Doctrines of the Bible Module 6 - Man and Sin: The creation of Man Lesson 1

Module 6 Man and Sin

Gen 1:26-27

Then God said, let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

So God created man in his own image. In the image of God he created him; Male and female he created them. As a disciple of Christ, we need to focus upon growth in spiritual maturity. One basic area of christian growth is this particular area of growing in our knowledge of man as created by God, his nature and constitution; his Fall, the entrance and transmission of sin into the human race.

This knowledge refers to both our intellectual understanding and our personal experience of the full implications of being man in both his fallen and his redeemed state. Christian maturity can only be attained through this two-fold growth. Faith needs to transform both the head and the heart.

Module 6

Lesson 1 The creation of man

Lesson 2 The nature of man

Lesson 3 The constitution of man

Lesson 4 The origin of the soul

Lesson 5 The Fall

Lesson 6 The nature of sin

Lesson 7 The transmission of sin

Lesson 8 The consequences of sin

Lesson 1 The Creation of Man

A. The origin and unity of mankind by creation

1.  The human race began in a single first man, male, who was brought into existence by creative acts of God. (Gen 2:7 the Lord formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being.)

2. There is an organic unity of the human race in an original, single, human, male specimen out of whom all others, including the first female, were formed. (Gen 2:22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of man, and he brought her to the man.)

The keyword is organic unity. 

3. The human race is an organic unity by natural generation from a single pair who in turn began in the single male from whom the female was taken. (Gen 5:3 When Adam had lived 130 years, he had a son in his own likeness, in his own image, and he named him Seth.)

B. The original capacities of mankind in the un-fallen state

1. Mankind was created with the capacity for dominion over the whole earth. (Gen 1:26 ....and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over all the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground')

God's original intention was for them to rule or have dominion over all the earth. 

2. Mankind has inherent powers to achieve the divinely given mission to populate, subdue and rule the earth.

3. Mankind was created in a state of maturity." (Gen 2:15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.)

Adam was created as a full grown man.  In God there is no chicken egg situation. God made the chicken first. 

4. Mankind was created in a state of perfect adaptation to the environment in which they were placed.

5. Primal mankind was endowed with full capacity for reflective thought and thereby the creative powers necessary for the divinely given mission on earth.

6. Mankind initially had a language and was able to use it. (Gen 2:16-17 And the Lord God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die")

7. Capacity for reflective (rational) thought combined with rational use of verbal symbols enabled man to name the animals of Eden. (Gen 2:20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field.)

8. Mankind was created as moral beings. (Gen 3:8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.)

9. Mankind has an innate sense of goodness, beauty and truth. (Gen 3:6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it....)

10. Mankind is totally different from the rest of creation. (Gen 1:26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness.....)

Questions

1. "Science has proven that man evolved from apes. Therefore, the belief that man was created by God is factually wrong. " We know that this statement is false. How would you then respond to the statement, giving your reasons?

Evolution is a theory not a fact. 

Unresolved Problems Concerning The Theory Of Macro-evolution

1. Evolutionary theory assumes that mutations are helpful and constructive while the general observation of life is that mutations are often harmful and destructive.
2. Mutation of genes cannot account for the origin of new genes that are needed for new species of life to form.
3. For a new organ to form, a great number of multiple mutations need to occur at the same time. This cannot occur on a random platform. Random mutations are often single mutations that are limited to small variations in the characteristics of the life form. Evolutionary theory cannot explain how full organs develop all at once in a new life form,
4. There is an absence of transitional life forms in the fossil record. This observation is a clear refutation of evolutionary theory.
5. In a particular fossil record (Cambrian explosion), There is a sudden appearance of many new animal forms without transitional fossils or common ancestors. This record points strongly to a creation perspective rather than an evolutionary explanation.
6. Simple life forms are found above more complex life forms in the fossil record. This observation is totally at odds with the conclusions of the evolutionary theory.
7. The theory of evolution assumes that similar structures in different life forms point to common ancestry. However genetic studies have shown that similar structures can be produced by different genes which debunks the link of common ancestry.
8. One assumption of the theory is that the presence of pseudo-genes (junk DNA) in different life forms point to common ancestry. These genes are thought to be fossils which no longer have any useful function. However further research has led to the discovery of functions that are linked to these so-called junk DNA. The linking of "junk DNA" to common ancestry is no longer valid.
9. The whole theory of evolution based on random mutations to produce more complex life forms is against the Second Law of Thermodynamics which states that all systems left alone tends towards disorder rather than more order.
10. There is finally the problem of how inanimate chemicals can acquire life on its own. No reasonable explanation has thus far been offered for this problem of the origin of life.

Therefore, based on observations of processes in present life forms, the fossil record, genetic research and the laws of science, the theory of evolution and its assumptions is more speculation than fact.

Creation is more factual than evolution. 

2. Try to make a list of the differences between a man and an animal. 

1. Religious - longs for God (faith)

2. Moral - demands of duty (conscience)

3. Intellectual - joy in understanding (desire for knowledge)

4. Aesthetics - delight in beauty

5. Immortality - live for eternity

6. Self-conscious - awareness of 'I'

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Word and Spirit

Word without the Spirit, you will dry up. 

Spirit without the Word, you will blow up. 

Spirit and the Word, you will grow up. 

A bible study is not just understanding, but it is about understanding with the conviction of te Holy Spirit to transform you in some way. 

A man with conviction is very difficult to shake. But conviction is about the heart, not the head. To make you convinced in your head and convicted in your heart. 

What does convicted means. Take heaven for example. I am someone am who is interested in heaven. When you are convicted in your heart it is by the conviction and revelation of te Holy Spirit. I know heaven is real not because I have been to heaven but I am convicted by the Holy Spirit in his word that heaven is real. To be convinced in your head that there is a heaven you must know that we are beings that have reason. Rational faculty. We need coherence. Something that we believe that makes sense. 

We will not be able to understand everything not because it is unreasonable but because it is beyond reason but not against reason. It is mystery that belongs to God. This conviction will make you stand firm in God. 

In the creation of man the greatest challenge is the theory of evolution. And the younger generation may ask you this. 

There are three ways to answer this. Insist that the bible is correct. Or you try to explain and the young person may end up thinking the theory of evolution is more reasonable. Or the third way, you will have to do some work. That's why we are here. 

The fall of man there is a probationary test like in Adam and Eve failing the test and the consequences is until now. 

This is a proxy battle where Adam and Eve wrestled with Satan. It was a spiritual battle where man lost the kingship over this world. 

Do we commit sinful acts because we are sinful or do we become sinful because we commit sinful acts? We need to think a little.  It is very difficult to answer because it is related to this question, do infants that die go to hell? 

These are some of the questions you have to handle and these are some of the things we will work through. 

Are we condemned because we commit sinful act or are we condemned because we have a sinful nature?

Is it fair for God to judge me for Adam's sin when I don't even know him? 

These are hard questions. I may not have the complete answers but we will work at what the church have been believing and how we can make sense of it. 

There is only one consequence of sin that is stated in the bible. 

Death. 

Genesis 2:16-17

And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”

We believe that death is abnormal. Buddhist believe that death and life is normal. But for Christians death is not normal. Man was created for eternity. 

When we talk of sin there is 3 stages. 

Adam in his unfallen state - able not to sin. 

After Adam, man in the fallen state - not able not to sin

Future state for believers - able not to sin

I want to work on:

Genesis 2:7

the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

Genesis 2:8

Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed.

Genesis 2:15

The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 

A book was written that Eden was at Southern Iraq. 

Man was formed outside if Eden. You may asking there is a difference?

When I was in school, in our biology book man is put as an animal, of a higher order. The book also assume that the theory of evolution is a fact. And in the book the early men were very kesian, living in caves. 

The bible records that the first man and woman had a good life. Not like these cave men that were described in the biology books. 

To work and take care of it could mean to guard and upkeep the garden. We believed that Adam had the intellect to make tools. Adam was not a tabula rasa (blank page) when he was created. God already endorsed him with knowledge. 

A one day old infant has a lot of things in his mind. He is not a blank page. That's why a four year old can be a music maestro and 6 year old a chess master just like Adam who was not a blank page. 

Mankind had a language unlike what was depicted of cave men. Adam can converse with God. Even Eve can converse with the devil. Adam was the quiet one. 

When you read the bible you must first know:

1. Type eg narrative, poetic, revelatory etc

2. Literal - grammatical

3. Symbolical/allegorical

The whole of Genesis is a narrative so everything in there happened literally. There was no break in the first five books of the bible. In the case of Eve first taking the fruit, Adam was in authority and is as guilty. 

Adam had the intellect to name animals. The first record of the word guilt in Gen 3:8 which is related to morality. 

Women are more attracted to beauty and intuitive sense of the subjective and is more observant. Like in Gen 3:6. 

Gen 1:1-25, if you look at the whole creation story, you will see that creation was fashioned by God for man. 

I like these two words:

The personal - self

The corporate - community - family

The work of God is always both. Some young believers only see the self and not the community and they cannot grow. 

Man is not just the pinnacle of God's creation. But all of creation was made for man and that is how much God love us. The greatest gift of God is of course Jesus. The breath of God in Adam was God's gift to Adam. 

We are ruling over the earth today not the way God intended. We are abusing it instead. 

Man was fashioned by God for him. 

Once you hold this key, the whole bible becomes coherent to you. We find our life and purpose in him. 

This short Statement by the Westminster Shorter Catechism is the best. 

What is the chief end of man?

Man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. 

Many churches today in the preaching you'll find a certain trend. 

Genesis 3:21 The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.

The verses preceding this was all judgement and curses. Yet at the end of it you see a father's heart, God clothed them. This is grace and love. God wants communion and fellowship and this far surpasses the pleasures of the world. The whole focus of everything is God. As precious as we are he is the focus not us. 

Have you heard of Christians who say this. I want to be a convert not a disciple. It is because it's easy to be a convert and go to heaven but not a disciple which is hard. But he missed the point. Jesus is our Lord and saviour. It is more than just going to heaven. 

Many Christians just want what God can give them and not God himself. They have missed the point. 

Apart from all our circumstances which he is interested in, the most precious gift is enjoying his presence here and not just the afterlife. 

Difference between man and animal

1. The brute is conscious, but man is self-conscious... The brute does not objectify self... does not distinguish itself its sensations... has percepts [but not] apperception, i.e. perception accompanied by reference of it to the self.
2. The brute has only percepts; man has also concepts... [no] power of abstraction... of deriving abstract ideas from particular things or... experiences.
3. The brute has no language... why... not? Because they have nothing to say, i.e. have no general ideas which words might express.
4. The brute forms no judgments, e.g. that this is like that... Hence no sense of the ridiculous [humor], and no laughter.
5. The brute has no reasoning... that this follows from that... a feeling that the sequence is necessary. Association of ideas [events] without judgment is the typical process of the brute mind. 
6. The brute has no general ideas or intuitions as of space, time substance, cause. The physical in man, on the contrary is only an aid to the spiritual.
7. The brute has determination but not self-determination [that is, it is wholly determined by heredity and environment] Even [Thomas] Huxley   has said that taking mind into account, there is between man and the highest beasts an 'enormous gulf,' a 'divergence immeasurable' and 'practically infinite.'
8. The brute has no conscience and no religious nature.

Animal life parallels human life at many points, but it is in another plane. Something guides the lower animals But it is not thought; something restrains them, but it is not judgment; they are provident without prudence; they are active without industry, they are skillful without practice... wise without knowledge... deceptive without guilt. When they are joyful, they sing or they play [or appear to]; when they are distressed, they moan or they cry... and yet I do not suppose they experience the emotion of joy or sorrow, or anger or love as we do, because these feelings in them do not involve reflection, memory, and what we call the higher nature.