I've been thinking again. I know, dangerous you say. Well, I'm open to correction or rebuke on this one, whichever is necessary.
One of the things that I think can become confusing about Christianity is what it has to say about man's worth. Sure, as Reformed Christians we affirm what the Bible teaches about the fallen state of man. All mankind, since Adam, has rebelled against its creator, is born in sin, and is thus worthy of condemnation. There is none who is righteous, none who seeks after God, and all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
Then one considers the incarnation again, and things get squirrly. The Son of God lays aside the glory of being God, and veils himself in human flesh, taking on a human nature (all while still being God), and lives and dies on behalf of fallen men, in whom there is nothing lovely or worthy of such grace. It's pretty difficult to wrap your mind around Christ's two natures. It is so easy to emphasize one over the other.
It occurred to me recently, that if Christ was God, than the incarnation should have been a sinch. I mean, what is 30 years to an eternal God? What is the minuscule temptation of the flesh for the one who created all flesh and who commands the angels in heaven? You might even say, when considering this, that the deck was stacked in Christ's favor. Well, certainly it was. There was never any chance of Christ failing in his mission, because God had determined and bound himself via covenant to redeem fallen man. It was over when God gave the covenant to Abraham. It was as good as done when God promised Adam and Eve that one of their seed would crush the serpent. It was finished before it started, in a way. God cannot be thwarted.
I'm not going to try to figure out, much less explain, the correlation between God's perfect decrees and the will of man. However, there is a balance there, and I think it was present in the incarnation. In other words, Christ was a real man and he experienced that fully (short of possessing a sinful nature). But what really strikes me, is that the incarnation, and the value of Christ's life and death demonstrate the value of man. Schaeffer uses the term, "the mannishness of man." Man is made in the likeness of almighty God, and in spite of his sin he still bears God's image. Thus his feelings, desires, and emotions have worth. There is something about man that is noble, valuable, and significant. The incarnation proves this.
First, it was no mere pin prick that Christ experienced in his life and death on earth. The pain and suffering he felt was real, and it was valuable. We know from scripture that God cares about human suffering. He knows our needs in intimate detail. God has granted humans significance. "What is man that you are mindful of him, yet you have made him a little lower than the angels." If being a man were an insignificant thing, than I believe the incarnation would be less significant, and the death Christ died wouldn't seem all that great.
Secondly, if man were not created noble and righteous and for greatness, than the fall would be less significant. At various points throughout history, different theologians and philosophers have tried to explain the fall as being the natural result of a created being which was by definition imperfect. I think we can degrade God's creation too much in this way. Rather, consider the depth of depravity that a righteous being, made in God's image and having fellowship with his creator, has fallen to in his sin. If you begin to get a sense of man's importance than you begin to understand the wrath of God that our sins deserve. To whom much is given much is required.
Finally, if this is so, than the judgment poured out on Christ becomes all the more significant. Human suffering is a real and significant thing, because human nature is significant. Sin is a significant thing, because the status of man is significant. And the wrath of God towards sin is significant, because of this. It was no small suffering that Christ experienced on the cross. The full wrath of God was placed on Christ in the place of all whom God had chosen to save. This was the complete wrath of God, that not even the most depraved sinner can ever fully exhaust in Hell. Certainly, this would not be possible if Christ were only human. However, all of this emphasizes the point that we have a great high priest who can sympathize with our weakness, because he is fully man -- a significant thing.
Secular philosophy sees Christianity as devaluing and degrading to man. It denies man his pleasures and confines him to the chains of obedience to a higher being. Certainly, this philosophy in itself is the mind set of rebellion. However, as Christians, we have the ability to demonstrate the value of man, that Christ would identify with us and elevate us to an even higher status than that in which we were created. We shall be called sons of God.
And it's all because you made me see
What is false and what is true
Like the inside and the outside of me
Is being made again by you
- Marillion
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