From the moment of conception our body is constantly changing. This change is rapid at first, but old photos reveal how much we still age over the years even after we’re fully-grown. But, amidst all this change for our particular body, the embodied form of our humanity has remained the same since the beginning of time. And in this way the body serves as a meaningful anchor for us to contemplate.
When God created Adam and Eve he created a template of embodied masculinity and femininity that all humanity has followed ever since.
While body shapes and sizes might vary from one culture to another, and certainly our styles of dress change from one generation to the next, it’s clear Abraham, King David, the apostle Paul, and the like were all men in form and function like ourselves. And it was in this same form that Jesus was born and lived as a man. Likewise, despite all our changes in technology, our sons and their sons will carry this same basic form into the future as well.
To be sure, there’s comfort in the reality that some things remain the same even with the countless changes elsewhere. And God has given us the body to serve as such an anchor.
Of course, as we contemplate what it means to be a man in our modern age, many reasonable adjustments will need to be made to serve our particular generation. At the same time, our body serves as a witness, at least in part, of what God intended when he created the male form. And he crafted the male body with strength and the ability to generate life outside of itself.
As such, whatever our particular manhood looks like, it should include offering our generative strength to bring life and goodness into the world around us. And our body serves as an anchor reminding us of this reality.
Photo by Delia Giandeini on Unsplash
