To Be Fully Human

To be “fully human.”   What does that mean?  We can be merely human, we fit all the criteria of being human: we’re self-aware, we were born to other humans, and even have human offspring; but does that make us human?

To have the basic traits of humans keeps us in the category of “Human.”  Maybe we’re just merely human.  Maybe we have the minimum qualifications needed to be classified as human beings and not much else. Could there be more?  We know humans can be filled with the Holy Spirit, for instance.

I don’t think even Adam was fully human.  There seems to be more to him than to us, though.  He may have had a full head of hair and a thinner waist.  The Bible tells us God gave him dominion over the fish of the seas, the birds of the air, and everything that walks the face of the earth.  That seems more than you and I have.  He came up with names for all the animals, so he must have had a pretty sharp mind.  He walked with God and talked with Him face-to-face.  After the Fall, the penalty for that was death, so there may have been privileges attached.

Gen. 2:8-10  (ESV)  And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. ⁹ But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” ¹⁰ And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.

God told Moses seeing His face would end in his death:

Ex. 33:20 (ESV)  But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.”

So, there was something special about Adam’s possibly perfect, human body.  Now how about Jesus? 

Was Jesus fully human?  Theologians say He was and is.  He is still a man, after all, and as both God and man serves as the perfect Mediator between us and God:

1 Tim. 2:5-6 (ESV)  For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, ⁶ who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.

What might we expect if we become fully human on Christ’s return? Paul tells us quite a bit about our bodies and what they will be like in heaven:

1 Cor. 15:42-49 (ESV)  So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. ⁴³ It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. ⁴⁴ It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. ⁴⁵ Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. ⁴⁶ But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. ⁴⁷ The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. ⁴⁸ As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. ⁴⁹ Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.

Notice how many times “man” is mentioned in the passage: 8 times, implying we will be humans throughout all eternity.

Why is this important?

Looks like there is a lot more to this “Human” thing than we are experiencing now.  Currently we are merely human, but when we go to be with the Lord whether through death or His return, we will become fully human: imperishable, raised in glory and power, a body with spiritual abilities.  I wonder what all that means.  I really don’t know, but I’m sure looking forward to finding out what it will be to be fully human.