On Being Human

Jesus Christ was not only “The Son of God,” but “The Son of Man.” He was not only “God manifest in the flesh,” He was “the Man Christ Jesus.” The necessity for both is obvious. Had He not been God He could not have saved us; had He not been man He could not have sympathized with us. For this reason, we must not divorce His humanity from His Deity. His manhood links Him with the whole human race.

He was like us in every respect, but without sin. Paul puts it this way; He was made “in the likeness of sinful flesh.” By the virgin birth He bypassed the sinful nature, but not human nature. Being born of a woman, He had a body of flesh and bone, and a human ancestry. He possessed all of our frailties in the flesh (except sin). He got tired, hungry, thirsty, and needed sleep. He did not renounce His divine powers, but neither did He His human limitations. For example, while on earth He did not know the time of His second coming.   

Our blessed Lord was born into humanity and was not ashamed of it. Some, consciously or unconsciously, try to deny theirs, by pretending to have a superior spirituality, thus being a notch above us other poor human beings. To deny a fact doesn’t delete it! Paul taught that because of our humanness we cannot always do that which we would like. This is not an excuse; it is a fact. Both Peter and Paul acknowledged their humanity, telling others that they were just men like they, still capable of losing their temper and using a slang word at times.

O child of God, you do not have to convince Him of what you would do, if you could do it, but for the weakness of your flesh. “He knoweth our frame.” Like the gospel song says, “I’m only human, I’m just a man.” Yes, be ashamed of your sins, but never apologize for being human.

 “How thankful I am that when God became man, He did not choose to become   a man of iron nerves; that would not have helped weaklings like you and me nearly so much.” - C.S. Lewis