Life Giving

I hope you are all well & enjoying your summer. I have a few thoughts to share with you this week that hopefully bring you some encouragement. I feel like the first half of my faith journey had a lot to do with apologetics (in defense of the faith) & specifically concluding, & even proving, to others that Jesus is the messiah, the Christ, God. It was very centered around belief & specifically on the belief that this man who walked the earth 2,000 years ago was the perfect image of the divine deity. While that is certainly time well spent, it was without question (in my humble opinion) too heavily weighted on his divinity as I practically ignored the significance of his humanity. 

1 Cor. 15:45 states: "The first man Adam became a living being"; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit.” The word /phrase in that text, “life giving” really jumps out at me. Beliefs & theology are important but it’s possible to believe something or adopt a credo in your mind & it have zero impact on the way you live. I would even argue that beliefs in & of themselves aren’t life giving, but Jesus, Jesus is life giving. 
 
The second part of my faith journey has been much more centered around studying & embracing the humanity of Jesus. Jesus is the human God intended every human to be from the beginning & intends for us to be moving forward. John 1 refers to him as the Logos or the blueprint which I believe applies to all of humanity & all of creation for that matter. Are you able to see that Jesus is the truest self of who you are as a person & not your ancestor Adam? Are you able to see that Jesus is the truest self of others, regardless of how hidden he may be? Christ, the true human, is the measure of every person. You & I were made to incarnate the divine disposition that Jesus reveals, which begins with love (of God & others) & EVERYTHING is designed to flow out of that. May we allow Jesus to truly be, “life giving” & as a result mold & shape us into our truest identity. 

Much love to you all, Pastor Chris.