human dignity and humility

Francis Schaeffer, in The God Who Is There, shared a helpful diagram which illustrates the dignity and humility of humanity.

God is our Creator, infinite and self-existent. We share with all other creatures our creatureliness and finite-ness. There is a great chasm between us and God in this regards. We will never be God, who alone is necessary and self-sufficient. This is our humility.

Yet on the side of personhood, we are very much like God. We are made in his image (Gen. 1:26, 27). We can think, reason abstractly, feel with complexity, plan and dream, and choose right or wrong. We can exercise dominion in the world and -- by God's grace -- create a human culture of truth, goodness and beauty. The chasm then exists between the rest of the creatures and man.

It is important to remember both aspects of our make-up.

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