Being Human: Bummer Or Blessing

There is a time when we are not recognizable as God’s children. We are rebellious and alienated form the household of God, so to speak. But God did something about our alienation from the family of God.

• John wrote, “all who believe in Christ and accept him are given the right to become children of God. They are reborn! This is not a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan – this rebirth comes from God.” John 1:12-13

• This is what Jesus was saying to Nicodemus in John 3, “I assure you, unless you are born again, you can never see the Kingdom of God.” John 3:3

Jesus went on to explain what he meant by saying, “Humans can only reproduce human life. But the Holy Spirit gives new life from heaven. So don’t be surprised by my statement that you must be born again.” John 3:7 This new birth business is not about being physically reborn, it is about the mysterious rebirth of the human nature from being doomed to being bound for glory. So now, we have a special kinship with God.

• Once it was not so but because God made us his children through adoption, we are members of his family and we may call him, “Father.”

• And the Spirit speaks to us deep in our hearts and tells us that we are God’s children. Romans 8:15

Paul adds to that thought in Ephesians 2:19 where he states,

• We are no longer strangers and foreigners, but citizens along with all of God’s holy people. We are members of God’s family.

In the First Epistle of John, John captures the wonder of this mystery saying,

• See how very much our heavenly Father loves us, for he allows us to be called his children, and we really are! I John 3:1

Another bummer related to our being human is the fear of death. But the blessing of being in Christ frees us from that fear.

3. He delivers us from the fear of death 2:14-15

Because God’s children are human / flesh and blood, Jesus was made like us in every way... For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the Devil, who had the power of death. Only in this way could he deliver those who have lived all their lives as slaves to the fear of dying. Hebrews 2:14-15

Fear is a bummer… there is a phobia associated with just about everything. If you are curious you can access the phobia list web site where a phobia hobbyist has identified and categorized 530 phobias. If you like, you can purchase an attractive phobia list poster, suitable for framing in your family room as a conversation piece, for only $12. (http://phobialist.com)

Humorist Dave Barry says, “All of us are born with a set of instinctive fears… falling, of the dark, of lobsters, of falling on lobsters in the dark, or speaking before a Rotary Club, and (especially pertinent for this time of year) of the words, “Some Assembly Required.’” (http://phobialist.com/fears.html)

Thanatophobia is the fear of dying. The fear of dying is different than the fear of death or dead things, which is necrophobia. Thanatophobia is the fear of dying or death anxiety.

I have been a follower of Christ for many, many years and other than having some concern about the way I might die, death seems to me to be more of a friend than an enemy. I know that death can be tragic and untimely. I know the gut wrenching grief of the loss of a loved one is not something that we welcome. However, experience has told me that there are things worse than death. And, if our hope of eternal life is true… if in Christ there is victory over death, then we die with hope.