MANKIND LESSON  6   OCTOBER 7, 2000

These lessons are from the Seventh Day Baptist Church of Toronto

Statement of Belief

 LESSON SCRIPTURE: GENESIS 1:26 TO 2:7; PSALM 8:3-9

MEMORY SELECTION: PSALM 8:6-8

 INTRODUCTION

It is not often that we get a chance to look deeply at ourselves.  This lesson might be distressing to many people, for many do not really want to know who they are, what they are, and how they are made up.  

By looking at ourselves we can however get a little bit more complete picture of who God is, for we have been told that we bear some resemblance to him.  Our experience with our own nature should teach us however that there all kind of unpleasant things about us, as well of course pleasant things. A balanced view should therefore prepare us for the often erratic, illogical, rebellious and often contradictory behaviour of human beings.

Medical science including psychology and psychiatry have focused on our difficulties.  Sociology and history have also confirmed that there is a deep and serious contradiction in man, for it is clear to all that man is capable of great good but is also capable of great evil.

There have been many different views of man. Scripture has a unique and a detailed view of man that we will look at.

Many following Freud and his contemporaries, consider that man is a sexual being, and that all human behavior can be interpreted on the basis of how man controls and direct the strive to gratification of his sexual needs.  Even though many do not agree with Freud's three part model of the human being, separating man into the Ego, the Superego and the Id, and the conflicts and contradictions the model teaches, most people in our society are preoccupied with sexual matters, and criticize anybody who puts forward any criticism of this preoccupation with sexual matters.

Some think of man as a machine, with his talents, energies and skills to be only used to produce things or to meet certain goals.  People are only important to the extent that they can work, and where there is concern for them, it is only to keep them working efficiently.

The Church of course is affected by this view which looks at people as things, and of value only as long as they are useful.  People have value based on what they can do, and those who cannot do much to help the Church meet its “goals”, and to get its work done are not valued or paid much attention to.  Even pastors are chosen based on their ability to do their tasks and to get the numbers in.

Others view man as an animal which has come into being through a particular process of evolution.  Man is only a slightly better animal, but there is no qualitative difference.  Man’s makeup and behavior is determined by biological drives, and we can learn all we need to know about man by watching and experimenting on animals.  Man can therefore be trained, manipulated and controlled just like animals.

Another popular view is that economic forces hold the key to what man is.  Man needs food, clothing, shelter and other such things, and once he has them, that is all he needs. Most political leaders think that way.  A philosophy or ideology which we call communism, or more properly named Dialectical Materialism, developed to give this a systematic structure.  In all these structures however, the idea is that economic factors determines man’s destiny.

Yet others believe that man is really the product of the accidental coming together of atoms, and he is at the mercy of blind, impersonal, indifferent, or hostile forces which do not have any real concern for him.  This view produces a sense of helplessness, despair, and a view that life is futile.  Many of these are called existentialists, and they often write with resignation about the absurd and futile process of life.  Man for them is simply a pawn, and is at the mercy of blind uncontrollable forces.

Others like to think of man as a being with freedom and an ability to choose.  All he needs is information to help him, and a correct environment in which to operate.  This is a romantic view which tends to elevate man's reason and his essential goodness.

Some sociologist and thinkers tend to view man as not having a nature as such, for his humanity only exists and can be seen in the relationships and involvement he has created with others.  Without these so-called ‘ human’ connections there is nothing we can call man.

THE BIBLE’S VIEW OF MAN

The Bible's view is that man was created by God as part of the natural world, as the final act in the creation of the world.  Man however was specially related to God, for God had purposely and consciously created him in his image, after five days of creating all other things in the world. 

Clearly man had biological and physical similarities to the rest of creation, and he was not divine, but because God had done this unique thing of creating man in his image, he was marked out as being ‘ human’. Standing on God's authority he was to possess the earth, care for it, and rule the other creatures.

Man therefore had his origin because of the creative act of the eternal God.  Man’s value was given to him by this eternal God, and therefore it cannot be said that man is a machine, is unimportant, or of no value. But clearly we must look to God's intention, and how he did his creation, to understand who man is.

We should understand that the natural world is not simply the framework or the backdrop for man.  There are great and deep connections or bonds between man and the natural world.  He is subject to the same laws as the natural world to, and was made to look after it, develop it, and enjoy it.

When Man fell into sin, he was not the only one that experienced corruption.  The natural world also became corrupt, began suffering pain and death, and now waits anxiously for the final redemption of man so that it can itself be redeemed. (Romans 8: 19-23)

We often overlook the biblical teaching that nature rejoices when God does things to bring about the redemption of Man.  See Psalms 96: 10-13; Isaiah 35; 55: 12-13, and other passages.

THE STORY OF MAN

Genesis begins the biblical account of the doctrine of man, and explains in full everything we need to know about ourselves and others.

The book of Genesis tells us that God decided to make man in his own image and likeness in chapter 1.  In chapter 2 we are told that God made man for the dust of the earth, and not from any existing creature.  When God made this creation from dust, God breathed into him the ‘breath of life’, and man then became a living being. He was instructed by God, given the maximum of good things, the minimum of restraint, and was warned and directed by God. He regularly fellowshipped directly with God, and was always in perfection.  

Note the things which are taught here.

Firstly, men came into existence because God wanted them to exist.  Man got his life from God, and there was nothing to suggest that man was indispensable or that it was necessary for them to exist.  God simply wanted to create man. So it is clear that man belonged to God, and must serve his purpose.  His value that he had came from what God gave him.

Our identity therefore clearly comes from the fact that God created us.  There can be no self-esteem apart from recognition of that fact.  Man is not valuable or important in himself. What is valuable in him has been derived from God.  Man is therefore not the center of the universe, and if he looks inside himself for value he will not find any.  He came into existence because God had a conscious and wise intent and plan.

We can learn that man does not flow out of God, but is a creation.  He is not divine but is finite or limited, and he does not and cannot know everything or has the power to do everything.  He is a human, and is, and will always be separate from God, for God made him that way.

Second, though man is different from the other creation, he's not so different from the rest of creation, that he's not linked to them.  The difference that is stressed is that God is the only one that is very different from the creation.

God created the world and creatures in five days, and then in sequence man was created.  Man therefore is not an alien in the natural world, and there was harmony between man and the rest of creatures.  Clearly then man must understand that what he does affected and still affects all the other creatures and the natural world.  Man must therefore live as if he understands that we are to be concerned about the other animals and the world,  protect it, and see that he shows his love for God's creation.

Thirdly, man was created for a special place, for though the animals and other creatures were created “after their kind”, man was created in the ‘image and likeness of God’ and given dominion over the rest of creation.  There was more to man, for he was set on a high-level than the rest of creation.  Clearly then there's more to man than his being a creature, and he was required to live accordingly to that higher status.

Fourth, all men are descended from the first pair, Adam and Eve, and so all men are related.  The fact that men are fellow humans points us to the requirement that we should be concerned about and empathize with each other.  In addition to this, when men become spiritual brothers in Christ, the emphasis on loving each other becomes infinitely great.

Fifth, we must understand that as creatures we are limited, and are not inherently immortal.  This knowledge of our incompleteness should bring about humility, and a strong sense of our dependence on God.  Note that it is not a bad thing that we are limited.  God considered his creation good.  It is only when we fail to accept that we are limited, and we try to live as if we're not limited, that we move into sin.

Even if we reduce our limitations, it would not mean that we will become better.  We therefore must always retain our obedience and dependence on God.  We must submit to God’s plan and understand that we do not have the kind of knowledge that is needed before we can pass any kind of judgment on His plan.  We must therefore submit to him, and adjust our lives accordingly.  We are not God and we cannot be God.

Sixth, though we are not the greatest thing in the universe, we are except for the angels, the highest of the creatures.  We must give all the credit for what we are to God.  We are wonderfully made in the image of God.  We do not need to put ourselves down, refuse to use our talents, or minimize our ability or the value of what we're doing to supposedly give glory to God.

We must put what we do and accomplish in the proper context, always acknowledging that what we do is done because of God's mercy.

DIFFERENCES IN VIEWS-OTHER VIEWS

It should be noted here that many disagree with the account of creation in Genesis.  Some do not regard Adam and Eve as actual historical persons.  They do not agree that the things that the Bible said took place were actual events. These people do not accept scripture in total as the inerrant Word of God. They might accept part of the Scripture, but are not orthodox.

Some, even in the Church, believe that there are several reasons both inside and outside of the Scriptures which make the story of Adam and Eve and the creation unacceptable.

They point to the evidence of natural science, biology, the study of fossils, and history which conflict with the biblical view.  The accept the scientific evidence that there was no past golden age in the Garden of Eden, and that we can trace mankind back to more and more primitive forms.  The scientific explanation of the beginning of man conflicts with the Bible.

Note that this however conflicts directly with Romans 5 and 1 Corinthians 5, for there Paul specifically stated that sin came into the world because of “one” man, namely Adam.  Adam therefore was a particular person who did a particular sin which affected everybody in the human race. The prophets and Jesus obviously believed that there was Adam and Eve.

Both inside and outside the Church there are other views which conflict with that of the Bible, and we should list some of them.

First, is Naturalistic Evolution.  This teaches that there are processes inside of nature that produced everything that exists including man.  No divine person or God had anything to do with this process before it begun or during its operation.  The atoms and processes were not created as such, and are simply there. 

Random combination of atoms, and later natural selection and competition produced things.  After a very long time and after many changes, man as we know him arrived and survived, because he was the fittest.  There are many other elements to this theory of evolution, and in one form or another, has been accepted as the explanation which best fits the scientific knowledge that we have.

In opposition to this view, some in the Church teach what is called Fiat Creationism.  This teaches that God directly and almost instantaneously created everything that there is, and did so in a very short period of time, creating only a relatively few years ago.  He did not use indirect means or any other mechanisms, but at every stage used new material to create different creatures specially, with each kind of species made distinct from others.  Man was not made from any previously created life form.  This approach is based on a literal understanding of the Bible, and the Church accepted this approach for a long time.  It clashes however with scientific data.

To deal with this problem of the clash with Science, some adopted the view that God produced the first matter and set up in this creation the laws of its development.  God thus began the process of evolution, and then he did not involve himself in this process.  God was thus an absentee God.

This of course conflicts with the biblical view of God in Genesis and the rest of the Bible.  The Bible stated that God did a series of many creative acts, and after that actively involved himself personally with everything that went on in the creation.

Then, there is the view called Theistic evolution.  This holds that God began everything by creating, but he also sometimes intervened supernatural, to direct and modify the process of evolution.  He created the first man by using an existing creature, created and gave this creature a human soul, and hence a spiritual nature, thus transforming him into a higher life form.  But it was the process of evolution that is responsible for man physical nature.

This view has been modified by several people who agree with the Bible’s teaching that there was an original couple created, and that they sinned.  Statements like man being created from dust is interpreted as symbolic.  This approach was obviously set up to agree with scientific information.

Also popular is Progressive Creationism.  This also states that God created at several widely separated points in time.  Sometimes he created brand-new, and sometimes he used existing creation.  In between evolution took place.  God created man directly and not from using previous creation.  The physical and spiritual nature of man was directly and specially created.  Unlike other views it believe that there was no need for any development in man after his special creation.

It should be mentioned that some in the Church believe that God created the earth perfect, but that it was devastated in the war between himself and Satan.  They believe that Genesis 1:1 refers to the original creation, but in between verse 1 and verse 2 Satan rose up, rebelled, and was judged.  The earth was destroyed in a battle and the pre Adam race of men, animals and plants were wiped out.  This account for the fossils of creatures that looked like us.  Verse 2 and onwards is thus a history of re-creation.

This belief appears to conflict however with biblical teaching on what caused the destruction and death of man, animals, plants and the earth.  Here it was not the sin of Adam and Eve that led to death and decay. The belief does however attempt to offer an explanation for the fossil records.

Note that there are many views concerning the creation of man and the universe.  There have been many attempts to reconcile the biblical view with that of science and other philosophies. Note that many of these attempts have come from inside the Church.

The Bible however teaches that man was created and that at creation he was good.  Something happened to trigger a change to bring about the present sad condition.  Man today therefore according to the Bible is in an abnormal state.  When we look at people, they are not the real human beings that God made.  They are scarred by sin and the Fall.

It appears that the only true human beings were Adam and Eve before they sinned, and of course Jesus Christ.

Every other persons including myself, can be probably described as corrupted, twisted, distorted representatives of humanity. The only good thing is that as believers in Christ and possessors of the Holy Spirit, we have been changed and are still being changed, however slowly.

We must therefore now look at the original humanity and see what it means that God made man in his own image and likeness, thus differentiating him from the other creatures.

Genesis 1: 26-27 is the basis for the discussion.  Genesis 5: 1-2 repeats the same thing.  In Genesis 9: 6, even after the Fall, murder was forbidden on the ground that man was created in God's image. 

1 Corinthians 11:17 again referred to this idea of the ‘image of God’, stating that man should not cover his head since he was image and glory of God.  In James 3: 9 cursing men was forbidden for men were said to be in the ‘likeness of God’.  That men were in the image of God was also suggested in Acts 17: 28.

Romans 8: 29 also spoke of people who were saved as being conformed to the image of the Son.  In 2 Corinthians 3: 18 the same idea is repeated.  In Ephesians 4: 23 Paul speaks of this ‘likeness of God’ which was in true righteousness and holiness.  Colossians 3: 10 also spoke of believers putting on the ‘new nature’ which was renewed in knowledge after the image of the Creator.

They have been many views during the history the Church of what the image is.  Some have viewed the image as consisting of certain characteristics or qualities in man's nature.  Some believe this image is physical. The Mormons, for example, believe that God the Father has a body and that is why we have the kind of body that we do.  Some see the image in man walking upright as symbolic of the moral uprightness and righteousness of God.

Some see the image in spiritual qualities in human nature.  Some therefore have emphasized ‘reason’, that is, the ability to think, meditate, calculate and deduce.  This they say is what makes mankind different. This is similar to the attributes of God. 

In Church history the term ‘image’ has often been separated from the term ‘ likeness’, and they were regarded as two aspects.  Some felt that man was created only in God's image, but over a period of time developed God's likeness. Others felt that God's likeness was due to a supernatural cause.

The belief developed among Roman Catholic scholars that the image was man's natural resemblance to God because of his ‘reason’ and his ‘ will’, attributes of man which resemble those of God.  The ‘likeness’ was a divine gift added to man consisting of the moral qualities of God.  Man lost the ‘ likeness’ when he fell, but the image remained.  This formed the basis for a lot of Catholic beliefs and their system of natural theology.

This approach was rejected by the Reformers.

Others believe that the image was not something coming from inside man, but it comes from when man experiences a relationship between himself and God.  That is, man can be said to be in the image when he is in a relationship with God.  God had created man a finished creation, and when he responds to God, then the image is present.  When he turns his back on God he is still human, but he loses the image materially.

Some see this image also in a relationship between men, as well as in their relationship to God.  This reflects what we call the existentialist position or philosophy, which emphasizes will and action, rather than a structure.

Yet another view emphasizes that the image consists in what man does.  It is emphasized that in Genesis 1 man is given dominion over the rest of creation. God is Lord over the world and he gave man dominion over creation. When man exercises dominion over the creation man reflects the image of God.  Psalm 8: 5-6 is also emphasized.  The image of God therefore is really talking about the function of man.  Man is a “dominion-haver” and as such, he is the image of God.

Even though these different views do contain some truth, it must be recognized that the Bible says several things about the image that we must accept.

It stated that the image is found in all men, and that the command against murder and cursing men applied to everyone, believer and unbeliever alike. It thereby indicated that even non-Christians are in the image of God. Clearly the image is not something external to human nature, or not connected to all men.

All men have this image, and superior reason, or intellectual is not stated as being a determinant or something relevant to the image. The Bible does not say either that it is your relationship to God or your fellowmen that determines whether or not you have the image. It does not state that the image depends of whether or not you exercise dominion over the creation.

The Bible simply stated that God said he would make man his own image and he did so even before men did anything.  Man didn't have to do anything to be in the image of God.  God did not put any conditions, or require man to do something, or be in a certain position or situation to have the image.

Man was made in the image, and because he was man he had it.  It is therefore felt that the image involved elements in man's nature which enabled him to know God, love God, obey him, do one’s duty toward his fellowmen, do his job properly in taking care of the rest of creation, and interacting properly with God and with others.

All these things fulfill the purpose that God had for man, and man was well made in order to fulfill his purpose.  The image in which man was created allowed him to have fellowship with God.

Note also that when we experience the New Birth, that we are being transformed into the image of Jesus.  Jesus had perfect fellowship with his father, and obeyed his Father perfectly.  Believers are being transformed so that we can stay in this relationship of adoption and fellowship in which we have been placed by the Spirit.  We can therefore look at the verses in the Scriptures which all stress this righteousness and holiness of God.

Clearly Jesus told us of this when in Mark 12: 13-17 he told the Pharisees that the image on Caesar’s coin meant that the money belonged to Caesar and that it should be given to him.  On the other hand those who bear the image of God should show they belonged to God and give him love and loyalty and obedience.

Jesus clearly is the full image of God and we are told we are to be like him.  Everything in Jesus is what the image of God is, and this image should be formed in us.  The Holy Spirit is now restoring this damaged image that we have, and he is building up the image so that we can be like Christ, and be most glorious.  See 2 Cor. 3: 18.

Because all men are in the image of God there is great dignity to be a person.  We cannot disrespect or disdain any human being, no matter how distorted their personality.  Each human being is valuable, and all life is sacred.  We must therefore work constantly to bring men to know Christ so that this distorted image can be rectified.  Everyone should be given the opportunity to fully become what God intended them to be, that is, to become fully human.

MAN’S MAKEUP

The makeup of man is important.  We therefore must look at whether man is made up of two parts, Dichotomism, three parts Trichotomism, or one part, Monism.

Trichotomism is the view that man has three parts.  First is the body; second is the soul or the psychological part, the part for reason, emotion, social relationships, and so on; third is the spirit, the religious part which allow him to deal with spiritual matter and respond to the spiritual proddings of the Holy Spirit.  This spirit is considered to be the place where the spiritual qualities of the person is based, as the soul is the place where the personality traits of a person is based.

Texts like 1 Thess. 5: 23, Hebrews 4: 12, 1 Corinthians 2: 14 to 3: 4 are used to support this view.  Some believe that this view was influenced by Greek philosophy,  even though there is very little explicit references in Greek philosophy that would support that belief.

Dichotomism has been the most popular view, stating that man is composed of a material part, the body, and an immaterial part, the soul or spirit.  The body dies and returned to the ground, while the spirit survives death.  Texts like Matthew 27:50; John 19: 30; 2 Cor. 4:11; 5:8,10 are often quoted.

The Dichotomists generally argue against Trichotomism on the grounds that verses often referred to different entities but the references are not intended to be taken literally, as for example in Luke 10: 27. Also,sometimes the spirit and the soul are used interchangeably, or are examples of parallelism as in Luke 1:46-47 where soul and spirit are used as if practically complete equivalents. 

There is quite a bit of agreement between Trichotomists and Dichotomists for they agree that man is a complex creature and is made up of separate parts.

There are some however who believe that man cannot be divided and is not composed of parts, but is a ‘ radical unity’.  They believe the terms body, soul, and spirit are synonymous terms.  A human cannot exist apart from a body, there is no possibility of a disembodied state, and no immortality of his soul.

Great stress is laid on the fact that the Jews made no distinction between the flesh and the body and had a unitary view of man.  They thus believe that Paul too had the same unitary view.  It was felt that the concept of man being other than unitary was of Greek origin.

It is clear though that even though the Hebrew language did not differentiate between ‘body’ and ‘flesh’, this did not mean that they were unaware of distinctions.  In a language is often found that there can be a lack of separate terms to represent different concepts. 

In any case this unitary view has difficulty with several passages such as Luke 23: 43; Luke 16:19-31; 2 Corinthians 5: 1-8; Matthew 10: 28, among others.  The position is open to attack both on the grounds of linguistics (language), Greek history and thought, and the assumptions about Hebrew thought and mentality, and alleged differences between Hebrew thought and Greek thought.

The Bible does not rule out any type of separable division in human nature.  But we must be careful in not stressing too much the division between a person's body soul and or spirit.  We should be careful about thinking of a person's body apart from their spirit, for man was built as one, and the Fall affected all of Man. 

But man must not try to escape his body, for indeed his body will be changed and he will be given the new body, just as he was given the new spirit.  Note that man is complex, and we cannot deal with him at a simple creature.

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE INSIST ON?

The Bible insists that God loves his creation and that all races are in his family.  It must be pointed out that no reputable Bible believer accept the racist theories that Noah’s son Ham was cursed and was given a black skin because of his wickedness, and consequently all his descendants had a black skin because they too came under the curse.  It was also said that Ham’s son Caanan was made servant to Shem and Japheth because he too was under the curse. Cain was also said to be given the mark, namely a black skin.

There is no biblical support for these and other theories which suggest that some races and people are not fully human or are inferior humans.  There is no evidence that Ham was black or that Cain's mark was blackness.  Evidence from anthropology, genetics, and medicine show clearly that all races are one, and can intermarry, and share in everything.

We must  therefore beware of partially to people, false ideas about others, erroneous elevation of ourselves, and misusing the bible to support our own evil and materialistic interests. All people are to treated properly and with dignity.

More important is the fact that God regards all races and nationalities as one.  God's grace is universal.  See Peter’s vision and its interpretation in Acts 10, the story of the conversion of Cornelius, Ephesians 2:14, Galatians 2: 11, 3: 6-9, 28 and Revelation 5: 9.

The Bible also does not regard women as second class members of the human race.  Genesis 1:26-27 makes it clear that woman were created in image of God, and as such have equal dignity.  Genesis 5: 1-2 also affirms this.  The Hebrew word used to state that Eve was ‘ helpmeet’ to Adam does not imply any inferiority at all.

Actually the picture of woman in Proverbs 31 and other passages does not suggest subservience.  Jesus’ attitude to woman, and his treatment of them, is instructive for us.  Galatians 3: 27, 28 makes it clear that in salvation woman stand on the same level as men.  Contrary to popular opinion Paul had a high view of woman, and spoke positively of them.  See Romans 16: 2 -15, 1 Cor. 11: 5.

Woman have played great roles in the work of God, and it is often a shame that this is not spoken of more, so that women can see what other women have done, and be led to do likewise.

Another group that the Bible often referred to was the poor.  God especially considered  the poor and often called for justice for them.  Jesus was poor and his parents could only sacrifice a pair of turtledoves and two pigeons before him instead of a lamb. See Luke 2 :24.  Jesus said he was poor in Matthew 8: 20.  He regarded his mission as helping the poor.  See Isaiah 61:1-2, Luke 4: 18,21; 7: 22.  Jesus warned against preoccupation with riches. See Mark 10:25, Luke 16: 25. James also warned against mistreating the poor. James 2:4-5.

The Church, as well as individual believers, should be very careful about how the poor is treated, for this is one test which will be used to ascertain whether we belong to God or not.

The very old are also valuable to God.  The Bible calls for great honour and status for the old, and also calls for the old to show their wisdom and leadership in the service of God.  Their position is not one in which they are expected to sit and do nothing.  They are the ones to show their experience and to give the value of this experience the young. They can never cease to work for God.

The unborn also are valuable to God.  They are known to God from inside the womb.  See Psalms 51, 139:13-15, Luke 1: 41-44, Hebrew 7: 9-10, Exodus 21: 22-25.

 CONCLUSION

Man has been distinguished by how God created him.  Man was created to have a special relationship with God, and to always respond to God with love and trust.  He was to always reflect God's image and glory.  But instead he sinned and exchanged his freedom and greatness for bondage, conflict with evil powers, weakness, frustration, per version, and suffering.  It became so bad for him, that man did not even know his own heart.

Man has spent much time developing ways to try to help himself.  But there is no escape from the effects of sin except one turns to God.  The relationship between God and man has been troubled by sin or the moral evil in man.  Sin is real, and man can only be changed by God. We must recognize who we are and where we are coming from.

One writer puts it this way

“the following facts might be thoroughly ascertained in detail and in total, and morally estimated: the facts about money, regarded as a desirable possession, and the passions and practises that are indulged for the sake of it; the facts about untruthfulness, including dishonesty, fraud, slander, and detraction; the facts about sexual passion, with comparison of the moral value that is sacrificed for the sake of gratifying it; the facts about intoxication, with similar comparison of moral values; the facts about profanity, with estimate of the moral degradation that is unthinkingly welcomed by those who indulge in it; the facts about cruelty, whether thoughtless brutality or deliberate love of inflicting pain; the facts about anger and uncontrollable passion in general, developing into malice and into murder; the facts about moral shallowness, irresponsibility, untrustworthiness, surrender of self-respect, contentment with low and unworthy life; the facts about daily selfishness, as over against kindness, humanity, and love. Such an investigation, though ofcourse not practicable, is quite conceivable, and the amount of evil that such a study of familiar facts would bring to light is utterly appalling. It is true that mush good would also be found, and that the responsibility of the evil is often divided between him who commits it and the ancestors who have made him what he is. It is true also that some part of the evil that is commonly called sin is rightly chargeable to imperfections or immaturity or ignorance; nevertheless, observation shows that sin is the abiding habit of the human race, just as Christ and the consent of ages testify.”

But man has a destiny and a history to fulfill, for God made him unique.  He has been marked with the mark of God, “the image of God”.  Salvation, eternal life, and fellowship with God are available to all persons.  It is our responsibility to look at all persons through the eyes of God, understanding that race, social status, sex, wealth, education, family tree, intellect, or any other earthly attribute is nothing in the sight of God, for all men are equal before him.

We must therefore understand that we all creatures are made by God for great things.  But right now man is in an abnormal state, and in a desperate condition. God has taken some of us out of sinning as a normal state, and changed us from a place of wrath.

We must therefore never do anything to impede the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, and slow down the work of transforming us that He is doing.  We must show great concern for those who have not yet come to Christ. We must make sure that we always do as God commands and attain to the state to which he has called us.

Our task is to warn people who are opposed to the truth of God’s word, and we must resist any attraction that we feel to the false alternative views that the world holds.

The Scriptures depict man as he really is. We must understand that change is needed in man, as well as in us. We too must keep on growing in the knowledge of God, and begin to love others as God loves. We have no alternative to this, is we are to be found faithful servants.

We cannot simply blame everything on our bodies, and reject the need for our minds to be changed.

All of man, his personality, his spiritual and physical inclinations must come under the control of the Holy Spirit.

We must also look forward to being with God when we die. We must look forward to having our bodies changed, and our new bodies given us at Jesus’ Coming. The Scriptures teach that, and it is true.

Note that the termination of our physical life is not the end. Our God is a God of the living, and once we accept God, and have been adopted by Him, we will never lose life. We will continue to exist because our self is not identical with our body.

When we carry the gospel to the world, we must always remember that we must appeal to the whole man, for all of man is infected by sin.

But we thank God that he has provided the way, the help, the guide, and the strength for us to succeed.