became blinded and afflicted by a spiritual darkness that infected their minds, hearts, and spirits; and they hid in fear of their Creator. As a result, creation itself became afflicted and filled with darkness instead of light, curse instead of blessing, violence and oppression instead of harmony and love, and destruction and death instead of flourishing life.

Humanity had become utterly unable to reflect their Creator’s true image or fulfill their God-given purpose. As Genesis 5:3 tells us, the image-bearers— in this blinded, spiritually afflicted condition—continued to reflect an image, but it was now their own image, their own likeness they reflected. Humanity’s intended identity had become distorted, their intended purpose derailed, and their covenant vocation to care for and steward creation spiraled off track into a self-centered and violent thirst for power and control; a scarcity mindset in which everyone believed they must fight for what they can get; a distorted vision of others as rivals or enemies; and a deep emptiness and desperate inner longing in each human heart for love and acceptance. Humanity had lost their identity and their purpose; they had lost their way.

It was into this sad state of affairs that Jesus of Nazareth entered, proclaiming the good news of God’s kingdom; the news that God had come at last to fulfill his promises—to rescue, heal, and deliver his image-bearers; the news that God’s healing love and forgiveness had now been revealed and was available to all; the news that God’s redeeming plan to put things right—to restore his intention for creation and humanity’s true identity and purpose—was beginning with him. Humanity had “missed the way” (which just so happens to be the definition of “sin”), but he had come to be The Way; to be the true image-bearer, reflecting the true image, and living out the true image-bearing purpose; to be the one who would rescue, heal, transform, and empower humanity and lead them in a new way of being human.

As you know, this message did not go over well with many of Jesus’ listeners in the first century, and it’s probably not a surprise that it doesn’t always sit well with us today either. Humanity has become comfortable with the way we are. If we’re honest, we’ll admit that many times we are self-centered; easily drawn into anger, violence, and vengeance; quick to judge and condemn others; prone to envy and lustful desires; and predominantly focused on our own interests and our own comfort over and above the needs of others, even when doing so devalues them or causes harm. We know these thoughts and leanings are within each one of us to some degree. But most of the time, instead of acknowledging our own darkness and brokenness, and our need for healing and light, we simply say, “Oh well, we’re only human”, thereby missing the point, and the offer of healing that could enlighten us, transform us, and help us to walk in our intended image-bearing identity and purpose once again.

Following Jesus in his new-creation kingdom, in his new way of being human, requires a radical shift in our thinking about what it means to be “only human”. In fact, some call Jesus’ new way of being in the world, an “upside-down kingdom”, because what he shows us totally redefines everything we think we know about who we are, why we’re here, and what we think is important. He redefines humanity’s distorted view of power, success, righteousness, justice, and the core truth that binds them all together—love.

First, let’s look at how Jesus redefines our human conception of power. There is no doubt that power is a driving force in our world today. We seek it as individuals, we seek it in our relationships, we seek it in our group affiliations, organizations, systems, and nations. From the very first pages of the biblical story, we see that power and authority to “rule and reign” was indeed bestowed on humanity, but if we’ll recall, it was given as a part of their covenant relationship—the partnership—between humanity and their Creator. We were given free will and agency to use this power, but it was to be wielded on behalf of the Creator, for the benefit, care, blessing, and flourishing of all of creation. Unfortunately, ever since our view of power became distorted and self-centered, instead of using it to bless and bring life, we have abused it and used it to disempower others, to keep others below us so we can be first, or to aggressively and sometimes violently, oppress others and rob them of their power so we can be on top—so we can be called the greatest. Just a quick glance at human history will bear this out, and the biblical story is no different. Scripture is full of stories of sibling rivalry, tribal warfare, violent empire building, and the oppressive, dehumanizing use of power.

Jesus confronts this human view of power. To those who strive to put themselves, their empire, their religion, their organization, their political party, or their nation first, over and above others, Jesus says, “No”. Actually, in his kingdom, it is those who are last who will be first, and those who seek to put themselves first, will end up being last. And to those who insist that their individual gifts or achievements, their political leader, their gender, their race, or their ethnicity is the greatest, Jesus says, “No”. In his kingdom, those who believe themselves to be the greatest, will be considered least. Instead, it will be those who humble themselves—those who will love and serve others no matter who they are and those who will put other’s needs above their own—who will be considered the greatest in his kingdom.

Jesus did not just talk about this redefinition of power; he acted it out in his own life. Jesus—Immanuel, God with us, the messianic King—did not use his immense power to storm into Jerusalem, violently overthrow the Romans, and crown himself king of the empire. He did not use his power to belittle, oppress, or subjugate people for his own gain. He used his God-given power to heal people, to feed people, to teach people, to love people, to rescue people, and to bring life. And in the ultimate redefinition of power, he laid down his power, he laid down his own life, to absorb and overcome the sin and the darkness that has kept humanity captive and has fueled our distorted view of power, so that he could reconcile us, empower us with his Spirit, and set us free. Jesus used his power in the service of others, in the service of love.

Jesus also redefines our human conception of success. In our world today many define success in terms of how much wealth they have, how much power they wield, or how much praise they receive from others for who they are or what they’ve achieved. We’ve already talked about Jesus’ redefinition of power, but he also has much to say about wealth and the need for attention and acclaim. He tells us that success in his kingdom is not about amassing wealth for ourselves, it is about how we use what we have in the service of others. In his kingdom we don’t have to live with a scarcity mindset, we don’t have to fight each other for what we need. Jesus said we can give freely in love, and there will be enough. He also says we do not need to seek fame or the approval of others; we don’t need to try to outperform each other in an attempt to feel good about ourselves and fill our own need for love and acceptance. Jesus assures us that his Father knows each of us intimately, that each one of us is of great value to him, that he loves each of us just as we are, and that his love is not finite—it will not run out—there is more than enough for everyone.

We’ve already talked about righteousness in a previous episode, but to review, Jesus causes us to think differently about our idea of righteousness as well. He says righteousness does not mean perfection—following the rules perfectly—as we so often define it today. It means being and acting in harmony with what is “right” in God’s eyes. Unfortunately, in our blindness and affliction, we want to be the ones to define exactly what that looks like, and then to judge and condemn those who don’t measure up. Jesus says, in his kingdom, it is he who defines what is “right” in his Father’s eyes. He says being righteous means loving and trusting his Father and loving others as he does; it means accepting his healing love—the Spirit of love—so we can be “put right” and enabled to walk in our image-bearing, covenant purpose once again; it means participating with him in his redemptive, restorative, “putting right” plan for creation.

It's interesting that the word “righteousness” can also be translated as “justice” in both Hebrew and Greek. Our human view of justice usually has very little in common with how Jesus defines righteousness. More often than not, we equate “justice” with punishment for wrongdoing or sin, and we are quick to call it out, litigate it, and administer it. When someone wrongs us, we want them to get what’s coming to them, we want to make them pay, we want revenge. In fact, many of Jesus’ listeners were waiting for God to do just that—to come in vengeance, to call down “fire from heaven”, to wipe out their enemies, to give them what they deserve, and to vindicate their nation. That was the expectation of Israel’s Messiah, a title and vocation Jesus claimed for himself. But Jesus did not come to bring vengeance and violence. In fact, he said “No”, to that messianic expectation and to the human view of justice. Instead of punishing “sinners”, he ate with them, loved them, forgave them, and healed them. Instead of calling down “fire from heaven” on those who wronged him, he called down forgiveness even as he was being unjustly put to death on a cross. Jesus says in his kingdom, justice is working toward righteousness—"putting things right”. Instead of allowing anger to fester into bitterness and then into violence, it’s reconciling relationships with those we have wronged or with those who have wronged us. Instead of pursuing vengeance, it’s forgiving and praying for those we perceive as our enemies, those who may have hurt us, persecuted us, or betrayed us. To be clear, justice is not turning a blind eye to injustice in apathy. It’s choosing to take a stand against injustice—anything that devalues, dehumanizes, or harms others; anything that stands opposed to compassion and love—even as we work toward reconciliation and restoration in the process.

Have you noticed the underlying theme in Jesus’ new way of being human? He spells it out in John 13:34-35; those who choose to follow Jesus, those who choose to walk with him in his kingdom, in his new way of being human, will be known not by their religious fervor, or their moralistic living, but by how they love. Love is the marker; it is the defining characteristic of a Jesus follower. But just like humanity’s view of power, success, righteousness, and justice, Jesus must redefine our distorted view of love as well. He says we do not get to define love for ourselves. He tells us that our culture, our religion, or our personal life experiences cannot define it. He is the only one who can define what love is because he is love in the flesh. His love always gives value, it does no harm, it is self-sacrificing, it is committed, it is mercy and compassion in action. If we want to follow Jesus in his kingdom, we must love as he loves. That means his love must permeate all we say and do. It must become the driving force behind how we use our power, it must saturate our words and actions as we pursue righteousness and justice, and it must inform how we define success in this world and in our personal lives. Jesus says love is the new way of being human. But he says we will not be able to love like this on our own. We must have his Spirit of love living within us, healing us, transforming us, working through us, empowering us. To those who accept his invitation to be a part of his new-creation kingdom, Jesus says we must become Spirit-led people who live love.

For those of us who choose to follow Jesus, this redefinition of what it means to be “only human” should give us pause. It should cause us to reexamine how we live our lives. Is love the driving force behind how we use power in our politics, in our churches and religious organizations, in our group affiliations, in our personal lives and relationships? Where are we insisting on being first? Where are we striving to be the greatest? Does love have anything to do with how we define success? Is love the core principle behind our idea of righteousness and our pursuit of justice? Are we being transformed into a more compassionate and loving people?

Jesus gives us so much to think about, but let’s bring this Invitation series to a close with this: the resurrected Jesus says his kingdom has been launched. He says it’s growing here and now, and that all are invited to come and be a part of it. The question is, will we allow his love to realign our thinking about what it means to be “only human”; what it means to be a “new creation” in his new-creation kingdom?