…‘What is mankind that you are mindful of them, a son of man that you care for him?
You made them a little lower than the angels; you crowned them with glory and honour…’
Hebrews 2:6-7 (NIVUK)
In Western Europe we live in an increasingly secular world where some, with a naturalistic worldview, consider human beings to be nothing more than a highly organised arrangement of chemicals without ultimate meaning.
In a discussion with a Russian academic, Christian Professor John Lennox recounts that he was told a huge mistake was made when it was thought that we could get rid of God and maintain a value for human beings. We found out that we could not. This was no doubt a reflection on the mass murders and brutality conducted by the atheistic Stalinist regime in Russia.
The Bible begins by revealing that God made the whole of creation but it was only Adam and Eve, and hence all humanity, who were created in the image of God, and have value and dignity above the animals.
But the greatest proof of how we know that human beings are special is the fact that God, as the Son of God, became one of us: the Word became flesh, a human being, and dwelt amongst us and gave himself for us.
David Hume, the 18th century philosopher, first pointed out a critical problem at the very root of ethics: the ‘Is-Ought Problem’. Can we derive what ought to be from what is? Can we derive what the world ought to be from what it is? Can we derive what human beings ought to be from the way they are? Can we even know who we ought to be? A philosophy that has no basis for morals in a transcendent God will have to find morality in the natural world, or a combination of nature and society.
Jesus Christ is the only human being who is what he ought to be. We can therefore be assured that who Jesus is defines who we ought to be. We human beings are flawed and are not who we ought to be. The only way we can close the ‘is – ought’ gap is through the Holy Spirit, to turn to God, accept Jesus as our Saviour, and be reconciled to God. The closer we get to Jesus and follow him the more we become the person that we ought to be. As John states, ‘…whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.’ (1 John 2:6).
Prayer
Father, we thank you that reconciliation and salvation for the whole of humanity has come through Jesus. Inspire and help us to play our part in spreading the gospel of reconciliation into the world. In Jesus’s name, Amen.
A very deep point you make. That we are only who we ought to be when in Christ.