One of the basic Christian doctrines of the Reformed Faith is the declaration that you and I are creatures. In the Old Testament this is stated early on:
“The Lord God formed a human being from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils, the breath of life, so that he became a living creature.”
Gen. 2:7, from the Revised English Bible, Oxford Univ. Press, 1989)
So what does being a creature mean to you in this day and during these times?
I turn to C.S. Lewis and John H. Leith for help with understanding my creature-like nature and to my experiences.
I believe that humans are made by God in the very image of God and for God’s purposes under heaven. A human being from our first cry and first raised fist is a child of God. Scriptures allude to our coming from God and returning to God with the average lifespan being defined as four score and ten. We are on this planet for the time being (sometimes longer than seventy years (Fourscore and ten) and sometimes shorter). And we are here for some mission uniquely ours, and for some challenges uniquely our own.
We Presbyterians say we are here to glorify God and to enter into God’s joy forever. So let’s look at what we say and what it might mean.
For me, being one of God’s creatures meant realizing first and foremost that I am dependent and limited. I strive to be inter-dependent and grace-filled. Sometimes, I am and sometimes I am the polar opposite. Sometimes, I need help and that’s hard being Scotch-Irish by adoption (faith group) and Brazilian-German by birth. I like to be independent of everyone and everything by being first-born raised in the United States. Visiting Brazil as a child or Italy or other close-knit family systems, I would look for open space and take long walks, pondering thoughts like ”how could these people be so close together for hours upon hours upon endless hours?.” These family groups would help prepare meals, tell family stories and laugh and cry together, mourn and remember together. I have learned, rather late in life perhaps, that being independent means mutual dependencies at times and a delicate balance of interdependence on God and on each other, in the best of times.
So we must not only number our days but we are wise when we treasure each day and remember those days that have shaped and formed us. We recall those special days of faith and those particular days when we realized who we are and whose we are.
To quote John Leith from his book “Basic Christian Doctrine”:
“The limitations of creaturely existence come to focus in death, which is universal. It limits all human achievements, personal and public. The New Testament describes death as the last enemy to be destroyed. (1 Corinthians 15: 26). Death, as part of God’s creation is not in and of itself evil; but it becomes the occasion of great evil when it is faced without trust in God, who is the Creator and the Redeemer. Thus, death is not only the symbol of our creatureliness; it is the final test of faith.”
(John Leith, Basic Christian Doctrine, Westminster/John Knox press, Louisville, Ky 1993)
Happy Independence in God Day! For it is in God we trust!