A New Way to Be Human

"We miss the incarnation when we view Jesus only through His death on the cross instead of through His life in the neighborhood." - Hugh Halter (Flesh, 2014)

     The only church I knew growing up was one that had a replica of Jesus on a cross. I couldn't tell you why He was there. I could only tell you then that I didn't care all that much. It wasn't until later in my life that I understood the symbolism. It was then that I realized that the image of Jesus on a cross wasn't the entire story. I remember thinking that the real story was that Christ died and rose again. I mean isn't that the promise that we hold onto?
     There was a time in my life where the emphasis of Jesus' resurrection was pretty much the only thing that was taught in the studies I was attending. Everything boiled down to heaven, everlasting life, and the rapture. It was like Tim LaHaye had cornered the market in every Christian circle I ran with. I didn't know any better. I just trusted what others in the faith were reading and believing because I was still new to it all.
     I don't want to cast a negative light on all of my past. There were many great things that came from those years that I'm so grateful for. There are also some great friends that I made who are literally family to me (yes, literally). The truth was that I learned over time that faith in Jesus Christ wasn't only about things yet to come, but it was also about the here and now. That's when I started to explore the idea of the incarnation of Christ.
     Incarnate means the embodiment, personification, or the manifestation of something. In other words, it means to become flesh or human. The study of the incarnation of Christ is much wider than the measly scope of this blog (that's obvious), so I wont bother getting in too deeply with it. All I want to say about it is for most of my Christian life I've spent more time talking about Jesus as God, and less time exploring Jesus as a man. The bible teaches that He's both, but for some reason the circles I was in never really focused on that part.
     In his book, Flesh: Bringing the Incarnation Down to Earth, Hugh Halter says, "We miss the incarnation when we view Jesus only through His death on the cross instead of through His life in the neighborhood." His point in saying this was that although Jesus death on the cross was huge and even game changing, it wasn't the only reason He became human. Halter claims that "Jesus also came to live a life, to model a new way to be human (Switchfoot anyone?), and to show us how to live in our own flesh."
     I appreciate Halter's view. It's something I've been trying to put into words for years. I'm so thankful for the cross. I'm so thankful for what God has done by becoming flesh and paying the ultimate sacrifice that no one else could pay. But I'm also grateful for the fact that He lived here on earth in the form of a human, to teach us a new way to live this life.
     The musician, Jon Foreman, once wrote, "And where is our inspiration? When all the heroes are gone. Hey kids, could we be the ones?"
     I believe that Jesus became flesh for all the reasons I mentioned above, but I also believe that He became flesh so that I might be human like He was. He is my inspiration. He is my hero. And I believe He's calling me to follow His lead. To follow His lead in my marriage, as I raise my kids, in my job, and in my neighborhood. I don't know about you, but I think we could be the ones that help people see the beauty of who He really is: God in the flesh.