Not Just a Man

Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God. John 5:18.

One of the most feared and controversial truths is that we are not ''just humans''. It baffles everyone, and irritates religious people. To some extent it's also scary to think of yourself as a supernatural being. People are scared to do so, while for others it simply doesn't make sense, as what they see in the natural doesn't interpret to this truth.

Jesus was not afraid of being associated with God. He went around boldly talking about His Father, and left people to think what they wanted to think. In the Jewish culture, it was wrong to call yourself God's son, as every child's identity comes from their father's. A dog's offspring is still a dog, and so is a goats’, a cows’ etc. So God's offspring is a god. Jesus knew this, and went around identifying God as His Father, and even encouraging His disciples to call God their Father, e.g., in the Lord's Prayer. It's amazing that even the religious people back then knew that saying that God is your Father was putting yourself on the same level with Him, calling yourself a god. Of all the names of God, Jesus came to introduce one: Father, and to encourage us to call God Father. He knew the implications of the same, that calling God your Father was identifying yourself with God, in likeness, form and image, yet He went on to encourage us to do so, and even put His Spirit in us to help us do it, who cries out to God, "Abba! Father." (Gal. 4:6).

Psalm 8:3-4 says, ''... what are human beings that you think of them; mere mortals, that you care for them? Yet you made them inferior only to yourself; you crowned them with glory and honour.'' (GNB)

In some people's thinking, angels are superior to human beings. We are superior to angels, and are inferior to only God. Angels are God's ministers for us (Heb 1:14). Psalm 82:6 says, "I said, “You are gods, and all of you are children of the Most High.'' Paul himself encouraged us to ''let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God...'' Phil 2:5-6. 

The word "equal" as used in the opening verse and also as Paul used it is isos in Greek, implying seeming, similar, like, equal. It implies likeness, as God created man originally, in Gen. 1:26-28. Remember, you are a spirit, living in a body, possessing a soul. God is Spirit, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit (John 4:24, 3:6). Since you are a spirit, we cannot say that you are "just a man." The devil, religion and the world want you to see yourself as "just a man", focusing on who you are on the outside. Your identity does not lie on what you can see with your physical eyes. Your identity lies on who you became when you accepted Christ, which is a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17), which is in the image and likeness of God. Those who say that they were created in the image and likeness of God and yet say that they are "just mortal men" are thus saying that God is a mortal man. God is a Spirit; you are a spirit, and therefore a god, created in His image and likeness. 

In denying our identities as God's children and therefore gods, we have accepted defeat from the devil, made ourselves victims and seen ourselves as helpless and hopeless. That's why when we are defeated and make mistakes, we say, ''I am just a man'', or ''man is to error.'' The first time I heard this truth I really battled with it, until I searched the scriptures myself with a neutral mind, and allowed the Spirit to reveal to me His truth. I'd encourage you to do the same, before dismissing this important truth and thus denying your identity, in Christ. Do not try to grasp this truth with your mind, as the natural mind cannot comprehend the things of the Spirit (1 Cor. 2:14). Ignore what you have heard and known before, what people say and so on, and delve into the scriptures, allowing the Spirit to do His work in you, which is leading us into all truth (John 16:13, 1 John 2:27). 

There will be hindrances to you walking in this truth, starting with your mind, religion and the world, but let God be true, and every man a liar (Rom. 3:4). His word is true. Go with and live with what the word says, without trying to escape the truth of the word, just because it does not make sense. Denying the truth does not make it any less of truth. 

When you grasp this truth, you cannot be proud, as many people think. In fact, it humbles you, just like David, so that you ask, "What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of [earthborn] man that You care for him? Yet You have made him but a little lower than God [or heavenly beings], and You have crowned him with glory and honor." Psalm 8:4-5 (AMP). You understand that you did not do anything to be recreated in His image and likeness, that it was His sheer will and plan, and this definitely humbles you to worship Him even more. The fact that the only one greater than you is God is baffling to the human understanding. That's why Paul is encouraging us to allow the same mind that was in Christ to be in us, who, being in the form (nature, shape) of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal (like, similar, seeming) with God, and then urges us to walk in humility. Remember, just as Jesus is, so are you in this world (1 John 4:17), and since you are joined with Him, you are one spirit with Him (1 Cor. 6:17).

God sees you as His child, as a supernatural being endowed with the fullness of His power, the same power that raised Christ from the dead. That is why you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you. The moment you accepted Christ, your identity changed. You are not just a human being, just a mere mortal man; you are God's child, a god. See yourself as He sees you and walk in victory in every area of your life.

Blessings. 

-- Sam Gitonga. 

 

(14/09/14 Sunday Service Morning Exhortation, Teaching Transformation Ministry.) 

Brother Sam Gitonga is a Youth Leader at Teaching Transformation Ministry. We are located along the Thika-Ruai Flyover Junction (at the Thika Rd./ Bypass intersection), Next to Eastgate Restaurant.