THE RISE OF HOMO DEUS

Tuesday, August 1, 2017

Recently, historian Yuval Harari, speaking at the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs, announced: ""It is very likely, within a century or two, Homo Sapiens, as we have known it for thousands of years, will disappear. Not because, like in some Hollywood science fiction movie, the robots will come and kill us, but rather because we will use technology to upgrade ourselves..."" Harari called this new being ""Homo Deus,"" or the ""God man.""He was referring to a phenomenon that has been noted by many analysts, the increasing merger of man and machine. The scenario has been explored in the realm of science fiction, from the television 'The Six Million Dollar Man,' to 'Iron Man,' 'Robocop,' and many more. But more significant is the continual merging of humanity with technology in ways already affecting our lives. We may not realize it, but this represents a joining of man and machine. More and more people function through their cell phones, meaning, they function less and less without them. Our generation is increasingly addicted to technology. We are increasing our relinquishing decisions to computers. Where we used to use our minds to figure out how to get from one destination to another, we increasingly rely on GPS systems, as our brains gradually lose the ability to do what our computers now do instead. Thus, observers speculate that it is possible that one day, computers will know more about our likes and dislikes than we do. There is more and more talk and efforts at merging computers parts to brains to increase intelligence and the implantation of chips in our bodies - a development that has the shadows of the mark of the beast in The Book of Revelation. At the same time, we are increasingly developing the technology to modify our genetic code. As man seeks to act as God, he recreates humanity - or destroys it. In the Book of Daniel, world history is presented in the manifesting of four creatures. The last of the four represents the civilization of the end-times. Its nature is described by the Hebrew word 'shaneh.' The word means 'different,' 'diverse,' or 'altered.' So our end-time civilization is characterized by being different, altered, artificial, and unnatural. In every way, from the redefinition of gender, and marriage, to the changing of the genetic code, and now, to this, we are altering the very nature of humanity and God's creation. And it's all part of man trying to be God or the 'Homo Deus,' the God man. The irony is - the more man tries to be God, the less godly he becomes, and the less human. But we don't look to a 'Homo Deus,' man trying to be God. We look to the God who became man. And the more we live our lives in Him and by His Spirit, the more powerful our lives become, more powerful than technology, and the more we ourselves become the person we were created by God to become. This month, commit to walking in the power of God, to do all things by His Spirit, and may God greatly bless you as you do! Your brother and co-laborerin His love and service, Jonathan