WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE "HUMAN"?
This is the #2 question yet to be answered by today's generation
The etymology of the word “human” reveals the true spirituality we are wrestling with. The root “guma” (Norse, Germanic) is shared with “bridegroom”, suggesting both purpose & intent. The purpose being to conjugate, or espouse for procreation. This is why God said that it wasn't good for man to be alone after placing man in the garden. The intent is to describe the inhabitants of the earth (“adamah” in Hebrew) as opposed to the “gods” and angelic beings.
Thus, the contemporary use of “human” or “humanity” supposes a dual identity: one based on location (earth, and not heaven) and one based on role (to be espoused). The only question that remains is, to whom is the espousement?
The ancient Egyptians worshipped a creator-being (god) named “Hu”. This God was sensual, and the Egyptian culture of that time focused their worship around sensual experiences, such as eating, drinking & sex as means to demonstrate their one-ness, or being bound together with their creator. Worship, in it's simplest form.
“Hu”+”man”= “human”
We find this binding together, a hybrid of man + God aptly described in the Holy Scriptures within the Genesis account:
Gen 3:4-5 KJV- And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
The operative word here is “as” (meaning shared authority) and not “like" (meaning shared appearance). Thus, by virtue of our identity as “humans”, we are only destined to be on earth, and then married in some spiritual capacity because of, or through our sensuality to the god of this world.
The etymology also shows how popular usage of “human" in the English language clearly trends alongside the publication of modern translations of scripture. “Human” consistently declined in usage from the middle ages through the year 1900, when it suddenly began to increase usage… continuing through today. Not coincidentally, the first “modern translation” of the bible was published in 1899.
Contrast this understanding with Paul's admonitions concerning becoming a “new creature in Christ”, or to assume the mantle of a new being:
2 Corinthians 5:17 KJV — Therefore if any man [be] in Christ, [he is] a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
Galatians 6:15 KJV — For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.
Ephesians 2:15 KJV — Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, [even] the law of commandments [contained] in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, [so] making peace;
Colossians 3:10 KJV — And have put on the new [man], which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:
In summary, it appears that we begin our journey through this life as a true human, but are called to lose that humanity over time (1 Tim 2:4). Not everyone does, and so the next time that we hear a pundit speak about “all of human history”, we know that this does NOT include the entirety of those of us who hold dear our eternal security in the Body of Christ, although we won't become true “non-human” until our redemption:
Romans 8:23 KJV — And not only [they], but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, [to wit], the redemption of our body.