Theology 101: Human Nature
Genesis 3:1-19
Thesis: We live in a fallen world, the image of God remains in us, giving us reasons to rejoice in our humanness.
What is your reaction to the word theology or theologian? If you are like most people, you cringe at the very mention of it. We live in a time that is very antitheological. It could be a reaction to generations of teaching, what we believe but not always teaching us why.
Before we pass judgment on this word we must first, take a look at where this word came from. It comes from two Greek root words meaning a discourse or discussion (logos) about God (theos). That means anyone who says anything about God is a theologian.
The question is not whether we will be theologians. The question is what kind of theologian are we going to be? Or will it be self-serving, narrow, and contradictory? Will our theology make sense in every portion of Scripture and every circumstance of life? Or will it fit only special circumstances and selected parts of the Bible? Will we be good theologians or sloppy ones?
I don’t know about you but I certainly want to be a good one. Don’t you? Then we must understand what it means to be a Christian in the Wesleyan theological tradition. In the World that we live in there are Christians from every theological family: Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Lutheran, Reformed (including Calvinists), Anabaptists, Charismatic and Wesleyan, to name just a few.
Wesleyans’ are not just Baptists who believe in sanctification or Charismatic’s who don’t speak in tongues. Wesleyans’ include churches like The Salvation Army, The Church of the Nazarene, The Church of God (Anderson, IN) Evangelical Friends, Free Methodist Church, The Methodist Church and The Wesleyan Church.
Wesleyans’ have a different way of thinking about God, sin, human beings, the Bible and salvation. It isn’t so different that we end up talking to ourselves, but our accent, emphasis, and favorite themes are not the same as those in other theological families.
Recently there has been an increase of those coming into our family from these other backgrounds. In the last 40 years, theologians from many different theological families have started paying attention to John Wesley and his insights. After two centuries of being ignored as a preacher rather than a theologian, Wesley is now being recognized as a scholar who rediscovered important biblical principles relating to concepts of holiness.
I would like to begin our theology or "discussion about God," by talking about one of God’s creations: humanity.
1. We Are Created in God’s Image.
Sometimes being created in God’s image isn’t all it’s cracked up to be if all we look at is the surface. What I mean is this. When we are caught in the midst of office politics, shouting matches with wives, husbands, children, friends, and neighbor. When suffering and loneliness comes to visit and camp out on our doorstep, being created in the image of God in one of the farthest things from our minds. But it is here in the midst of this imperfect world, we can and do experience wonder in our humanity. All we have to do is to take a look around and see the intricacies of nature as well as the vastness of the universe. In this wonder we too ask as the psalmist did, "What is man that you are mindful of him? " (Psalm 8:4).
God made us a little less than Himself. He gave us creation to be it’s master, not for creation to master us. He gave us the power to create. Only 100 years ago we were still traveling in carriages pulled by horses. We crossed the ocean in wooden ships, many that lay at the bottom of that ocean. Today we are flying across that same ocean in hours instead of months. We have sent expeditions to Mars, communicate by satellite, fax, and computer. How is it that fallible finite people like you and I could accomplish so much so quickly? What is the secret of our minds? Are there, limitations to our discoveries and can our creativity and ingenuity continue until the end of time?
The Bible does not answer all of these questions, but it does tell us how we came into being and why we are the way we are. The Bible is very clear about that. Our essential nature, which makes us human, comes from God. We were made like God: “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image in our likeness”(Gen. 1:26).
We are all made in God’s image. There is not one human being who is without this essential tie to God. But what does this mean?
The "image of God" that the Bible talks about refers to human nature. What we are like at the core of our being. Our spiritual, personal, and moral levels. The part of us that can relate to God and each other on a loving level. That is the image of God the Bible describes.
A ten-year-old boy from Pasadena, CA, was being bullied by an older boy who stole his lunch every day. The father of this younger boy taught him how to fight, how to defend himself with various self defense techniques. What good father wouldn’t respond in this manner when their son was in trouble? Not too long after their lessons the boy comes home one afternoon full of energy bouncy all around and smiling from ear to ear. "He didn’t take my lunch today Dad!" "Which method did you use?" came the father’s reply. The whole time imagining the bully reeling from an uppercut that his son delivered to the bully’s chin. The boy replied “I didn’t use anything you taught me. I decided to make him my friend.” After a long pause came the father’s reply. “Well that can work too.”
The capacity to love is built into the fabric of life in every man, woman, and child. So when wayward humans turn to God, they are really
coming home to the very foundation of their being. Isn’t that a powerful thought! Every time we see someone we should mentally stamp on their forehead "Handle with care. Created in the image of God " Then we all might remember we have an amazing capacity to love and be loved. That is the true nature of God and therefore of us: LOVE.
Jesus has no problem in calling us back to loving God with all our hearts and loving our neighbors as ourselves. However this degree of love is foreign and considered impossible. Our minds are overwhelmed by this suggestion of complete love, flawless consistency and pure motives. But that is what Adam and Eve were given. We find ourselves being drawn to it as well. We have a deep yearning to be fully human, yet perfect in love toward God and each other.
Being human does not equal being a sinner. If that were true, being human would exclude us from being morally the way God created and intended us to be. We are human beings created in the image of God first, sinners second. It’s pretty obvious something happened to mar the image God put into us, let’s see if we can find out what it is.
2. The Images First Sin.
Many couple’s begin their relationships in bliss, their eyes focused only on each other. Their world filled with happiness and harmony. It is like the Garden of Eden.
However, happiness and harmony can die, giving way to anger and discord. Those who were in love are now in hate. Those who were on honeymoon can suffer divorce. This is also like the Garden of Eden, the scene of "the great divorce," the splitting of the love relationship between the Creator and the creatures who had been made for the divine purpose of love.
The account in Genesis shows that the problem at the center of this "divorce" was the quest for self-rule. The serpent told Eve that when she ate of the tree of knowledge, "your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God." (Gen. 3:5). She could be the ruler of her own life. This is a powerful temptation. We still struggle with it today. The desire to be ruler over our own lives has resulted in disorientation within ourselves and alienation from God, the same way it did with Adam and Eve.
This desire to rule our own lives is what is termed as "original sin," and is present in everyone. Many people think this self-rule can be obtained by being the masters of our own destiny through financial investments, owning their own business, owning property, or traveling the country going when and doing whatever pleases them. John Wesley the 18th century British minister whose emphasis on Holiness made him the theological mentor for the Holiness movement, said humans
were created looking to God for meaning in life. So when we try to rule our own lives we are living contrary to the way God created us. The result is disorientation and confusion.
It is clear that the image of God in us has been marred by sin. But the good news is it hasn’t been destroyed.
3. So Where Are We Now?
For centuries we have struggled to explain our present human condition and how it is related to Adam and Eve. To do so we must find out how this "thing" that is a part of our human nature is passed along from generation to generation. So far we have not found suitable explanations for this question. Augustine a fourth century church leader, said, it was passed on genetically through sex. But God created sex as something good.
It would be better to think of original sin not as a "thing" like a disease that is passed from one generation to the next, but rather as a broken relationship. This broken relationship is seen in our desire to rule our own lives and be masters of our own destiny creating alienation from God.
A business owner made a visit to the business he owned in another city. When he arrived he found the couple he had hired had mismanaged the business. They had spent the profits from this man’s business on themselves. When the owner confronted the couple finger pointing and name calling began. The wife blamed the husband and the husband blamed the wife. The business man ended prosecuting the couple for their actions. He hired a new manager to run his business for him. Adam and Eve were the mismanaging managers. God didn’t fire them, though he did discipline them. He also gave them a second chance.
There was a boy who was driving home one night from his hockey game. It was late and he was tired. He had to get on the expressway to get home. So he got on the expressway. But he noticed as he drove all the other cars headlights were coming toward him. He panicked and drove onto the median in order to get out of the way of the oncoming traffic. As he did this he got stuck in the snow. As the tow truck driver showed his displeasure in having to climb under the car in the snow a highway patrol officer gave him a tongue lashing about how irresponsible he was. This didn’t matter to him at all. He was only interested in the reaction of his father whom he had to call at a dinner party.
"I’ll be right there," his dad said. He got there just as the car was being pulled out of the snow and pointed. "Are you OK?" asked his dad. "Yes." He replied. "Is the car OK?" asked his dad. "Yes." He replied. The two stood there in silence in the center of the highway. "How am I going to get home?" Asked the boy as he handed the keys over to his dad. "Your driving," said his dad. "One mistake doesn’t mean I stop trusting you. I’ll see you later." His dad drove off down the road. As the boy slowly drove home, he was ecstatic in the confidence hid father had placed in him. The boy was his father’s son. In spite of the ditched car, the father could see himself in the boy and loved what he saw.
Our heavenly Father gave us His own image, and He never stops seeing it in us. Why do you think he fights so hard and long to draw us back into his presence. To have God see Himself in us and provide a way for us to be restored to Him. That’s what it means to be human.
In our lifetime we have witnessed that humans are capable of apparent endless creativity and ingenuity. Being human is far more than being creative or smart. Being human is living a life in response to God, who made us and saw that His creation was good.
