Importance: 10%
The Big Idea: God has told humans what we were created to be up to and commissioned us or sent us out to do it in two major moments in Scripture.
The First CommissionĀ
As the world settled into its newly created order, God spoke to humanity.Ā The first blessing, or benediction, uttered over humanity paints a picture of life as it has always been meant to be:
āAnd God blessed them. And God said to them,Ā āBe fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it,Ā and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.āā - Genesis 1:28
This first commission places humans over creation as God ordained care takers. Not only this, but installs humanity within creation as a legitimate and integral part of the ecosystem.Ā Humans are meant to flourish within the tapestry of creation. We were created in the wonderful and precious image of God as His workman in a beautifully balanced world. Therefore, the very first and foundational purpose of human existence is as watchful, productive, co-creators. The Greatest CommandmentsĀ Since the fall, humans have wandered far afield of our original purpose as co-creators.Ā Instead, humans have so often become destroyers inventing new ways to bring destruction upon the world. Out of that darkness, God called a people to bear His name among the smoldering remains of creation. As He called them, He oriented them around a particular image of the good life. An image boiled down to the legendary Shema:Ā
āHear, O Israel:Ā The Lord our God, the Lord is one.Ā You shall love the Lord your God with all your heartĀ and with all your soul and with all your might.ā Ā Ā - Deuteronomy 6:4-5
This image of a good life does not start with knowledge or power, riches or fame. A good life according to God starts with listening. Hearing the realities of who He is and responding with love. The salient action, or mode of being, is loving.Ā A loving that captures the entirety of our being - heart, soul, and might.Ā Ā Ā
If we take time to parse out the implications of this deep abiding love, we can see that humans are meant for a unique and vibrant relationship with God. Western thinking so often splits the human being into mind and heart, thought and emotions. This description of humanity is not so divided.Ā
The Hebrew word for heart (Lavav) speaks of not just the organ, or the locus of emotions, but the seat of memory, will, thought and conscience.Ā Oneās heart remembers, longs, meditates, and acts. It is out of the heart that you exist. Partnering with the heart is oneās soul or nephesh.Ā This nephesh animates the actions of the heart. The first descriptions of a human nephesh comes as God breathed the breath of life into Adam.Ā As the wind of Godās life-giving Spirit enters the man, he becomes a nephesh. So to love God with heart and soul leaves nothing out. There is no corner of the unconscious mind or physical frame that should not be turned toward this life of love.Ā To seal the image, God even clarifies to what extent His people should take this full bodied and integrated life: ALL your might, everything you got, nothing held back.Ā
In Mark 12 Jesus pulls this description of humanity to sum up the movements of the Old Testament and affirms their centrality.Ā He also adds that this life of love is to extend out from our relationship with God to the people around us. The rest of Scripture speaks boldly about this love.Ā Paul even goes so far in 1 Corinthians 13:2 to say that without this love āI am nothing.ā As the picture unfolds, it is clear that humans are meant to be lovers.Ā
The Great CommissionĀ
As Jesus ended His ministry on earth He completed the picture of human purpose: āGo therefore and make disciples of all nations,Ā baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.āĀ
- Matthew 28: 19-20
The rich fabric of Scriptureās commandments and promises are brought to fruition through Jesus. Bearing the name of God in creation is no longer tied to a nation state, but the act of being a disciple. Discipleship is therefore the culmination of centuries worth of reflection, preparation, and now sending. Jesus sending us into lives lived to their fullest.Ā To be a disciple is nothing short of becoming fully human.