Foundation Study 6
Man
What do these verses say about Man?
1. Genesis 2:7
Man is created by God (Psalm 95:6, 100:3; Isaiah 42:5, 45:12). God created the first man from the immaterial earth. He gave him life through His breath. Human beings are not the product of randomness, chance, mutation, or evolution but rather the intentional work of the Creator; God Himself. Each person is a deliberate, purposeful, planned, and providential creation by God (Psalm 139:13–16). No one is a mistake, a surprise, or unplanned. Everyone possesses immeasurable worth. (Luke 12:7).
2. Genesis 1:27
Man is created in the image of God (Genesis 5:1–2; Colossians 3:10; 1 Corinthians 11:7). Only human beings share certain characteristics with God. Only man can conceive of God, choose God, and cherish God. This is to say, only humans can imagine God, be saved by God, and worship God. The concept of the image of God is also seen in Matthew 22:37 "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.” Only man is described using these terms.
3. John 5:28-29
Man exists eternally (Daniel 12:2; Matthew 25:46; Acts 24:15). Based upon his choice in this life, man spends eternity either in the presence of God in heaven or absent from God in hell. Hell is a place of isolation and suffering from which there is no escape (Luke 16:19–31). The choice is ours. Either way, we live forever...in one of these two places.
4. 1 Thessalonians 5:23
Man is composed of both the material and the immaterial. The material is physical, and immaterial is spiritual. The material refers to the earthly body. It lives for decades at most in its present form (Psalm 90:10). The immaterial includes the soul, spirit, heart, conscience, mind, and will. Ryrie states, "The soul is the center of emotional and spiritual experiences. The spirit is also the center of various traits, emotions, and activities. The heart is the seat of intellectual, emotional, volitional, and spiritual life. The conscience is an internal witness. The mind includes the faculties of perceiving and understanding. The will is the internal drive."1 It is the immaterial part of man that exists forever. (Matthew 10:28)
5. Romans 3:23
Man is sinful (Romans 3:10; Proverbs 20:9; 1 Kings 8:46; Ecclesiastes 7:20). Man's sinful nature is the result of both imputed and inherited sin. Imputed sin is the direct transfer of Adam's sinful nature to us (Romans 5:12). Inherited sin is the generational transmission of sin nature from parents to offspring, and occurs at conception (Psalm 51:5). "If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth...if we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that His word has no place in our hearts" (1 John 1:8,10). No matter how you look at it, we are hopelessly sinful and in desperate need of salvation (Jeremiah 17:9).
6. Ephesians 2:1-3
Man’s sinfulness deserves judgment. Man's sinful nature results in sinful behavior; we cannot not sin. God's just nature demands righteous behavior; He cannot not judge sin. Hence, humanity finds itself in a desperate, helpless, and hopeless dilemma (Ephesians 2:12, Romans 5:6). We merit the judgment of God.
7. Ecclesiastes 3:11
Man can envision eternity. God has placed the idea of forever in the mind of each person. He has placed an eternal "spark" in everyone. It is the basis upon which God informs man of himself. God reveals His existence and nature through creation (Romans 1:20, Psalm 19:1-6, Acts 14:17) and then His salvation through Scripture.
8. Joshua 24:15
Man can choose God (Proverbs 1:29, Ecclesiastes 9:3). God created man with the ability to make a personal decision about Him. The decision to choose God is available to everyone. (Romans 10:13) Some refuse to choose God in the face of reasonable circumstances (Revelation 9:20, 16:9–11). Others refuse out of sheer stubbornness (Romans 2:5). Still, others chose God (Matthew 16:15, 16).
9. Psalm 95:6
Man can cherish God (Psalm 96:9, 100:2, 132:7, 138:2). Man can worship God. Man experiences His greatest joy in a personal relationship with God. God created man to consider Him, choose Him, and worship Him.
10. Hebrews 4:13
Man is accountable to God (Job 34:21; Psalm 33:13–14). All humanity must answer to its Creator. Some will do so in a state of unbelief and spend eternity apart from the presence of God (Revelation 20:11–15). Others will do so in a state of belief and give an account of their lives as followers of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:10).
God holds everyone accountable for what can be known about Him through creation. Everyone should acknowledge that God exists, that He is the Creator of all things, and that He is infinitely strong and inherently good (read Romans 1:19-32, Psalm 19:1–4 and Acts 14:17). However, everyone suppresses these obvious truths. Even though this basic information about God is available to all of us, we choose not to honor Him as our Creator or to thank Him for His goodness. Instead, we substitute our ideas of who He is. We deliberately ignore God's eternal glory. We worship what He made instead of He who made it. Depravity ensues as we continue to create our own theology about who God is and what He's like. Our condemnation is not based on rejecting a gospel we have not heard. That would be unjust. It is based on sinning against the light we have. That is just.
God holds everyone accountable for what can be known about Him through creation. Everyone should acknowledge that God exists, that He is the Creator of all things, and that He is infinitely strong and inherently good (read Romans 1:19-32, Psalm 19:1–4 and Acts 14:17). However, everyone suppresses these obvious truths. Even though this basic information about God is available to all of us, we choose not to honor Him as our Creator or to thank Him for His goodness. Instead, we substitute our ideas of who He is. We deliberately ignore God's eternal glory. We worship what He made instead of He who made it. Depravity ensues as we continue to create our own theology about who God is and what He's like. Our condemnation is not based on rejecting a gospel we have not heard. That would be unjust. It is based on sinning against the light we have. That is just.
What was the most meaningful verse? Explain.
Footnotes.
- Charles Ryrie, Basic Theology: A Popular Systematic Guide to Understanding Biblical Truth, (Chicago: Moody, 1999), 225.
- Ryrie, 9.