Warped Images

VIII. THE SON OF MAN

Christ had never known sin (2 Corinthians 5:21), although he faced all the same temptations as us. If we believe that he is fully divine, this means we also relinquish our ability to point at the invisible God and say, "He just doesn't understand how difficult it is!" Not that we've ever done that explicitly (maybe someone has), but we do it every time we claim that his laws are impossible to uphold. Christ came and proved that they're possible to uphold, and in doing so, he was glorified. You're likely aware that the title by which Christ most refers to himself is not, "Son of God" or "Messiah" or "Christ,"("Christ" and "Messiah" both mean "anointed," which references the anointing of the kings of Israel) but instead, "Son of Man." Son of Man having the same implication as, "Son of Adam," which simply means, "human." 

There's been scholarly work done noting that he uses the title with different intent than meaning just any Son of Man, but he's the Son of Man. The Son of Man which is prophesied by the Prophet Daniel:

I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. (Daniel 7:13-14)

Christ is claiming that he is this particular human, who Daniel saw being given an everlasting kingdom. This is what Christ is referring to when he tells the Pharisees that they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of Heaven (Mark 14:62). Christ emphasized this title most of all, so there must be significance to it.

It seems as though he was trying to draw a great deal of attention to his humanity. Christians believe that he is fully divine and fully human, so how can we understand his nature? The Temple in Judaism was not considered a house which contained the Lord (1 Kings 8:27), but instead, was the place where his eyes were open, and his heart was there (2 Chronicles 7:16). So, the temple was a place where he was glorified, and although he was not contained in it, his presence was there. Many have described this is as being the place where Heaven and Earth meet, so this seems correct. Christ tells us that he will destroy and rebuild the temple in 3 days, and we learn that he's referring to the temple of his body (John 2:21), so Christ's resurrection has become the new temple. So, Christ, as the new temple, is where Heaven and Earth meet.

Adam and Eve once lived in Eden, where Heaven and Earth were together, and they were fully present with God, until their exile. Christ, in becoming the junction between Heaven and Earth, has restored the connection that was lost when Adam and Eve were exiled. What does this have to do with the title, "Son of Man" being emphasized so much? Well, the original state of humanity was fully in God's presence, and the new temple is also the king of the everlasting kingdom, and is also fully human. This seems to tell us something about what humans have been called to do: to live fully in the presence of God. But, unfortunately, all but one of us have failed.

I am suggesting that Christ emphasizes the title so much in order to remind us of this specific prophecy, which was not simply for God to take over, but for a human to become the king of all humans. This reminds us that, although he's God, he's also an image of God. He's calling us to realize that if we'd live up to our roles as images of God, we'd be innocent like Adam and Eve were before they were cast out. One sin is all that it took to cast them out, so, even if you only sin once, you're not living up to your calling as a human. The true nature of humanity is to live fully in the presence of God, so Christ reminds us through his own humanity of what our humanity was meant to be.

Well, we've failed to be human, so what do we do? God gave us the written law, written to guide our hearts to the spiritual law, but we didn't allow that to happen. Christ came, proclaiming the Kingdom of Heaven, and telling people about the spiritual law, and it got him crucified. We've failed at every turn to uphold our responsibilities, and as a result, our hearts aren't willing to rectify how warped we are as images of God. God's solution was to write the law in our hearts, so that we wouldn't need to do anything ourselves, it would already be in us. So, Christ died, was resurrected, and sent us the Holy Spirit to all of his followers.

Now, the Spirit ought to be connecting us as one church, which Paul describes as being in the body of Christ (Romans 12:5). This is extremely significant, because it means that we don't have to try and reform our warped images, all we have to do is welcome Christ into us through the Spirit. When Christ is in us, we Christians, who are the church, are no longer individual images of God, but are benefitting from Christ's image. He was the one human to get it right, and since we aren't maintaining ourselves well enough, we conform to him.

Consider the Trinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The traditional understanding of the Trinity is that the Father came first, and from him the son emerged, or was begotten. This is important, because he was not created, he emerged from the Father, and so he is of the same substance as the Father. Then, the Holy Spirit is the love between the Father and the Son. So, when Christ sends you the Spirit, he's allowing you to share in the infinite love that is continuously generated between the Father and the Son. When you welcome Christ into you, you're conforming to his image, so when God sees you, he sees you in the same way he sees Christ. As Paul says, we are adopted by Christ to himself (Ephesians 1:5).

Paul believed that followers of Christ were in Christ, that means that when we allow him into us, we become a part of his body. His body is the new temple, and the new temple is where Heaven and Earth meet. So, we are being given an opportunity to benefit from his death and resurrection, and live as fully realized humans. We are being given a chance to give up our struggle to become fully human ourselves, and benefit from his work, by becoming a part of him. If we allow this to happen, we can have the chance to know the presence of God fully, and at all times. We will become these new temples where Heaven and Earth meet, and God will be present through us at all times. We become the places where God will keep "his eyes open and his heart there."