“The glory of God is man fully alive.”

I love this quote, attributed to second-century bishop and apologist, St. Irenaeus, and I’ve repeated it in different settings many times over the last three decades. But it’s only recently that I began to understand it in a different, perhaps deeper way.

I’ve always thought that spiritual formation (a.k.a., “growing in Christ” or the process of sanctification) was in order for us to become more like Jesus. And I still believe that to be true. But what if His intent was not that we become more like Jesus, fully divine, but to be more like Jesus, fully human?

In his thought-provoking book, Creator Spirit, author Steven Guthrie writes, “The work of the Spirit is to bring dust to life and fill it with glory, in other words, to make us truly human, the image bearers of God. In Jesus, the eternal Word of God is made flesh by the power of the Spirit. In his humanity, he is the Messiah—the one anointed by the Holy Spirit and filled with the presence and glory of God. In him, the image of God is restored in humanity. By the power of the Spirit, Jesus is the True Human.” (p.42) He goes on to say, “The urgent and necessary thing is that our true humanity be restored; that we be rehumanized.” (p.36)

Jesus came not just to die for our sins, but also to show us how to be truly human, in the way we were originally intended. In the great beginning, we were made to commune with God, fully immersed in his presence and fully engaged in his creation, enjoying this fullness through our being. Humans are the only creatures to be made in the image of God, and his original intention was to uniquely display his glory through us. Unfortunately, sin corrupted God’s plan and banished us from his Garden. But in his mercy, he sends his Son—the second Adam—and he becomes flesh in order to demonstrate to us how we’re intended to show that glory.

Drinking deeply from Athanasius of Alexandria, Guthrie continues, “Jesus is not the exception but the rule of true humanity. In him we see what God has always intended for us.” (p.157)

And in this way, the glory of God is man (and woman) fully alive.

This has implications for us as artists of faith. To be fully alive, we must re-enter the Garden, in its fullness, and take up the calling of creativity—To enjoy his creation and participate in the creative process. To be fully alive is to come alongside the Second Adam and plant the flowers, pull the weeds, walk through the cool morning dew and the late evening mist, taste of every allowable fruit and experience every allowable thing. To be fully alive is to participate in His creation, creating as He creates. To be fully alive is to see that it is very good.

What might that look like to me, personally? I think that it might mean that I would love more, ponder more, create more, enjoy God’s created universe more, live in the moment more. What would that look like to you?

[Banner photo Vetruvian Man by Leonardo Da Vinci. Inset photo by Andrew Charney on Unsplash.]