The Authentic Human

Everyone has some sort of a mentor or hero, be it spiritual or worldly. I know that I tend to admire (and envy, if I'm being honest) the intellectuals out there. What is interesting is that Christians may talk all the time about trying to be like Jesus, but when it comes down to pure honesty, I doubt very many Christians would say that Jesus is their hero.

Why is that? Jesus was the only true human ever. He was the only authentic man. By living his perfect life, walking with the Father, Jesus set the bar as to what it means to be human. In Jesus, God's design for mankind came to completion because he was sinless. That is how God created humans to be; not this fallen thing of unconquerable cravings and irredeemable vices. Humans were created for something far greater than we can imagine in our fallen state.

Originally, the word "Christian" was a derogatory term, an epithet, hurled at the first followers of Jesus. It is a diminuative of "Christ", or hence, "little-Christ". Afer a while, Christians began to accept the term and use it to identify themselves; and, I think, what better term could possibly define us, but the One who is our standard and measure of what it means to be human?

This was a bit of a thought experiment for me yesterday; I was meditating on the life of Christ and how he was our propitiation and the perfect sacrifice, and I thought about how we are all supposed to strive to be like Him. Can you image what the world would be like, if it was full of "little Christs"?

If people were sinless, there would be no crime, no hurt, no brokenness. There would be no need for a government, even. Sound familiar?? Doesn't that sound a lot like visions of Heaven, or the Kingdom of God?

So while we know that this is an impossibility here on earth, that does not mean that we should stop trying to be like Christ; that is our duty. Our calling, therefore, is to live our lives in such a way that we might possibly bring a little bit of God's Kingdom here on earth.